Your self-service kiosk can be one of the simplest marketing tools in your restaurant, not just a faster way to take orders. It is easy to see it as pure operations, you expect shorter lines, quicker ordering, and a small lift in revenue, and you get all of that. But it is only part of the story. Some owners still hold back, worried the screen will feel cold or out of place, and they have a point if the kiosk looks generic and disconnected from the room.
Set up with a bit of thought, a self-order terminal becomes a marketing tool as much as an ordering one. Guests spend more of their time with it, make choices in front of it, and glance at it while they wait. So a blank, off-brand screen is a wasted chance to say something about your restaurant.
This guide shows how to turn your self-service kiosk into a branded asset that will lift your sales and strengthen your restaurant’s marketing strategy.
How Menu Design Affects What Guests Order
The way your menu looks can have an effect on your customer’s trust, comfort, and even appetite. The brain takes in color, shape, and images far faster than words, so the feel of a screen lands before a guest has even thought about what to order.
If your restaurant uses warm wood tones, soft lighting, and elegant fonts, but your kiosk shows neon colors and slick icons, it feels disconnected. That kind of mismatch might make your guests hesitate, feel unsure, or even ignore the kiosk altogether.
Good design helps guests feel at ease. When your digital menu fits the space and matches your brand, it builds trust. People are more likely to engage with the screen, trust the ordering process, and make decisions faster.
Here are a few design elements that make a real difference:
Color: Use the same colors guests see around your space, so the screen feels familiar and intentional.
Font: Stick to the typeface from your printed menus and signs to keep everything consistent.
Images and Logo: Show your food as it really looks, and put your logo where guests see it first.
Clear layouts and high-quality photos turn browsing into appetite, often leading to more upsells and smoother ordering. Instead of reading a list, guests browse with their eyes, and that’s what sparks appetite.
How to Choose Kiosk Features That Fit Your Brand
Once you decide to bring a self-service kiosk into your restaurant, the details matter. The right features make the difference between a screen that feels out of place and one that strengthens your brand.
Here’s what to look for:
Customizable Interface: Choose a kiosk that lets you set your own colors, fonts, and layouts.
Personalized Home Screen: Greet guests with a seasonal special, a short video, or a welcome message that feels like you.
Branded Hardware: Wraps, casing colors, and finishes help the kiosk match the room, not just the screen.
Multilingualism in One Click: In tourist-heavy spots, a quick toggle shows every guest they are welcome.
These features do more than make the kiosk look good. They make it feel like part of your restaurant instead of a separate piece of tech.
3 Simple Marketing Tactics for Your Self-Service Kiosk
After your self-service kiosk looks like part of your brand, the next step is using it to sell smarter. Every guest who orders through the kiosk spends time with the screen. That’s a direct line to their attention, and it’s a chance to guide choices in a way that helps both them and your business. You can try these three tips:
Upsell and cross-sell at the right moment:
Staff know which drink completes a dish, and a well-designed kiosk can deliver the same upsell every time. When someone orders a burger, show an option for extra cheese or sweet potato fries. Because all it takes is a simple one tap, guests are more likely to add upgrades.
Promote your best offers up front:
Put lunch deals, weekly specials, or a limited cocktail on the home screen or as a banner during the order. You can change them daily with no printing costs.
Grow a loyalty program at checkout:
Invite your guests to join as they pay, with a free coffee next visit or a small discount for signing up by email. Every sign-up builds repeat business and gives you data to work with.
A Branding Success Story: Burgermeister
Take Burgermeister, one of Switzerland’s best-known burger chains. Working with ORDERMONKEY, it rolled out self-order terminals built to match its brand, from the colors and menu photos to the upsell prompts on screen.
Given room to browse at their own pace, guests spent more, and the numbers backed it up. Burgermeister saw an average order value 20% higher than at the counter, and the kiosks paid for themselves within three to six months.
Want the full story? Read how Burgermeister branded its self-order kiosks in our complete case study.
Put Your Self-Order Kiosk to Work
A self-order kiosk is more than an efficiency upgrade. Done right, it strengthens your brand, lifts guest satisfaction, and opens new ways to sell. When the design matches your restaurant and the features are used with intent, the screen becomes part of the guest experience instead of a box in the corner.
ORDERMONKEY helps you get there. Our kiosks, QR web app, and web shop all carry the same branding, so guests meet the same look whether they order at the screen, at the table, or from home. Every tool connects to your existing systems and supports upselling and loyalty, turning each order into a branded moment that brings people back.
Ready to see it in action? Contact us today to find out how ORDERMONKEY can build a kiosk that works as hard on your brand as it does on your orders!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is customization expensive and time-consuming?
Not with the right system. ORDERMONKEY kiosks are built for quick setup. Logos, colors, and fonts can be customized in minutes, not weeks. And the investment pays off fast through higher average receipts and stronger guest loyalty.
Don’t we lose personal contact with the guest through terminals?
No. The opposite happens. When kiosks handle ordering and payment, staff spend less time on routine tasks. That frees them to welcome guests, answer questions, and provide real hospitality.
Are guests ready for this technology?
Yes, absolutely. Acceptance of self-order solutions in the hospitality industry has increased enormously in recent years. People are accustomed to it from online shopping and airports. An intuitive, attractively designed self-order kiosk is quickly adopted. Furthermore, by combining a terminal with traditional QR code ordering, you can offer various options to suit different preferences.
