Food and drinkMain article: Automated restaurant The food retail industry has started to apply automation to the ordering process; McDonald's has introduced touch screen ordering and payment systems in many of its restaurants, reducing the need for as many cashier employees.[22] The University of Texas at Austin has introduced fully automated cafe retail locations.[23] Some Cafes and restaurants have utilized mobile and tablet "apps" to make the ordering process more efficient by customers ordering and paying on their device.[24][25] Some restaurants have automated food delivery to customers tables using a Conveyor belt system. The use of robots is sometimes employed to replace waiting staff.[26] Stores Main articles: Automated retail and Automated retailing Many Supermarkets and even smaller stores are rapidly introducing Self checkout systems reducing the need for employing checkout workers. Online shopping could be considered a form of automated retail as the payment and checkout are through an automated Online transaction processing system. Other forms of automation can also be an integral part of online shopping, for example the deployment of automated warehouse robotics such as that applied by Amazon using Kiva Systems.
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