Elliot Maras

Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.

Recent Contributions

Jersey Mike’s Subs taps guest-facing tablet to boost transaction time, engagement

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Jersey Mike's Subs developed a customer facing tablet that allows the guest to review their order, pay, sign up for loyalty rewards and view marketing messages.

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American consumers in no mood to give up daily coffee

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Americans are still gulping down the coffee despite increasing costs and concerns about inflation.

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Voice ordering at the self-service kiosk? Coming right up

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Ben Kaplan of PLNT Burger and Ken Sutton of Yobe Inc. are working on a voice solution that will allow guests to speak their order at a kiosk and pick it up in…

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Fast casual PLNT Burger readies self-serve voice-order solution

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Following the pandemic, Ben Kaplan has looked to technology to restore personalization to unattended transactions, leading him to an AI-enabled voice-order…

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Coffee consumption continuing post pandemic trajectory

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Coffee consumption will continue to improve for the second straight year following the pandemic. Production was hampered in 2021/2022 by meteorological…

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Ghost kitchens feeding revenue stream for virtual food brands

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

The ghost kitchen offers an opportunity for companies already operating a kitchen to expand delivery sales to include 'virtual' food brands. Sisto Perez, of…

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Coffee outlook: Demand strong despite faltering consumer confidence

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Consumers still want to spend money on coffee, but some product preferences are changing and external macroeconomic factors are concerning.

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Checkout-free market brings convenience, incremental sales to Dave & Buster’s

by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Dave & Buster's in Hollywood, Florida, teamed with The Coca-Cola Co., and Zippin to deploy a store-within a-store concept to allow guests to buy food and…

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