Express Kiosk Guest Flow – From Scan to Payment

When a guest approaches an Express kiosk, they go through a carefully designed 7-step flow. This article describes each step and what happens under the hood.

Flow overview

1. Attract – Start screen with "TAP TO START"
2. Order type – Dine-in or takeaway (optional)
3. Menu – Category + products in grid
4. Cart/Review – Review before payment
5. Upsell (optional) – Cross-sell of sides
6. Payment – Card payment
7. Confirmation – Order number and wait time

The entire flow typically takes 60-90 seconds for an average order.

Step 1: Attract Screen

What the guest sees:

• Restaurant logo (large)
• Large "TAP TO START" CTA
• Background image or animation
• Possible text: "Order here, fast and easy"

What happens behind the scenes:

• Kiosk is in idle state
• Inactivity timer is inactive
• Cart is empty
• If someone has forgotten an order, it's reset after 120 sec

Tips:

• Use a calm animation to attract attention
• Show offers or popular dishes as bait
• If the restaurant is closed: show opening hours

Step 2: Choose order type

Only shown if: order type is set to "Ask customer"

What the guest sees:

• Two large buttons:
  • "🍽️ Eat here" (Dine-in)
  • "🥡 Take away" (Takeaway)

What happens behind the scenes:

• Choice saved on the order
• Affects the receipt printed in the kitchen
• May affect VAT rate (12% dine-in vs 12% takeaway in Sweden – often the same)

Step 3: Menu view

What the guest sees:

• Category bar (left in landscape, top in portrait)
• Product grid (2-3 columns)
• Image, name, price per product
• Allergen icons (if enabled)
• Cart badge in the corner (with count + total)

Interaction:

• Guest taps a category → menu filters
• Taps a product → product view opens
• Selects variants and modifiers
• Clicks "Add" → product goes to cart

What happens behind the scenes:

• Menu is fetched with filters for active, in stock, and not hidden products
• Products update in real time if they sell out
• Cart is saved on the kiosk (not in the browser)

Step 4: Cart/Review

Shown when guest taps the cart badge:

What the guest sees:

• List of selected products
• Quantity per product (with +/– buttons)
• Price per row
• Total sum
• Button: "Continue to payment"

Interaction:

• Increase/decrease quantity
• Remove product
• Edit via click (opens product view again)

Step 5: Upsell (optional)

Only shown if: upsell step is enabled and guest has few enough products

What the guest sees:

• "Add anything else?"
• Suggestions for:
  • Drinks
  • Sides (fries, salad)
  • Desserts
• Large tappable cards

What happens behind the scenes:

• Suggestions are currently hardcoded (coming: configurable)
• Guest can skip with "Continue"

Tips:

• Keep it to 1-2 suggestions (not overwhelming)
• Relevant to what's already in the cart
• Generally: +15-25% AOV increase with good upsell

Step 6: Payment

What the guest sees:

• Total sum (large font)
• "Insert your card"
• Loading animation
• Or "Simulate payment" in dev mode

What happens behind the scenes:

• Order is created with status "awaiting payment"
• Card reader is activated via Stripe Terminal or similar
• On successful payment, the order is marked as paid

⚠️ Note: Express kiosk currently doesn't use the control unit; for fiscal safety use the POS. This is being updated. See the article "Fiscal Compliance for Online Orders".

Step 7: Confirmation

What the guest sees:

• "✓ Thanks for your order!"
• Order number (large)
• Expected wait time (if set)
• "New order" button

What happens behind the scenes:

• Order is paid
• Receipt is sent to KDS in real time
• Receipt is automatically printed to the kitchen printer
• Cart is reset
• After 15-30 sec the kiosk returns to attract screen

Inactivity timer

If the guest stands inactive (no tap in > 120 sec):

• Modal shows: "Are you still there? Tap to continue"
• Countdown: "Resetting in 30 sec"
• If time runs out: entire cart is cleared, returns to attract

This prevents the kiosk from "getting stuck" on an abandoned order.

Guest's steps in sequence

Attract → TAP
→ Order type → DINE-IN
→ Menu → category BURGER
→ Product → BURGER DELUXE (145 kr)
→ Modifiers → extra cheese (+30 kr)
→ Add
→ Menu → category DRINKS
→ Product → COLA (35 kr)
→ Add
→ Cart badge
→ Review (total 210 kr)
→ Continue to payment
→ Upsell → FRIES (45 kr)?
→ Yes, add
→ Payment (total 255 kr)
→ Insert card
→ Thanks! Order number: #1234
→ Attract (after 15 sec)

Accessibility

Design follows WCAG 2.1 AA:

• Large tap zones (min 44x44 px)
• High contrast on text
• Image icons complemented with text
• Screen reader support

Future: voice control, more text size options.

Configuration

The Express kiosk is configured via Admin → Settings → Express per workstation.