Consumers expected to spend $475 Billion at self-service kiosks this year

According to this interesting press release that I came across at Yahoo!, as American's we appear to be taking matters into our own hands more frequently when it comes to getting product information, printing coupons, and even paying for our purchases. At least, that's what research company IHL Consulting Group found when they did a survey of the use of self-service devices like interactive kiosks and self-checkout lanes in the US and Canadian markets this year:

North American consumers are on pace to spend over $475 billion at self-checkout lanes, ticketing kiosks and other self-service machines in 2006, an increase from $324 billion in 2005, reports a new research study conducted by IHL Consulting Group.

What's more, the revenue generated by self-service transactions should continue this pace of growth in the coming years, said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Consulting Group, an analyst firm and consultancy that serves retailers and retail technology vendors.

"We expect to see expenditures made at self-service kiosks to rise by about 51 percent this year and 33 percent in 2007," Buzek said, adding that demand for self-checkout systems should push the dollar value of transactions up near $1.2 trillion by 2009.