US Retailers To Invest In Self-Service During 2006

According to AMR Research (via this article at ePaynews), 2006 looks like it will be a good one for the self-service technology set, including those of us who make interactive kiosk software, of course. Here are some of the most interesting bits:

In 2006, US retailers’ technology budgets will increase by 3 per cent as a percentage of company revenues, up from 2.9 per cent in 2005, a new report by AMR Research predicts. Investment in self-checkouts and kiosks is tipped to be important, while hardware will take the biggest share of retail IT dollars in 2006. Before now, most retailers had extended their legacy POS hardware and software platforms, but hardware investments in 2006 will focus on core POS, payment systems and kiosks as retailers seek to reduce their operating and maintenance costs.

Twenty-nine per cent of respondents also plan to upgrade their POS software, with a total of 80 per cent reporting that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is driving their IT investments. AMR Research also estimates the 2005 retail applications market at USD 6.6 billion, but projects that by 2009 this total will grow by almost USD 3 billion to USD 9.3 billion. Retailers seeking to invest in new legacy applications and to introduce more scalable, software platforms for in-store networking and multi-channel retail, will drive this expected growth in the retail applications market.

BioPay to be acquired by Pay by Touch

The Washington Post tell us:

BioPay LLC, a Herndon company that sells biometric technology that allows consumers to pay for goods by scanning their fingerprints, agreed to be acquired by San Francisco rival Pay by Touch for $82 million in cash and stock.
...
Pay by Touch will take over all of BioPay's retail customers, as well as its database of consumers and portfolio of patents. The companies say their systems offer speedier checkout lines for consumers and lower transaction fees for retailers, but some privacy-rights advocates have voiced concerns that the firms have amassed huge databanks of personal information.

What will these companies will do with that huge databank of personal information? It's a good question, but aside from having a fingerprint as a personal identifier instead of, say a credit card number, these privacy concerns are no different than ones voiced by people worried about the major credit card holders' control over personal identification information (granted a good bit of federal oversight prevents them from doing anything too nefarious).

Check out the rest of the article and then go talk to the ACLU if you're worried :)

Nintendo launches new DS demo kiosk in Japan

Not a whole lot of information to go on right now, but apparently Nintendo is trialing a new form of kiosk in Japan that lets customers trial up to 30 different games for their DS game system, as well as download software trials and updates. Here's the paragraph from GameSpot:

TOKYO--Nintendo has let Japanese DS owners download game demos from special kiosks in the past, but now the company is also reaching out to those who don't yet own a DS.

The company has placed new DS demo kiosks across Japan called "Touch! Try! DS," which lets consumers try out the system and 30 games before making a purchase. Where previous demo stations merely invited DS owners to download free samples of games to their handheld, the new kiosks have actual systems to try out.

The kiosks currently offer demos of 30 games, including Mario Kart DS. A demo of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time will be available starting December 15. The list of participating stores and available games is available at Nintendo's official site.

Read the rest of it and the feedback here.

Are retailers excited about kiosks again?

InternetRetailer is carrying this interesting story about using in-store kiosks to combat Internet shopping. As they note, "Some 50% of U.S. consumers use the web at some point during the purchase, even if it’s only to research a product. Now, customers who are used to the control and level of information they have access to online are bringing those expectations into the store, sparking a return of retailers’ interest in kiosks, according to a new report from Forrester Research, 'The retail kiosk comeback.'"

Particularly interesting was this clip:

[A]ccording to Forrester’s data, 67% of consumers polled believe kiosks would be a great way to get information without talking to a sales associate. The report notes that in-store kiosks can assist sales associates as well by giving them access to information already researched by shoppers they are assisting.

If true, the industry could see a number of new and interesting applications come to the foreground, further augmenting salesperson knowledge while giving retail locations access to a greater breadth and depth of information while providing new product and service opportunities.

