This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, January 2007.
One of the questions that frequently floats about our newsroom revolves around the user-friendliness of the Internet, and online ordering in particular. We editors like to debate whether the Internet is a friend of the kiosk, or a bitter self-service enemy.There are two perspectives on that issue.
One side views it like this: The Internet competes with kiosks because people won't go to the store to buy what they can have delivered to their homes.
That theory ultimately portrays consumers as a group that, by and large, prefers to do product research — using databases to compare specs, read reviews and select vendors — and then make purchases from the comfort of their homes.
The other side goes like this: The Internet complements kiosks, but sells in a different way.
Subscribers to the latter view, of which I am one, see the Internet as a different marketing tool meant to accomplish a similar task. I'm dubious of the notion that anyone within convenient driving distance of a large retailer would make purchases from it online.
For a small purchase like a DVD, CD or video game, there's no reason to wait three days for shipping when a 10-minute trip yields instant gratification. For a large purchase, like a big-screen TV, most people want to see it before carting it off.
My observations here on are based on anecdotal evidence, but I welcome any response based on demonstrable hard data.
Consumers like to do research online to find the best intersections of price and quality when they're making big purchases or long-term obligations — like buying new washers or cell phones. They probably notice other things, too, like which stores have the best selection and, in general, the lowest prices. They then visit the vendors that seem to have the best products, offering the best deals.
Next, they enter the store, and this is where the kiosks take over. It might be that consumers see a comparable model sitting next to the TV they priced online and want more information, so lacking their home computers, they turn to the info kiosk, which also is trying to sell them all the wiring they need.
Or, better still, while in the store, these shoppers encounter kiosks and digital signs marketing something they didn't think they needed. The Xbox 360 comes to mind, given its branded kiosks that flex their graphical muscles as would-be buyers walk by. Wouldn't that make a nice addition to the big-screen TV?
What I do believe people buy online is middle-of-the-road stuff: $100 items like dorm room refrigerators and 17-inch CRT television sets. Many people wouldn't drop $100 on an impulse buy — there's enough potential wiggle room in the price that it could be a better buy online, even with shipping costs.
The main reason retailers shouldn't fear the Internet is that shopping is a form of entertainment. People shop with friends or kill time at stores before dinner and a movie. Given that consumers in the United States literally save less than zero money, it's evidently more difficult to get consumers to stay home than it is to get them into stores.
