This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, Jan/Feb 2006.
Consumers are now firmly established as multichannel creatures, especially when it comes to shopping — and they are demanding the same benefits of the Web in stores: more information about products and fulfillment, more fulfillment options and most important, control over the shopping experience.How do retailers respond to these demands? Many of them are turning to in-store kiosks.
While kiosks are certainly not a new technology for this crowd — many retailers can relate sore experiences with them — a key factor has changed: Consumer readiness has finally arrived, spurred by 50 percent of the U.S. population incorporating the Internet into their shopping habits. As consumers grow accustomed to the depth of information they can get about products in the online world, they enter stores with new demands for content and expertise, fueling their appetite for in-store technologies. While only 14 percent of all North American consumers have ever used an in-store kiosk, a Web buyer is 78 percent more likely to use a kiosk than someone who hasn't bought a product online.
So how can retailers bring more of the online experience into stores while avoiding the disasters of earlier kiosk deployments? Successful kiosks will solve a problem or enable a service, leverage existing resources and trump other technology alternatives. Retailers should identify a quantifiable, functional problem that a kiosk can solve and then design and optimize both the hardware and soft ware application to address the problem.
For example, after its first failed kiosk attempt, PETCO surveyed its store employees to determine the most urgent in-store problem that could be addressed through kiosks. Through this method it found that store employees spent many hours checking loyalty program status for customers who wanted to check their point and reward balance — a frustrating task that self-service kiosks could easily fix.
Kiosks that enable a service will give consumers new reason to come into stores and help them complete their goals once they are there. They should offer services that previously weren't possible, like DVD preview, custom product configuration or program enrollment. Circuit City stores, for example, typically have two kiosks: one for broadband plan enrollment and another for helping buyers configure PCs to order. 7-Eleven's Vcom kiosks enable the retailer to offer bill payment, event tickets, weather reports, lottery results and travel directions, expanding the limited assortment of the convenience store and giving consumers new reasons to return.
Regardless of the application, integration with other systems is key — linking in-store kiosks to other applications or data sources will enhance their value. Depending on the goal of the kiosk, retailers should look to integrate them with customer databases, commerce platforms, Web content management, inventory data or loyalty programs. For instance, Office Max's Product Advisor kiosk is integrated with existing product data from the online sales channel. Office Max doesn't have to recreate data and online changes are automatically pushed to the kiosks, reducing management and version control issues.
Once retailers identify the problem they wish to solve, they must determine if kiosks are the right technology platform to address it. It's important to consider the pros and cons of in-store marketing and service alternatives like digital signage, in-store television networks or handheld devices. In-store television networks and digital signage offer the opportunity to reach consumers with advertising at a time when they are most receptive to selling messages, targeting content by day- part or store demographic and making this media better suited for targeted marketing initiatives.
Ambitious multichannel retailers have tried to facilitate the convergence of online and store experiences, but only now have we reached the tipping point with so many consumers engaging in cross-channel activities. As consumers try to figure out how to integrate their online habits with their established shopping behaviors, the time has come for retailers to bridge the gap.
