Adweek looks at "smart" shopping carts

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm no fan of the so-called smart cart. The idea of taking a touch screen computer, slapping it onto a cart, and offering features that vary from passive advertising to loyalty to self price-check just doesn't seem to fit with how today's shopper thinks and acts inside the store. Further, the carts have been prone to a huge number of technical and logistical issues stemming from the fact that shopping carts are some of the most heavily-abused equipment you're likely to encounter. According to an article in this week's Adweek, it looks like I'm not alone in my thinking:

While the use of such database technology inevitably brings up privacy concerns, it also has the potential to be annoying. Moreover, it's expensive. The average, analog shopping cart costs somewhere between $150 and $200, but a smart cart can be upwards of $2,000. Since it's unlikely that spending 10 times more will lead to 10 times the benefit, smart shopping carts are a hard line item to defend, particularly for supermarkets, where razor-thin margins that average 1% scarcely make room for investments in lavish techno-perks.

"The cost is prohibitive," said StarCom's Warren. "I don't see it making it through ROI hurdles." As a result, smart shopping carts are still stuck in the pilot stage. The highest profile effort with the carts, Stop & Shop's EasyShop (formerly known as Shopping Buddy)—a small tablet that consumers activate with their Stop & Shop card—is still only available in 90 New England stores.

While the privacy and intrusiveness issues can probably be solved, that ROI one is going to be tougher. Granted, the price of technology continues to drop, and new materials and advances in battery technology will eventually solve some of the up-front and ongoing cost issues currently associated with smart cart technology. But at what point will it make sense for retailers to adopt these things en masse (provided they can be shown to provide any benefit to shoppers, of course). What's the time to a positive return on investment for a standard cart? How much "credit" will retailers be willing to extend in order to reap larger returns from the equipment in the long run? What kind of effect will the mass adoption of these things have on store traffic patterns, the store layout and the use of checkout lanes? Will there be in-house technical support available to help people whose carts crash mid-visit?

Tags: kiosks, self-service, smart carts, shopping buddy

Ohio study finds all e-voting systems vulnerable

Well here's a surprise: every electronic voting system tested in a recent study conducted at the request of Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner were found to have some kind of vulnerability, "which could impact the integrity of elections." From a press release on her website:

The Evaluation & Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards & Testing report, known as EVEREST, is a comprehensive review of voting systems revealing startling findings on voting machines and systems used in Ohio and throughout the country. The Ohio study tested the systems for:

- risks to vote security,
- system performance, including load capacity,
- configuration to currently certified systems specifications, and
- operations and internal controls that could mitigate risk.

The $1.9 million study, paid for using federal funds, was structured to allow two teams of scientists, corporate and academic, to conduct parallel assessment of the security of the state’s three voting systems - Election Systems & Software (ES&S), Hart Intercivic and Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold) - in both voting and board of elections environments. Separate research was conducted on each voting system’s performance, configuration and operations and internal controls management. A bipartisan team of 12 election board directors and deputy directors advised the study and evaluated all reports, participating with the secretary in making recommendations for change.

While some tests to compromise voting systems took higher levels of sophistication, fairly simple techniques were often successfully deployed.

The study resulted in a list of recommendations being published and sent to the state's governor. While if implemented they're likely to only affect Ohio's electronic voting laws, the same problems almost certainly exist in every other state that uses some kind of electronic voting terminal. Among the recommendations made were:

• Eliminating points of entry creating unnecessary voting system risk by moving to Central Counting of Ballots
• Eliminating Use of Direct Recording Electronic (DREs) and Precinct-based Optical Scan Voting Machines that tabulate votes at polling locations
• Utilizing the AutoMark voting machine for voters with disabilities (This machine “reads” the bar code on a blank ballot and acts solely as a ballot marking device, allowing voters, especially those with disabilities, to mark ballots with little or no assistance, preserving the secrecy of their ballot selections.)
• Requiring all ballots be Optical Scan Ballots for central tabulation and effective voter verification
• Maintaining “no fault” absentee voting while establishing Early (15 days prior to the election) and Election Day Vote Centers (of the size of 5 to 10 precincts), eliminating voting at individual precincts or polling places of less than 5 precincts
• Requiring all Special Elections (issues only) held in August 2008 to be voted by mail (no in-person voting, except at the board of elections, for issue-only elections held in August 2008)

While it seems like such a simple problem on paper, it's clear that even after four years of development electronic voting terminals are no where near ready for prime-time usage. In my neck of the woods (Broward County, FL), they're ditching the remarkably mediocre touchscreen kiosks that we used in the 2004 and 2006 elections and going back to virtually foolproof (unless your an idiot) optical scanning systems.

I have nothing against self-service where it improves things. But security, validation and reliability issues have plagued touchscreen voting machines from the get-go. Until somebody's really willing to sit down and address all of the concerns, and provide a completely open, transparent hardware and software stack that can be peer-reviewed and modified as necessary, I don't see how touchscreen voting machines could be seen to provide benefits that outweigh their risks and costs.

