Kiosks

Avitek Engineering Corporation is a total solution provider for all of your kiosk applications. We work with our customers to assess their needs and then we offer a system tailored to customers’ specific requirements.

The Kiosk Market Today

The demand for kiosks is exploding. In 1996 approximately 21,000 kiosks were shipped in the United States; by 2003 that number is expected to increase more than twenty-fold to 445,000. Why? Because declining hardware costs and more sophisticated technologies mean kiosks can deliver a positive return-on-investment.
The information provided below will acquaint you with kiosk deployment issues. After reading it, you’ll be well equipped to assess the value kiosks can provide to your organization.

A Proven Technology

A kiosk consists of a touchmonitor, a computer, and perhaps a printer and credit card reader—all enclosed in a secure cabinet. Kiosks can deliver information or they can promote and sell products and services. Most kiosks are located in public places, such as stores, airports, malls, and hotel and corporate lobbies. They’re also increasingly prevalent in factories and office buildings, where they afford employees access to benefits information and job postings.

While kiosks have existed since the late 1970s, it’s only in the past few years that the kiosk market has taken off. The dramatic increase in kiosk activity is the result of several factors:

Reduced hardware costs. Declining costs of microprocessors, printers, and other computer-related kiosk components have resulted in dramatically reduced kiosk costs. For example, between 1993 and 1996, the average price for an interactive kiosk fell by almost 50 percent (Frost & Sullivan). Because of these reduced capital outlays, companies and organizations now can anticipate a higher ROI (return on investment) from kiosk implementations.

Public acceptance. The popularity of ATMs paved the way for widespread acceptance of kiosks. The public is more comfortable now using kiosks in a variety of settings. The use of touchscreens has enhanced the popularity of kiosks by making them operable even by people lacking computer experience.

Pervasive networking capabilities. In the past, the only way to update or modify a kiosk application was to reinstall software at each kiosk. Now advances in network computing make it possible to update kiosks from a centrally located computer, so it’s easy to enter price changes, up-to-the-minute product availability, or new interest rates. In addition, a growing number of organizations are saving on hardware costs by installing kiosks that are “thin clients” (computers with limited processing power and storage capabilities networked to a central client/server application to control most of the kiosk operations) .

Advances in multimedia. The enhanced multimedia capabilities of personal computers have led to the development of more advanced tools for creating multimedia applications. Kiosk developers who leverage these tools reduce development costs while increasing kiosks’ capabilities. Other new technologies, such as signature cards and smart cards, also have resulted in expanded kiosk solutions.

Internet growth. Increased use of the World Wide Web has fueled the growth in kiosk installations, with many organizations installing Internet commerce kiosks that provide users with Internet access and on-line purchasing capabilities (see Internet commerce kiosks and Web-enabled kiosks below).

How Kiosks Enhance Profitability

When considering a kiosk implementation, ask yourself these fundamental questions:

· How will kiosks benefit my business or organization?

· How will kiosks result in a positive ROI, either through costs savings (most often reduced personnel costs) or through increased revenues from kiosks that sell products and services.

In this section we address these questions by outlining the benefits of kiosks and the myriad ways they are currently used.

Increased product offerings
By providing Internet commerce access to on-line shopping services, kiosks let retailers expand inventory without increasing floor space. The results are increased profits per square foot and enhanced customer satisfaction.

· Kiosks at REI (Recreational Equipment Incorporated) connect to the company’s Web-based catalog, enabling customers to order out-of-stock merchandise as well as merchandise the store doesn’t routinely stock.

· At Sam’s Club, cars are purchased by consumers using the Sam’s Club interactive kiosk.

· Quest kiosks at Price/Costco provide consumers with access to thousands of products, including electronics, cameras, and sunglasses that Price/Costco normally doesn’t carry.

