Shake Shack to Open Kiosk-Only, Cashless Location in NYC
Shake Shack announces its plans to open a kiosk-only ordering, a cashless environment at Astor Place in New York City. Set to open its doors in early October the Shack is designed to enhance operations and guest experience, featuring an optimized kitchen for greater throughput.
Custom-designed by Shake Shack, the Shack kiosk was developed to allow Shake Shack to serve more guests at peak times – whether in-Shack, for pickup via the Shack App, or even delivery – resulting in fewer lines, less wait time and quicker speed of service at every channel. Several kiosks will line the Shack and team members known as Hospitality Champs will be stationed around the kiosks to assist guests with their orders and answer any questions.
The Shack kiosk replicates the experience of the Shack App with a sharp aesthetic, an intuitive touch screen interface and ease of ordering. Guests simply select their food, place an order and choose to receive an alert via text when their order is ready. The new technology offers guests yet another way to experience Shake Shack – when, where and how they want it – and demonstrates Shake Shack’s commitment to digital hospitality. Earlier this year, Shake Shack launched a mobile ordering app for iOS and Android platforms and introduced the ShackBot, through Facebook Messenger and Twitter DM, to answer guests’ most frequently asked questions.
The Astor Place Shack presents an exciting testing ground for Shake Shack to strengthen operations and experiment with new and innovative ways of connecting with loyal fans. Building a business model to support digital innovation, Shake Shack will lead with a starting wage of $15 per hour to continue to be on the forefront of competitive wages and developing the leaders needed for growth.
“Shake Shack is a growing, loyal, and connected community and is more focused than ever on our guest’s experience and the tools with which our team can provide leading hospitality,” said Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack. “The Astor Place Shack will be a playground where we can test and learn the ever-shifting needs of our guests. We’re excited to lead with kiosk-only ordering, putting control of the Shake Shack experience in our guest’s hands, and an optimized kitchen with increased capacity for mobile orders and eventual delivery integration to support ongoing digital innovation. We’re thrilled to be starting our team members at $15 per hour in this location as we continue to take care of our teams first, while we evolve our business model for a big future ahead. The Astor Place Shack represents our dedication to innovation and to providing the best for our guests and for our teams.”
In related news, Shake Shack’s vice president, information technology, Phil Crawford will serve as a panelist at Hospitality Technology’s 2018 MURTEC for a session titled, “Guest Experience of the Future: De-stressing the Guest and Removing Friction.”