Walgreens to RFID-enable their POP displays

Not exactly kiosk news, not exactly digital signage news, but interesting and certainly important for our industry:

Walgreens last week said it will install RFID-enabled technology chain-wide to track the placement and effectiveness of P-O-P displays and materials.

Provided by Goliath Solutions, the system will initially track P-O-P materials from 15 consumer packaged goods manufacturers, said Walgreens, which declined to identify the participants or a timeframe for the rollout. The chain will combine the data from Goliath's system with scanner data to analyze the sales effectiveness of displays in real time. The system also will be used to direct store managers about proper execution, the company said.

Goliath has been used in a number of POPAI studies to gauge the effectiveness of POP, including in one study that feature. The complete article can be found here, at the In-store Marketing Institute.

Consumers give digital content kiosks the thumbs up

According to this article in InformationWeek:

A newly introduced unmanned kiosk that lets consumers burn movies, music, and other media onto CDs is getting huge interest, with three Fortune 500 companies about to test the kiosks and others already rolling them out.

The tremendous success of Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store is breathing life into digital kiosks in retail stores. And not just for video clips and music, but for games, movies, ring tones, and more.

"Digital movies are gaining some momentum, with McDonald's piloting DVD rental kiosks. Cell phone mobile content and DVD-based movie burning are seen as future applications," said Bennett Mason, AIDC senior analyst at Venture Development Corp. "Starbucks has already installed CD-burning kiosks in several locations."

"There is a lot of interest in this emerging application from small and large kiosk suppliers," said Bennett Mason, AIDC senior analyst at Venture Development Corp. "Many consider it a potential "killer app" with strong growth potential."

We've seen interest in burn-your-own kiosks come and go over the years. On the plus side, the access to content can be convenient, and an impulse buy of a DVD full of content can be extremely high-margin. On the down side, the kiosks have traditionally been expensive, complex, and prone to all sorts of physical and software problems. Plus, with broadband penetrating an increasingly large number of American households, one has to wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to download and burn all of that content from home.

McDonald's DVD kiosks drive sales

I think I've written about the DVD rental kiosks that they've been trialing in a number of midwest and Rocky Mountain McDonald's franchises over the past few months, but apparently RedBox is expanding into selling the disks directly through their interactive kiosks. One interesting merchandising hook is described in an article in Video Business Online, where a DVD -- in this case, commemorating a local baseball stadium -- is sold exclusively through the kiosk:

Busch Stadium, self-distributed by Major League Baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals, will be exclusively available at McDonald’s Redbox machines in the St. Louis, Mo., market until Dec. 20. Priced at $17.99, the sports documentary chronicles the historic sports field, which will be replaced with a new ballpark in the spring.

Hart Sharp Video will distribute the title to video retailers starting Dec. 20, similarly limited to the St. Louis market.

Redbox machines have been installed in 800 U.S. locations. Besides St. Louis, other McDonald’s Redbox markets are Minnesota, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Denver and Houston.

McDonald’s hasn’t disclosed how Redbox is contributing to its overall store revenue. Sources say adding a machine has nudged up total sales by about 5% at some McDonald’s locations (VB, 7-28).

But Waring did note that McDonald’s is pleased by the fact that the machines are luring in activity that they otherwise might not have enjoyed.

You can read the rest of the article here.

New polling system helps voters with disabilities

The Boston Globe reports that self-service kiosk technology is actually improving the voter experience for a number of the disabled.

Voting machines designed to accommodate the needs of blind and other disabled voters were tested in Watertown, Waltham, and Woburn, part of an effort to find a system that will be used statewide as Massachusetts tries to comply with federal legislation mandating equal treatment for voters with disabilities.

The 2002 Help America Vote Act requires all states and jurisdictions to have accessible equipment by Jan. 1, 2006.

The Waterton area actually tested three different types of electronic voting kiosk, each of which utilizes a number of different methods (e.g. touchscreen, audio announce, sip/puff controls) to ensure the greatest number of disabled Americans have complete control over the voting process.