Expanded storefronts
Kiosks make it possible for vendors to expand their reach—and enhance their profitability—by selling goods and services in locations other than their storefront. Such kiosks frequently are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

· Airlines, movie theaters, and concert halls now have ticketing kiosks in numerous public locations, including airports, hotels, and convention centers.

· Coinstar coin-counting kiosks are located in hundreds of grocery stores.

Improved customer service; reduced personnel costs
Organizations can provide superior customer service by offering patrons access to kiosks that answer routine questions or handle routine transactions. These organizations save on personnel costs by reducing their need for sales clerks and customer service representatives. Meanwhile, those employees charged with sales and customer service functions are free to focus their attention on patrons’ non-routine concerns.

· Kiosks in Fidelity Investment offices provide customers with up-to-the-minute mutual fund prices and ratings.

· CompUSA customers use kiosks to help configure their computer systems.

· Hotel lobby kiosks provide check-in and check-out services and offer local restaurant and entertainment options.

· Kiosks at auto parts stores replace paper catalogs, providing product number, product availability, and cost information.

· Retailers—including Macy’s, Target, Crate & Barrel, and JC Penney—use kiosks to post gift registries to let customers access a registry.

· At the Superbowl and the Special Olympics kiosks provide attendees information about the time and location of upcoming events.

· Kiosks used as voting machines eliminate the need for ballot counters, cut printing costs, and reduce the time required to get final vote tallies.

Enhanced product promotion
Kiosks attract consumer interest and ultimately increase sales by providing product information customized to each user’s interests and needs.

· Movie previews at video chains like Hollywood Video and Blockbuster entice consumers into renting little-known titles.

· CompuCook recipe kiosks distribute coupons that increase sales in grocery stores.

· Kiosks in General Nutrition Centers offer information about hundreds of vitamins, minerals, and botanical products the centers sell. Kiosks also reduce the time it takes customers to locate products in each store.

Easier information access
Kiosks can dispense information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, minimizing the need for customer service personnel while increasing overall efficiency.

· Kiosks at trade shows and athletic events provide attendees with maps, transportation information, and lists of popular sites for food, lodging, entertainment, and other amenities.

· Many companies provide kiosks for employees to use to connect to their corporate intranet, where they can access job postings, benefits information, and company news.

· In Los Angeles, GeoMatch kiosks match commuters with rideshare partners.

· Government agencies rely on kiosks to dispense tax forms and job applications, post job listings, and enable individuals to order documents, such as birth certificates—all without hassle and with quick delivery.

Greater product customization
Kiosks that offer customized products and services increase their profitability by filling a unique market niche.

· American Greetings’ Create-a-Card kiosks let consumers design customized greeting cards.

· Customers use Kodak photo enlargement kiosks to modify the size of photos on-the-spot.

· Lee Jeans in-store kiosks ask customers to specify their measurements and style preferences. The kiosk then recommends the styles and sizes of jeans most likely to match the customer’s taste.

Reduced training costs
A company can use kiosks to train employees or teach them about the company’s products and corporate procedures. Kiosks’ touch applications are easier to use than traditional computer-based training and teaching.

· Kiosks in Mercedes dealerships provide extensive product information that Mercedes sales-people use throughout the course of a sale. Even though this application was developed for the Mercedes sales force, consumers use it as well.

· Bechtel has installed building-site purchasing kiosks that train site managers in the company’s purchasing system and serve as the system’s delivery mechanism as well.

· Meyer Cookware kiosks educate shoppers about product features and benefits.

Types of Kiosks

Like videos and books, kiosks are communications tools. But kiosks’ interactivity and multimedia capabilities provide functionality that goes well beyond the static capabilities of other media. Based on their functions, kiosks generally fit into one or more of the following categories:

· Point-of-information kiosks

· Product promotion kiosks

· Service or transaction kiosks

· Product-dispensing kiosks

· Internet Commerce kiosks

Point-of-information kiosks
These kiosks are used to educate or inform. Because they address routine questions, they minimize the need for on-site personnel and reduce phone calls to companies. When located in a public place, they can be accessed seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Point-of-information kiosks tend to be the simplest kiosks to implement. They’re also the most difficult to justify in terms of ROI . For this reason, informational kiosks frequently are integrated with the product promotion or service kiosks described in the next section.

