One of the most, if not the most, common question regarding kiosks is the cost of a typical unit. There's no quick response to that, just as there is no typical kiosk. A DVD-rental device is going to have a different pricing structure from an airline sign-in kiosk, from a blood pressure-reading device in a drug store. The diversity of the business stymies the easy answer.
The question arises following recent news reports of two kiosk salesmen who are alleged to have run an elaborate con that tricked hundreds of churches nationwide into signing contracts for kiosks that either were never delivered or never performed as promised.
State attorneys general investigating the alleged con have reported that some churches agreed to pay as much as $27,000 for kiosks that could surf the ‘Net, provide job leads and display the church's Web pages. Prosecutors are expected to provide details when the court case against the men begins in late September in Detroit.
That figure is very high compared with the average cost in North America, though some kiosks easily exceed $27,000, according to the 2010 edition of Kiosks and Interactive Technology report from Summit Research Associates. Summit also provides kiosks costs worldwide and broken down by Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world.
In North America the average kiosk price in 2008 was $5,393, up about 5 percent from $5,123 in 2006, according to respondents to Summits' survey of hundreds of companies in the interactive kiosk industry.
On the high end, 2 percent of firms paid between $30,000 to $80,000 for a kiosk, while 5 percent paid between $15,000 and $30,000. However, nearly a third of respondents said they paid less than $5,000.
Two applications causing the average to rise are the turnkey photo kiosk with an instant print capability and sophisticated retail self-checkout units, Summit reports. Both these have seen more installations in recent years.
Summit acknowledges that many firms declined to answer this question, preferring to keep the numbers confidential.
Worldwide in 2008 the average per-unit cost of a kiosk was $5,084, virtually flat from the 2006 average of $4,832. And the average cost in Europe declined from $5,390 in to $5,179 in 2008. In part this was due to the strength of the Euro and British Pound during the time frame of the survey.
Summit points out that the modest change in prices is especially noteworthy when considering the improvements in technology and the increase in power and reliability in many kiosks in recent years. Summit believes manufacturers deserve kudos for keeping prices down, despite a rise in material costs and shipping charges.
On the purchasing side, some firms have sought to contain costs either with in-house software development or by outsourcing the initial development and later taking it in-house for updates and product maintenance.
For its study Summit calculates the cost of a kiosk as "the price of a complete kiosk solution—enclosure, peripherals, software and integration/installation. Communications charges and electrical power costs are not part of the total kiosk cost because they vary widely from project to project and are often borne separately. Similarly, routine maintenance costs are normally a separate line item."
Whatever the average price, purchasers should keep in mind that putting your brand name on a low-budget kiosk that doesn't perform is being ‘penny wise and pound foolish,' writes Summit.
"Nothing infuriates a customer more than encountering equipment that does not work. The world continues to have far too many kiosks that have failed," the report advises. "(T)he down-time that ensues when the unit is not operational — and the ensuing ill-will created among customers — (makes it) quickly apparent that installing a robust and reliable kiosk is the only decision that makes sense."
Summit surveyed more than 700 firms involved in the kiosk industry and the response rate was greater than 50 percent. Summit also visited kiosk companies internationally, interviewed executives and consumer users, and conducted usability tests of devices.
Many of the most recent numbers are through yearend 2008 due to a lag in analyzing the findings and writing the report.
Photo by Pro-Zak.