The full article is here.

Diebold introduces self-service coin counting solution

According to a recent press release, Diebold has introduced a self-service coin counting device to help cash in (no pun intended -- honest) on the estimated $10 billion in loose change floating around in the pockets, jars, boxes and under the sofas.

CoinCount enables financial institutions to expand their service offerings to provide customers and members with convenient, fast access to coin-counting services right inside the branch. Tom Swidarski, Diebold's president and chief operating officer, said the solution was developed to help financial institutions draw consumers to the branch.

CoinCount offers financial institutions opportunities for customer/member recruitment and retention and improved productivity. By using CoinCount to help attract consumers to the branch, financial institutions can cross-sell other branch products and services, generate new revenue through transaction fees and provide another avenue for branding and marketing. of US consumers.

CoinCount can improve productivity by minimizing the need for branch personnel to handle, count or sort coin. Its advanced hopper cleaning system helps ensure that branch personnel will not be taken out of service to retrieve consumer items that may be inadvertently deposited with coin. The system separates coin from debris such as jewelry, paper clips and other items that often mingle with loose coin. Non-coin items are returned to the customer through a pocket in the front of the unit.

Find out all about it here.

Self-service making its way into fast food

As WFAA in Dallas/Ft. Worth tells us,

Ending years of flirtation, the fast-food industry finally appears ready to take the plunge into self-service ordering with kiosks, some restaurant technology experts say.

Taking a page from banks and airlines, major chains including McDonald's, Burger King and Subway are field-testing machines that allow consumers to order and pay for their meals without any human contact.

None of the companies has announced a systemwide launch. Still, experts say the growing use of self-service at the grocer and the gas pump has chains thinking more seriously of joining the do-it-yourself generation.

I've yet to see a truly compelling demonstration of self-service ordering in a fast food restaurant, but that might be becuase I generally avoid them during lunchtime, when lines are the longest, and thus (presumably) the self-service machines would have the greatest impact. The article cites rising healthcare costs, staffing problems and efficiency issues as the primary drivers for looking at kiosk technology, but the lack of a strong commitment by any of the major fast food companies leaves me wondering whether this is ready for prime-time yet.

Kiosks cited as way to improve customer service and satisfaction

CIO-Today is running an article on the technologies in use online and off- to improve the customer shopping experience, and of course interactive kiosks make an appearance as a timesaver and convenience for customers on-the-go:

Another valuable component to e-commerce is customer service. Big retailers are exploring in-store kiosks as a way to meet the expectations that their newly informed online customers bring into the store.

"When the customer enters the store with more complex questions, the retailer must be ready to fulfill those online expectations, so there's a new pressure," [Tamara Mendelsohn, consumer markets analyst at Forrester Research] said. "The sales rep can do research with the consumer at the kiosk, or use a handheld device" to access additional content while out on the floor, she said.

"If a customer walks into the store and needs a new printer cartridge, the consumer oftentimes can't remember which printer they have," noted [AMR Research senior retail analyst Rob Garf]. "But a kiosk can store their purchase history, and the customer can look it up at the kiosk to see what exactly they need."

In a macro sense, e-commerce technology is heading into full integration Latest News about integration with other sales channels so that retailers can have a comprehensive view of the customer, no matter how they shop.

"There's going to be more real-time integration, which is as much of a process issue as it is a technology issue," Garf said. "Store managers also will be spending more time educating their personnel about the many policies and procedures in play for the different channels so that the retail workers understand them."

You can find the full article here, which touches on a number of other technologies including e-commerce systems, electronic shoping carts (the web variety), and analytics packages.