Prime locations: Shopping malls, historic sites, trade shows, hospitals, government buildings, and hotel lobbies, where they provide access to directories and maps.

Government buildings, where they provide information about municipal services, public meetings, and local events.

Factories, offices, and other places of business, where they offer employees information about benefits, job openings, and corporate policies.

Corporate lobbies, where they provide visitors an introduction to the company as well as a map showing conference rooms, rest rooms, and other building locations or campus facilities. These kiosks often are connected to a corporate Web site.

Financial institutions, where they display up-to-the-minute interest rates and stock prices.

Stores, where they replace paper catalogs.

Healthcare facilities, where they dispense health education information and display maps and directories.

Product promotion kiosks
Kiosks that promote products and services are a win/win proposition. Consumers receive information as well as coupons and other discounts. Manufacturers have their message delivered straight to the consumer rather than relying on the detailed product training of individual sales people. Promotional kiosks also can reduce the need for sales personnel; they sometimes are referred to as “independent in-store POS sales support.”

Electronic couponing systems are the most common promotional kiosks. Manufacturers place the systems in retail outlets to increase awareness of their products. The kiosks attract consumers by offering coupons; to obtain the coupons, consumers often must respond to demographic and other questions, providing companies with valuable consumer information.

Kiosks often combine information and promotion. A kiosk in a hotel lobby, for example, might include descriptions of hotel services along with coupons and ads for neighborhood shops, restaurants, and theaters.

Prime locations: Stores, where the kiosks are installed by manufacturers promoting their own products. In addition, stores themselves often install kiosks to promote specific services, such as a gift registry or a cake decorating service.

Hotel lobbies and malls, where they provide information while advertising local services, activities, and events.

Financial institutions, where they describe banking and other financial services.

Service kiosks
These kiosks can provide services that are free or for-pay. In government organizations, the use of service kiosks has been driven by the public’s demand for increased hours of business and shorter wait times.

Service kiosks are also gaining popularity among corporations where today’s employees must choose from a dizzying array of benefits. Employees can use kiosks to enter information about their needs; the kiosk then determines the benefit package that best addresses those needs.

Prime locations: Colleges and universities, where they’re used by students to enroll in classes, access transcripts, pay tuition bills, and obtain campus maps.

Hotels and other public places, where they serve as “phone booths of the future” by providing e-mail, Internet access, and fax services. Hotel guests can also use kiosks for hotel check-in and check-out.

Corporations, where they’re installed by HR departments seeking to help employees choose among benefit packages, as described above.

Government buildings, where they’re used by people applying for birth certificates, reserving camp sites, or renewing drivers’ licenses.

Banks, where they’re used by customers applying for loans, opening accounts, or obtaining mortgage rate information. Some banks are installing kiosks that let customers communicate by video phone with a customer service representative in a remote location.

Product-dispensing kiosks
A product-dispensing kiosk is a store-in-a-box, a single installation that handles all the processes required to make a sale, from creating the product, to delivering the product, to receiving payment. For this reason, vending kiosks can be the most complex kiosks to implement. They also can be the most profitable.

Also known as point-of-purchase kiosks, product-dispensing kiosks minimize or eliminate the need for sales personnel. They also can expand a store’s area of operation by enabling consumers to purchase items in an increased number of locations. (For example, theater-ticket–dispensing machines might be located in airports.)

Prime locations: Theaters, museums, and transportation centers, such as train stations and airports, where they issue tickets.

Stores, where they dispense such products as customized greeting cards, gift certificates, and video rental cards.

Tourist bureaus, airports, and other public places where they sell maps. (Users are prompted to choose a destination; the kiosk then delivers a map with directions to the chosen site.)

