Calculate the kiosk business case

What the calculation includes

The model starts with existing food orders. It applies kiosk adoption and a basket-value uplift only to the orders using the kiosk. It does not assume extra customers, increased fuel sales or a change in order volume.

Contribution margin applies to extra sales after product, packaging and discount costs. Enter additional payment costs separately. The model then adds realised cash savings and subtracts monthly software, support and upkeep.

The formulas

• Monthly kiosk orders = daily food orders × trading days × kiosk adoption.
• Extra monthly sales = monthly kiosk orders × average order value × basket uplift.
• Extra contribution = extra sales × contribution margin.
• Additional payment cost = kiosk sales after uplift × additional fee rate + kiosk orders × additional cost per order.
• Net monthly benefit = extra contribution + realised cash savings − monthly running costs − additional payment cost.
• Simple payback = initial investment ÷ positive net monthly benefit.

First-year net benefit deducts initial investment from twelve months of net benefit. It assumes the same trading pattern throughout the year and does not discount future cash flows. It excludes finance costs, tax, depreciation, working capital and any costs you have not entered.

Use three scenarios

The comparison shows half your selected uplift, your selected uplift and one-and-a-half times that uplift. Other inputs remain fixed. It is a sensitivity check, not a forecast or a confidence interval. Ask whether the investment still makes sense at zero uplift and with higher support costs.

Chain totals assume identical stores. Run different store formats separately if their menus, traffic or cost structures differ.

Do not count the same benefit twice

Enter cash savings only when a paid expense actually falls. Time released for food preparation or shelf replenishment belongs in an operational capacity discussion until it changes a cost. Do not add the same wages to both margin and cash savings.

If a hardware quote already includes a service fee, check that it is not repeated in the monthly allowance. Include all installation and integration work in the initial investment.

Replace assumptions with pilot data

Use paid and fulfilled orders from a defined period. Check whether price changes or promotions explain the basket difference. Feed the measured result back into the model before approving more locations.

The promotion test guide and measurement definitions explain how to make that evidence more useful.