Tags: voting kiosks, electronic voting, self service

NCR study: Customers want more self-service kiosks

A study put together by BuzzBack Market Research for NCR has shown that out of 633 U.S. & Canadian residents surveyed, a good portion would like to see more self-service kiosks in some way, shape or form. The major take-away stat of the study is that 77% of those polled said, according to a summary on ePenn.com, that "they are more likely to do business with organizations that offer self-service", in addition "92 percent value combining mobile devices - like mobile phones or PDAs - with the Internet and self-service kiosks or ATMs to improve their overall service experience."

Some common uses that those questioned said they would like to see available through self-service kiosks were making photocopies, renewing drivers licenses and purchasing airline tickets. Also, "an overwhelming majority (85 percent to 94 percent) of respondents indicated they would prefer to use self-service to print items such as maps, tickets, schedules, coupons and other items while banking, shopping, travelling, dining or visiting a medical clinic."

These are good numbers to say the least, but as usual the case with these kind of studies (there seems to be a new one each week) is that they should be taken with a grain of salt. The base of 633 respondents is big, but perhaps not as all-encompassing as it could be, especially considering it's spread out between the U.S. and Canada. Also, they limited the study to people ages 18 & up. Maybe it would have been better to lower that to 16, which is an age where most teens start to get more disposable income. In fact, I'd really like know what portion of the 633 polled represent a younger crowd (say, maybe 28 & under). Its these younger "Gen Y" consumers that are going to shape the way organizations do business in the future. Some older shoppers may use this new self-service technology only when it becomes more prevalent or after they've been spurred on by younger audiences who have convinced them it's much easier and that it's worth breaking traditional shopping habits for (or maybe they'll notice for themselves how much quicker the young guys get in, out and on with their lives rather than waiting on lines or looking for a store employee that knows what he's doing).

If the 633 respondents were spread out evenly among age groups then the survey shows that older consumers are adapting quickly to new self-service technology. But if it wasn't spread out evenly, then my guess is that it unfairly skews towards trends that might be common for younger shoppers, but maybe not so much yet for older ones. Considering that the study focused on such things as booking flights and making copies (which likely skew to older crowds than general retail would) then it could be premature for other, dissimilar businesses to take these findings and run with them.

Tags: self-service, kiosks

Interfaces of the future

It's been a pretty slow couple of weeks on the kiosk news front, hence the lack of posts. Guess it's just that time of year. But I did come across a pretty neat article recently about the future of user interfaces -- and I'm not talking about getting rid of the desktop, I'm talking about getting rid of the mouse, monitor and keyboard. As Smashing Magazine notes, a couple of companies are doing some pioneering work in the area of haptics, motion capture, and advanced visualization that could easily find their way into next generation "experiential" tools like Reactrix has done and Microsoft's Surface is threatening to do.

One of the most impressive is a new display tech by Cheoptics360, which generates a 3-D hologram in midair without viewers having to wear any silly headgear. Talk about product promotions -- this thing can show virtually anything that will fit in a 5x5 meter (15'x15' for us imperialists) area. While it'd be expensive to show off clothes and inexpensive packaged goods, I could easily see such a device used to show off different colors and options packages for expensive, high-margin products like cars, boats and RVs, where the experience of navigating the product can add a lot to the sales pitch.

My other favorite device from the not-to-distant future of computer interfaces is the Reactable multi-touch interface. Like Surface, it can follow multiple touchpoints simultaneously, and allow for all of those flashy user interface effects that we've seen. However, this tech specializes in following objects moved across its surface too. While the current demo is just that -- a demo with no real commercial value -- I could see something like this extending into a high-tech price scanner that recognizes a shopped item placed on top of it, and provides the visitor with an engaging interactive experience featuring product details, price, inventory levels and content well-suited towards the device's interactive nature (perhaps a lesson on how to fold a shirt placed on top of it, for example).

Granted, none of this stuff will see the light of day without some kind of "killer app." And while the gee-whiz effect is certainly still responsible for a lot of high-tech purchases destined for the retail sales floor, the amount spent on such eye-candy continues to pale in comparison to the amount spent on the old stalwarts of the industry (like touch screen kiosks and ePOS), which while no longer cool or flashy, continue to drive lots of transactions and have a timely and predictable ROI.


Technorati Tags: kiosks, self-service, user interface

Kiosks allow users to pay bills, parking tickets in Chicago

The Chicago Tribune has reported that kiosks are popping up in the Chicago area to allow patrons to pay parking tickets, various various bills and take care of other financial obligations.

According to the article, "Chicago residents can pay water-sewer bills, parking tickets and fines for red-light camera violations with cash, checks, credit cards or debit cards at any of 14 electronic kiosks.The city has installed the stands to provide an option to make payment easier, city Revenue Director Bea Reyna-Hickey said Monday. Five of the kiosks, at O'Hare International Airport and four police stations, can be used 24 hours a day."

