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Square is bringing AI directly to the restaurant counter. Its new self-ordering kiosk, introduced on October 14 2026, takes spoken orders, answers questions about the menu and recommends suitable extras. The marketing appeal: product advice, personalized recommendations, loyalty program and payment come together at a single point of sale.
While many brands mainly use AI for ad copy and campaigns, the technology is now moving into the moment when customers actually decide to buy.
An order as a conversation instead of a click path
The new Square Kiosk combines a 21,5-inch touchscreen, microphones and a voice-controlled AI assistant. Guests can phrase their order freely, ask about ingredients, request changes or look for alternatives. A proximity sensor activates the screen as soon as someone approaches the device.
The AI accesses the actual menu of the respective restaurant. Square also describes recommendations based on local sales data, time of day and items already selected. Anyone who orders a dish is offered an add-on at the right moment. The point-of-sale system supplies the information and then passes the order on into the kitchen workflow.
A further feature is key for customer retention: at the device, guests can connect their Square Loyalty or Neighborhoods account and collect or redeem loyalty benefits. An anonymous order can thus, if desired, become a recognizable customer relationship.
The new performance channel arrives in the restaurant
For operators and brands, this changes the role of the order terminal. Until now, the screen was mainly a digital menu. Now it can actively advise, highlight products and encourage additional purchases.
At first, this is sales optimization at the point of sale rather than classic display advertising. The difference matters: instead of buying attention, merchants improve product selection within a purchase process that is happening anyway. Which recommendations really work can be observed through metrics such as average basket size, add-on rate, order time and repeat purchases.
Square cites early experiences from test locations such as Boba Nation Grand and L&L Hawaiian BBQ. The operators report good usage and useful voice control. However, Square does not publish concrete, independently evaluated sales increases in its product announcement.
The direction fits a broader trend: 7 Brew links social media activity and loyalty, while Walmart opens its shopping processes to AI agents. The purchase decision and customer retention are moving into increasingly interconnected systems.
Starbucks is already considering personalized drive-through menus
How quickly this principle is gaining importance beyond classic kiosks is shown by an announcement from 29 October 2026. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol explained on the earnings call that the company is examining personalized digital menus at the drive-through. Participating customers could be recognized on arrival and shown matching offers.
From the 2027 fiscal year, Starbucks plans to first test AI models in the background that make it easier for employees to take orders. Product search in the app and later dialogue-based ordering are also on the agenda.
Square is thus already building advisory functions into a concrete US product, while Starbucks is preparing the next stage for its stores. Together, these initiatives show how loyalty data, recommendations and the actual checkout are becoming more closely integrated. The idea is quite comparable to the AI booking model from Zocdoc: the most important customer interaction takes place where the decision turns directly into a transaction.
What the new AI checkout costs – and what German marketers can learn from it
Square has been offering the new device in the USA since the 14 of October for 1.999 US dollars. In addition come 99 dollars software fee per device and month and a required Square Plus or Premium plan. The stated terms refer to the US market; an introduction of the new model in Germany has not yet been announced.
For German retailers and restaurant businesses, the interesting development lies less in a single terminal than in the principle behind it: the next recommendation is created from the shopping cart, location, availability and concrete purchase intent.
Anyone introducing such a solution should therefore not measure only the operating time saved. Marketing and operations need to check together whether guests find what they want faster, whether add-on items are actually bought more often, and whether customers voluntarily return to the loyalty program. This connects AI, product marketing and customer experience far more directly than yet another automated advertising text.
Sources: Square, official product announcement from 14.10.2026; Square, product details; Starbucks Q4 2026, earnings call transcript from 29.10.2026; The Verge, Square kiosk report; The Verge, Starbucks AI menus from 30.10.2026.
Image: Official Square product representation of a digital ordering interface (Square / Block, Inc.). Illustrative image, not the new 21,5-inch device.