The market for kiosks continues to expand despite the global recession as the uses for the devices grow and the public embraces the self-service concept, according to the newly-released Eighth Edition of Kiosks and Interactive Technology – Global Statistics and Trends – from Summit Research Associates.
Since the last edition two years ago, new uses of the kiosk have become widespread with DVD rental, ticketing, rental car pick-up and hotel check -in and -out, joining such applications as digital photography, airline check-in, bill payment and retail self-check-out.
The industry has benefited as new applications are launched and older kiosk models are replaced. In addition, public attitude towards self-service and using a kiosk has changed from wariness to one of confidence and comfort, the report finds.
"(P)otential kiosk users no longer have to be coerced into using the devices; today they eagerly seek them out," Summit writes.
The Summit report offers comprehensive data, analysis and projections for the kiosk and self-service industry broken down by region, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the rest of the world.
For instance, it may come as no surprise to industry observers that North America led the world in kiosk adoption with nearly 1.2 million installed devices at the end of 2008. Summit reports that represents an astonishing rise of more than 61 percent from the 734,000 installed at yearend 2006.
Worldwide at the end of 2008, there were more than 1.8 million kiosks installed, with Europe accounting for 321,000, the Asia-Pacific region for 271,000 and the rest of the world for 33,000.
This explosion in installations and kiosk use would be even more impressive if it weren't for the Great Recession which slowed or outright ended many projects, Summit reports.
The report projects that, by yearend 2011, there could be more than 2 million kiosks installed worldwide, with 1.3 million in North America, 360,000 in Europe, 305,000 in Asia-Pacific and 38,000 in the rest of the world.
But take that prediction with a large grain of salt, cautions the Rockville, Md.-based research house and consultant, as any growth will be hampered the longer it takes the globe to crawl out from under the economic downturn.
Summit also projects kiosk industry revenue that includes sales of hardware, software and integration services.
In 2008, worldwide revenues came in at more than $598 million, with North America accounting for nearly $374 million, or 62 percent. By 2011 that could grow to $882 million, with North America grabbing the lion's share with $565 million or 64 percent.
Summit is careful to state for those not reading closely that those figures don't have any relation to revenues from transactions conducted at kiosks, or any service charges, or any Internet-connect time charges. That's a whole other ball game.
One sector that's seen particular success is digital photography kiosks. Reproducing shots of all sizes remains popular, but new products like scrap-booking, posters and collage prints have consumers flocking to the devices. That's good news for providers as profit margins for these creative reproductions, in addition to such personalized items as t-shirts and mugs, "are far greater than for mere 4X6 prints."
Summit notes that many consumers are finding that the photo reproduction capability of their home printer rarely comes close to the reproduction quality available for a few bucks from a kiosk at the local drug store.
Not all kiosk deployments have worked out. Grocery self-checkout is an example where consumers took to the kiosk at one retail location like gangbusters while consumers at other locations ignored the lanes entirely. Often, that occurred when the merchant "failed to understand that kiosks need handholding and attention and cannot simply be plugged in and left to fend for themselves," writes Summit.
Retail and digital photography are the two largest sectors worldwide when categorized by installed devices, according to Summit's research. Retail leads the field, accounting for 39 percent of devices, while digital photography kiosks account for 17 percent of installed devices Other major sectors include financial services, travel/tourism/lodging, government and more than half a dozen other sectors.
To develop the report Summit sent a survey to more than 700 firms involved in the kiosk industry, including corporate end-users, software and application developers, hardware designers and manufacturers and other firms. The survey response rate topped 50 percent. Summit staff also visited kiosk companies around the globe, 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.
