Higher average order value
Customers spent more per transaction through the self-service experience.
Restaurant technology case study
From pitch to production in 4 months: Subway’s self-service ordering kiosk.
A restaurant technology concept went from executive pitch to working prototype and live-store deployment in four months — delivering higher average orders, lower labor requirements and a 24-week ROI.
Prior project leadership experience at Intellinet, led by Built-N-AI founder Casey Jackson. Subway is a trademark of its owner. Results reflect the described proof-of-concept deployments and varied by location.
Results at a glance
4 monthsStart to working prototypeTarget achieved
15–20%Higher average order valueObserved in the proof of concept
~40 hrs/wkLower labor requirementPer participating store
24 weeksEstimated ROIBased on pilot economics
10–15%Overall store sales increaseReported across participating locations
Up to 30%Revenue increaseReported by some individual stores
The opportunity
Could self-service ordering change the economics of a Subway restaurant?
While at Intellinet, Casey Jackson identified an opportunity to help Subway explore self-service ordering technology as part of the restaurant experience. He pitched Subway management directly and landed the contract.
Winning the engagement was only the beginning. Subway needed more than a touchscreen running ordering software. The solution had to work in an actual restaurant environment — taking customers from menu selection and customization through secure payment and delivery of an accurate order to the restaurant.
The schedule was aggressive: four months from project start to the first working prototype.
The solution
A complete self-service ordering and payment experience.
Jackson led the project end to end — business development, product design, technology delivery and field deployment — partnering with Agilitee on the software-development component while leading the overall solution and program.
Responsibilities ran from project management, prototype and kiosk design and Agile development cadence through hardware/software integration, device and application security, payment integration, testing, deployment planning, kitting, restaurant installation, launch support and staff training.
When the first proof-of-concept kiosks were ready, Jackson personally installed the first handful in Subway restaurants and spent the initial days onsite launching the system, watching real customers use it, resolving issues and training restaurant staff.
Five parts of the solution
- Customer ordering — a touchscreen interface for a highly customizable menu
- Integrated payment — order and pay without the register
- Secure platform — device, application, network and payment security designed in
- Restaurant integration — pedestal and multi-kiosk configurations tested in live stores
- Production deployment — repeatable kitting, staging, installation and support
Pitch → contract → design → Agile development → prototype → testing → store installation → staff training → live proof of concept.
Software, hardware, payments, security and the physical kiosk were integrated continuously, so problems surfaced while they were still inexpensive to fix. The prototype landed inside the four-month window.
The proof of concept
The kiosks changed store economics, not just the ordering interface.
15–20% higher average order value. Customers ordering through the kiosk generated larger average orders than the traditional ordering process.
Approximately 40 fewer labor hours per week. The self-service model reduced employee time spent on order entry and payment. Those hours could reduce labor expense or be redirected to food preparation and customer service.
24-week ROI. Based on the labor and revenue improvements observed during the proof of concept, the kiosk investment showed an estimated payback of about 24 weeks.
10–15% increase in overall store sales across participating locations, with some individual stores reporting increases as high as 30%. Store performance varied by location, traffic and operating conditions.
Before & after
The operating model changed.
Before
Employee required to take each customer order
After
Customer creates and submits the order
Before
Traditional register-dependent checkout
After
Integrated self-service payment
Before
Labor tied directly to order-taking volume
After
~40 labor hours per week reduction reported
Before
Traditional average order value
After
Average order value up 15–20%
Before
Conventional ordering throughput
After
Additional ordering capacity without another staffed register
Before
Technology concept
After
Working prototype in four months, then live stores
Business impact
Strategy, technology and frontline operations connected in one product.
Labor reduction
Stores cut labor tied to traditional ordering and checkout.
Estimated ROI
Operating and revenue improvements produced a rapid payback.
Start to prototype
The aggressive development target was met, then moved into live stores.
Key takeaway
Technology only creates value when it changes the operation.
The project succeeded because it started with the business opportunity, designed the technology around the actual operating environment, integrated the necessary systems, tested with real customers, measured the results and built a process capable of scaling. The same person who pitched it was onsite installing the first units and watching customers use them — observe, learn, adjust, test, deploy again.
4 months from start to prototype. 15–20% larger orders. About 40 fewer labor hours per week. 24-week ROI.