Modern Self-Order Kiosk Hardware & Software Improvements

[BarryAlan]

Hi Toast Team,

First off, thank you for continuing to invest in the Toast ecosystem. We’ve been heavily focused on self-ordering and kiosk experiences in our operations, and I wanted to share some honest feedback and feature requests that I believe many operators in quick service and healthcare dining environments would strongly support.

We’ve recently compared Toast kiosk setups against competitors like Grubbrr, and while Toast has the advantage of being an all-in-one POS ecosystem, the kiosk hardware and software experience currently feels behind what operators are beginning to expect as the industry standard.

Hardware & Mounting Experience

One of the biggest differences is the physical kiosk presentation and usability.

Competitors like Grubbrr offer:

• Clean countertop kiosk stands
• Built-in card readers
• Integrated receipt printers
• Built-in barcode scanners
• Concealed wiring and mounts
• Modern, customer-facing hardware designs

By comparison, Toast kiosk setups often require:

• External peripherals mounted separately
• Visible cables and wiring
• Countertop clutter
• Exposed mounts and hardware
• Less polished customer-facing presentation

This may seem cosmetic at first, but in practice it significantly impacts:

• Customer perception
• Ease of cleaning and maintenance
• Counter organization
• Hardware reliability
• Overall self-service experience

As self-ordering becomes the norm in quick service restaurants, hospitals, cafeterias, and fast casual concepts, having sleek, integrated kiosk hardware is becoming increasingly important.

Request for Future Toast Hardware

I would love to see Toast begin developing:

• Dedicated countertop kiosk stands
• Fully integrated self-order kiosks
• Built-in payment terminals
• Built-in receipt printers
• Integrated barcode/QR scanners
• Cleaner cable management solutions
• Modern freestanding and countertop kiosk options

Essentially, an all-in-one Toast-native kiosk solution similar in appearance and usability to competitors like Grubbrr — but fully integrated within the Toast ecosystem.

Software & Kiosk Application Improvements

Beyond the hardware, the kiosk ordering software itself could also use significant enhancements.

Some areas that would greatly improve the operator and guest experience:

• Faster and smoother kiosk UI performance
• More customizable ordering flows
• Better upsell and modifier experiences
• Improved accessibility and guest guidance
• More modern UI/UX design
• Better loyalty and rewards integration
• Improved barcode scanning workflows
• More flexibility for healthcare and institutional dining
• Better support for high-volume self-checkout environments

Why This Matters

Many operators choose Toast because we want one unified platform for:

• POS
• Online ordering
• Payments
• Loyalty
• Kitchen operations
• Self-order kiosks

Right now, many businesses are forced to use third-party kiosk providers because Toast’s kiosk ecosystem still feels limited in comparison. Unfortunately, third-party solutions can introduce:

• Higher costs
• Operational complexity
• Integration issues
• Support challenges
• Reliability concerns

We truly want Toast to become the best all-in-one solution for self-ordering and checkout.

I hope Toast is already investing heavily in kiosks and self-service because this area is rapidly becoming a major expectation across the restaurant industry.

Would love to hear if others in the community are asking for similar improvements.

Thanks!

@Rob @jenni 

[www]

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Software & Kiosk Application Improvements

Beyond the hardware, the kiosk ordering software itself could also use significant enhancements.

Some areas that would greatly improve the operator and guest experience:

• Faster and smoother kiosk UI performance
• More customizable ordering flows
• Better upsell and modifier experiences
• Improved accessibility and guest guidance
• More modern UI/UX design
• Better loyalty and rewards integration
• Improved barcode scanning workflows
• More flexibility for healthcare and institutional dining
• Better support for high-volume self-checkout environments

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Great post! I agree with everything.

Let me add some specific items:

I would like to be able to create announcements on Kiosks. Please also take into consideration MLM users. Right now, adding announcements for Online Ordering is a pain as we have to go to every single location. Let us target announcements to specific Location Groups.

As a "hack" we currently create a $0 menu item to "announce" products, but we still get customers trying to order it.

Secondly, we need better security for rewards. From what I previously tested, simply entering in the phone number of a rewards member lets anyone use their rewards points! Luckily we haven't add any noticeable issues with this yet, but it makes me nervous.