Better Late Than Never? I Tried KFC Kenya’s Digital Self Service Kiosks Over A Year After They Launched & Here’s My Experience.
Sometimes, even I surprise myself when I realize that there are instances, and quite unintentionally, I find myself being laggard of sorts when a new way of doing things using technology has happened in close proximity without me even knowing it! Enter KFC Kenya’s self service kiosks that went ‘live’ in Kenya over a year ago (yes, imagine that) and I had no idea!
Maybe I’m just ‘extremely online’, or something like that, meaning that ordering KFC meals via various delivery apps is more the norm rather than the exception these days. As a result, going to a physical KFC location rarely happens in my post-pandemic era and quite frankly, some habits, once formed, simply diehard! It seems digital transformation is actually a real thing, not just for businesses, but also for consumers. True story, kwa ground :)
Anyway, so I saw them today for the first time and what hit me is that there was no one was using them and instead, the majority of customers were placing their orders in the ‘normal’ fashion. I was baffled! However, this is quite reminiscent of what you see at Carrefour Supermarkets in Nairobi when people still line up in the regular lines with small(er) baskets instead of using the faster self service checkout tills.
As it turns out, the first time I encountered these sort of self service kiosks was actually at McDonalds on a trip to the UK over 10 years ago. Being the technophile that I am, I was completely enamored and used them any chance I could get. However, the thing I noticed there is that it was the main way of placing an order and the only time you had any form of human interaction was when you would collect your tray after it was ready.
So, I placed my self service KFC order and it was a fast and painless experience as seen in the photos. You can use M-Pesa, credit cards, or debit cards to make payments which are enabled via PesaPal, a leading digital payments service provider in Kenya and East Africa. I used M-Pesa and got the STK Push as well as a printed receipt and an electronic receipt via SMS.
I then went to the collection area and could see my order on the large screen and in a few minutes it was ready to collect. Meanwhile, a few of the people we found waiting in the regular lines were still waiting to place their orders, meaning, there is real case for faster service using KFC’s kiosks. For me, this will be the way forward, going forward, when I do go in person to any KFC in Kenya :)