Source Technologies' concourse(TM) Bill Pay Kiosk Wins `Best Financial Kiosk'

Yahoo is carrying this press release from Source Technologies. Apparently, they're quite pleased that they won awards from Kiosk Magazine this year :)

Source Technologies' concourse(TM) Bill Pay Kiosk has won both the 2005 Kiosk Award for Best Financial Kiosk as well as the 2005 Kiosk Magazine Readers Choice Award. The honors were delivered at the Self-Service & Kiosk Show, held in San Francisco Oct. 17-18, sponsored by NetWorld Alliance media Kiosk magazine, KioskMarketplace.com and SelfServiceWorld.com.

The Source Technologies' Bill Pay Kiosk enables customers to pay bills without waiting for assistance from a customer service representative. The users are identified at the kiosk through a barcode on their individual statement or by their account number, and are guided through their transactions step by step. The kiosks accept all forms of payment, including cash, check, debit and credit, providing the user with an efficient and convenient bill payment option. Businesses and financial institutions that employ these kiosks are able to redirect staff resources that would otherwise be devoted to payment processing and customer service.

Touch screen voting debuts in Ohio

Two years after Miami, FL started using touchscreen kiosk technology to hasten voting, the same technology has made it to Miami, OH, according to this article:

Many votes lined up early and plowed through rain to cast their ballot. Many of those who voted early on Tuesday said they had an overwhelmingly postive experience using the new touch screen voting machines.One voter said she was in and out in about a minute. Another oter said he thought the voting process was simpler and improved.The new touch-screens have been planned for Ohio since the disputed presidential election of 2000.Some people who voted said they did encounter some difficulties. One voter said he had to recast his ballot two or three times.The two candidates for Dayton mayor, Rhine McLin and David Bohardt, reported liking the electronic voting.Most voters said they are glad that the age of the punch-card ballot is over and they are ready to move forward.

In all, the technology seems to be maturing, and will likely be in more widespread use for next year's midterm elections.

Not all are happy with self-service check-in kiosks

At ZDNet, John Carroll publishes this (sometimes unintentionally) funny article about his trials and tribulations with airline check-in kiosks. Apparently he has run into a few problems since he shares a name with somebody on a DHS blacklist, and thus gets singled out for security screenings more often than he would like. As he notes:

One of the reasons airlines like self-check in kiosks is that it enables staff reductions at check-in desks. In today's cost-conscious airline industry, that matters, and I can hardly blame airlines for wanting to do that.

Unfortunately, most airlines have been a bit overly aggressive when it comes to reducing staff for check-ins. I've seen 20 check-in kiosks that had perhaps two human beings to handle all the human interaction requirements. That's not nearly enough, and that was the main reason I missed my flight this past Sunday.

Read the rest of the article to learn about some of the potential dangers of relying on technology too much :)

Arby’s owner uses automated menu ordering

The East Valley Tribune is reporting that several Arby's restaurants are trialing order-taking self-service kiosks. Similar trials are undersay at various McDonald's and Subway franchises (among others, I'm sure), but none have yet gotten a corporate mandate to be deployed across an entire chain of restaurants:

"The average person gets about 22 minutes for a lunch break from the time they leave the office to the time they get back." [Jay Johnson, director of operations for Scottsdalebased Fx4, which owns 47 Arby’s in Arizona] said, "If they walk into a restaurant and see a huge line, they’re going to go somewhere else. We want to get people in and out as soon as possible without losing friendliness."

Johnson said the shorter lines will encourage more customers to stay, which will eventually increase sales and produce higher revenue. Because the machines have only been in use for a month or so, however, it is too soon to tell whether they are financially benefiting the restaurants.

For the customers who have never used them, an Arby’s employee stands near the order station to answer any questions. Employees still stand at a register to take orders the standard way if customers prefer.

The machines feature a "modify" button for special orders, in case a customer wants extra lettuce or no mayonnaise.

The customer pays at the machine itself, either with a debit or credit card or cash. The cash feature is able to sort out a stack of bills, so the customer doesn’t have to insert them one at a time. Johnson said Fx4 first saw the technology at a trade show but it is not their intention for the touch-screen systems to replace counter personnel.

Read the complete report here.