QUEENSLAND FOOD FRANCHISE Rock Pa-per Scissors (RPS) has big ambitions to become Australia’s leading quick-service fish and chips outlet. It is one of Australia's fastest growing fish and chip franchises, and has also broken new ground in customer self-ordering options.

Unlike other more established franchises, RPS says it was founded in a technological age where consumers expected to order through a range of channels – whether online, in-store or at the drive thru.

To meet this demand, RPS introduced mul-tiple ways to place and receive orders, includ-ing the introduction of self-service kiosks at its drive thru facilities.

Tanya Gilchrist, director of systems and inte-

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Food&Drink business | March 2015

Self service nets return for

Queensland food company Rock Paper Scissors, one of Australia's fastest growing fish and chip franchises, has pioneered a completely new way to sell fast food.

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grations at Rock Paper Scissors, says the self-ser-vice model, both online and at the drive thru, not only empowers the customer but benefits the Rock Paper Scissors franchise model by boosting sales and cutting costs.

“As a business we want to ensure we can of-fer fabulous food but also create a customer experience to match. Looking at the delivery experience was and still is an integral part of our business plan,” she says.

“In Australia 65 per cent of adults use smart-phones, so tapping into that technology has been a driving force for us. Offering online or-dering through a laptop, tablet and phone means a customer can choose exactly what they want, reduce their waiting time, and col-lect it at their convenience.”

RPS's sales figures also show that the self-serve model has delivered a positive return in investment. The average spend in-store is $14.30, while the online and drive thru spend is $19.63. The self-serve option also reduces staff costs both in man hours and training, according to Gilchrist.

THE FIRST KIOSKSIn 2012, part of Rock Paper Scissors’ strategic plan included the introduction of a self-service drive thru facility. To achieve this they needed the kiosks to be touch-screen for ease of use and ruggedised so they could handle the out-door environment and extreme QLD environ-ment of heat, sun and rain.

The display also needed to work with the exist-ing hardware and software, and be vandal-proof.

The company chose products and services from Adelaide-based APC Technology out of a shortlist of four outdoor touchscreen dis-play suppliers.

APC Technology designs and manufac-tures customised rugged hardware solutions for military and industrial customers with critical applications.

“From our point of view we knew we were in-

“Although our businesses are poles apart, we share common traits. We are innovators within our own fields.”

order, in monetary terms, is 24 per cent higher than in-store. The self-service option also allows 100 per cent upsell “because computers don’t for-get,” she says.

The drive-thru has also delivered savings, with labour costs reduced by approximately 21 per cent.

“The original drive thru store has increased its turnover by 70 per cent in the last two years, and figures show the drive thru growth originally contributed to 15 per cent of the revenue stream – and is now 50 per cent,” Gilchrist says.

A SECOND-GENERATION DRIVE THRU KIOSKTowards the end of last year, Rock Paper Scissors approached APC Technology to design and build a second-generation drive thru kiosk for another franchise in Queensland.

The company had learnt some useful lessons over the previous two years, and it had some new requirements.

The previous version had consisted of an APCT touchscreen display connected to an ex-isting PC located inside the restaurant. The new kiosks had to contain all the components of the

system in one location, and there were a few other new requirements (see box).

RPS gave APC Technology just two months to design, produce and deliver the new system.

“What I found amazing is we gave them our requirements, explained what we need-ed, and on receipt of the first round of draw-ings their engineering department had really nailed what we were looking for. A few minor changes were made in a timely manner, which provided a longer build period. I really think their understanding and expertise at the beginning of the project was the reason we got the new kiosk exactly when we want-ed it,” Gilchrist says.

“As a company we are really excited to have the new kiosk installed in one of our Queensland Rock Paper Scissors franchises. The feedback from our staff and customers is that it looks great, is fast, and the enhanced functionality including audio assistance makes it even more interactive and easy to use. The addition of a moving screen has also made it more accessible for our customers to reach, because often first-time users don’t re-alise it's a touchscreen ordering system, so they park too far away.”

THE FUTURE Gilchrist believes 2015 will be a year of signifi-cant growth for the company. The directors are confident they now have the processes and ca-pabilities in place to roll out another five or more stores with the option to move into other Australian states.

They are also exploring the option to grow the franchise into India, with APC Technology ex-pected to be a part of the expansion.

“Although our businesses are poles apart, we share common traits. We are innovators with-in our own fields. The solutions supplied each time have met our requirements and continue to perform, adding to the success of our busi-ness," says Gilchrist.

"APCT said it would provide tough solutions for tough conditions. I couldn’t agree more.”

novating a completely new way to purchase fast food within Australia, so although pricing was important to us, we were also looking for a tech-nology partner who would add value to the pro-cess,” says Gilchrist.

“Though APCT was not the cheapest, it was competitively priced, and certainly not the most expensive. It was their additional capabilities that really impressed us.”

The company also took the time to understand what RPS wanted to do, how it planned to imple-ment it, and added their own expertise, accord-ing to Gilchrist

APC Technology was also the only Austra-lian manufacturer on the shortlist, which meant local support.

“For us, the impact of extensive downtime due to faulty or damaged hardware would signifi-cantly impact the franchise and create uncer-tainty about the quality and sustainability of a self-service drive thru. As the manufacturer and their location within Australia, we felt APCT could meet the support requirements better than any other vendor.” Gilchrist says.

SELF-SERVICE DEEMED A SUCCESSThe drive thru installation was completed in Oc-tober 2012, and has proved extremely reliable, says Gilchrist.

“The set-up still looks great even though it has been exposed to the Queensland rain, sun and humidity, as well as customer use for more than two years.

“In fact, I can only recall one time it has ever been down, and in actual fact it wasn’t com-pletely off line. There was an issue with the cali-bration of the touchscreen, which meant some difficulties navigating the screen. Within hours we had a new driver from APCT which was up-loaded and resolved the problem.”

Being an innovator in this space has also paid off for Rock Paper Scissors.

According to Gilchrist, the average drive thru

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Rock Paper Scissors is a branded fish and chips quick-service restaurant and offers a contemporary take on traditional favourites. Directors and sisters Tanya Gilchrist and Hayley Bragg opened the first store in December 2010 and now have seven franchised and company-owned stores in Queensland. National expansion is soon to commence. The company seeks to use innovative technology solutions and processes to keep the stores operating at maximum efficiency and enhance the customer experience.

Rock Paper Scissors

Additional requirements of the second-generation kiosk included:• All the components of the system in one location• Lockable cabinet to increase security overnight • Movement of the screen – a rotation-and-tilt option • A higher-rated sunlight-readable touchscreen • The addition of an audio requirement • Stainless-steel bollard set-up

Second-generation drive-thru kiosk

March 2015 | Food&Drink business