Internet commerce kiosks
Kiosks that connect directly to a business Web site let consumers purchase products to be delivered to them at a later time. A store equipped with e-commerce kiosks can increase its product offerings without increasing its inventory. Clerks, meanwhile, are freed from having to order products from the catalog or from another store.

Increasingly, general-purpose Internet-access kiosks are being placed in public areas. Users who already have Internet access from home or work will use these kiosks on a convenience basis (in much the same way they use a public telephone and ATM machines today).

Prime locations: Stores and malls, where they give consumers access to on-line catalogs.

Financial institutions, where they enable consumers to participate in on-line investment services.

Hotels, airports, and other public places, where they give the public Internet access.

Web-enabled kiosks
Web-enabling software transforms an existing Web site into a public-access kiosk application. Organizations that choose to make their Web sites kiosk-accessible enjoy significant savings in development costs because they need make only minor modifications—such as replacing browser controls with touch-activated control panels and buttons—to their existing application.

Web-enabled kiosks can connect directly to the Internet; they also can be accessed from a local disk. In local mode, customer data, forms, and e-mail are “faked” to disk files for later retrieval.

Common applications include:

· Information dispensing services

· Corporate human resources

· Public-access Internet search

· Hotel self-service check-in/check-out

· Company intranet access

· Internet commerce

· Retail cataloging

· Event ticketing

· Airline ticketing

· Gift registries

Kiosk Components

No two kiosk installations are alike. A kiosk that dispenses recipes uses different components than a kiosk that takes orders for rose bushes; both of these use different components than a kiosk that takes applications for a car loan. But regardless of their purpose, all kiosks incorporate the following core components, and additional components that depend on the kiosk’s function.

Touchmonitor
A touchmonitor consists of a touch-sensitive transparent screen placed over a CRT monitor or flat panel display monitor. Pictures or text on the screen instruct users to select or “touch” an option. Touchmonitors are used in approximately 75 percent of all kiosk installations because of their ease of use, durability, and reliability.

Enclosure
Whether it’s a compact wall unit or a large in-store installation, every kiosk must have an enclosure—and it must be made of sturdy, durable materials designed to withstand abuse. Typically, kiosk enclosures are made of metal, but wood, plastic, or fiberglass may also be used. The kiosk location (indoor vs. outdoor, for example) and type of installation (stand-alone, wall-mounted, or tabletop) help to determine the type of enclosure that is needed.

Application software
The kiosk’s software application must attract users to the kiosk, accomplish the kiosk’s stated objectives, be easy and fun to use, and incorporate built-in reporting mechanisms that provide feedback about which parts of the application are used, how long users stay at the kiosk, and other data. Many kiosk developers are using their Web site as the basis for their kiosk application (see Web-enabled kiosks below).

Computer
The kiosk application’s requirements determine the computer hardware requirements. At a minimum, a kiosk computer should support full-motion video, digital audio, and network connectivity.

Printer
The kind of printer a kiosk needs depends on the kiosk’s function. Kiosks most often use printers to print receipts, tickets, maps, and product information.

Additional components
The kiosk’s function also determines the use of one or more additional components, such as those that follow.

Magstripe card reader for kiosks that accept credit cards.

Signature pads for kiosks that require users to complete a purchase transaction, authorize a credit card application, or simply sign a greeting card.

Coin and dollar bill acceptor for vending kiosks that deliver a product.

Video camera and telephone handset for videoconferencing kiosks that allow a person to use a handset to speak to a representative while viewing the representative’s image on the kiosk monitor.

Telephone for kiosks that enable users to connect directly to a company representative.

Web-enabling software for kiosks that provide users with access to the World Wide Web (see Web-enabled kiosks below).

Speakers for kiosks that require sound, such as those with music-previewing applications; also sound hoods for kiosks that could disturb passersby.

Privacy screens for kiosks that require users to enter personal information.

Membrane keyboards for applications that require users to enter extensive information

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