Kiosks could ultimately turn into a way where residents of any major city can receive up-to-date information and interact with local municipal services. The local government could use them to promote important upcoming events and provide access to services that are useful at or near the kiosk's physical location. Local newspapers could also join forces to provide news feeds, particularly useful for residents who may not pick up a newspaper every day or who don't watch the nightly news.

Tags: kiosks, , bill-pay kiosks, self-service

Kiosk replaces front desk in Amerstam's Qbic hotel

There's an interesting story that ran in The Denver Post about a hotel in Amsterdam that has eliminated their front desk altogether in favor of a self-service kiosk.

In theory, if the kiosk can actually handle all of the typical transactions that take place at a hotel's front desk, it might work out. Hotels can be tricky environments, though, and a faulty computer system or incomplete transaction could potentially mess up reservations and quickly lead to chaos on on crowded weekends or holidays (though of course an attendant could still be present during peak traffic times).

To avoid those types of issues, check-in kiosks are often implemented in hotels that are primarily aimed at people traveling on business, since their transactions tend to be straightforward, and the travelers quickly build up experience using the kiosks. They don't work so well (in my experience) in more touristy hotels where people are infrequent travelers, have complicated reservations, or are simply looking for that unique human interaction that comes at every turn while staying in another country. For that reason it's pretty interesting that Qbic has decided to go the route of ditching the front desk altogether.

One other possible concern is how older, less tech-savvy users would respond to the technology. Granted Qbic is billed as a state-of-the-art hotel, so guests are probably going to be of the variety comfortable interfacing with computers, but the issue of tech support is bound to come up anyway. A lot of the more common pitfalls can probably be avoided with lots of well written and easy-to-follow instructions on nearby signage.

If all else fails, though, a "roving concierge" is still around to assist customers.

Tags: kiosks, self-service, self check-in

Got a self-service app you hate? Maybe now you can do something about it

At least, that will be the case if RedesignMe! takes off. The site is a collaborative database of poorly designed products (uploaded by regular folks), and helpful suggestions about how they might be made better.

While there's no focus on self-service per se, I can certainly think of a number of kiosk apps that I've encountered in the past that could have used a bit (or a lot) of design work.

Tags: RedesignMe, kiosks, self-service

Diebold study focuses on ATM habits

A recent study from Diebold takes a look at the banking preferences of Boomers, Gen-X and -Y consumers, and the results have some clear implications for the kiosk industry. According to this synopsis on CNNMoney.com, "The analysis considers three distinct demographic groups in its findings: baby boomers (age 43 and older), Generation X (ages 26-42) and Generation Y (ages 18-25)" the article continues to discuss the findings saying, "Specifically, study results reveal that automated teller machine (ATM) usage continues to find strong support across generations. In fact, the study shows that aside from withdrawing cash, all generations unilaterally rate viewing account balances, making deposits and transferring funds between accounts as their three most-preferred ATM services."

So what does this mean? Simply put, if ATMs can top the traditional banking system in terms of consumer preference, then it's possible kiosks providing different services can also do the same.

Younger customers are more tech savvy and our lifestyles reflect that. I would fall in the "Generation Y" category, which according to the study showed the biggest preference for ATMs, and I know for a fact that I use banks as little as possible. I also know that more advanced technology makes my life easier in some ways and makes it more hectic in others. While ATMs may save me the time of going to the bank, I also compulsively check my e-mail sometimes to the point of addiction. Regardless, I've grown up with a variety of advancements that came into their prime during my lifetime and most of them seem more natural to me than anything that came before it. And I'm certainly not alone. I can't remember how many times my friends from college would ask me in all seriousness, "How did they do reports before the internet?"

When relating these concepts to kiosks, the key is that everything has to lead back to convenience. That's how to get the attention of the average, everyday consumer. Flashiness doesn't matter nearly as much as practicality. I doubt that my generation is any lazier than past ones, but we do expect a certain level of convenience that comes from our constant exposure to technology. If we can do something at a screen instead of doing it in person (and it's not a social thing), then we will. It's more comfortable for us, and it's almost always faster and more convenient too.

A lot of companies in the kiosk business get this, and more businesses are starting to hop on the bandwagon. Now there are places in public where we can download songs, pay bills and even get directions. It's a trend that is only going to grow stronger. ATMs lead the way. But now airport check-in kiosks are pretty much universally accepted, and hotel check-in kiosks are rapidly catching up. I wonder what the next "killer-app" kiosk will be?

Tags: ATM, kiosks, self-service

Google places mapping system on gas pumps

Serving as a nice follow up to Monday's article about pay-by-touch gas station pumps, MediaPost reports that Google has struck a deal to include mapping systems at the pumps as well. According to the article, "Men who hate asking for directions now have a savior in the form of Google Maps, which will soon be available via interactive displays installed in gas pumps at stations across the country. The Internet connections are appearing courtesy of a deal between Google and gas pump manufacturer Gilbarco Veeder-Root, which says the first wave will bring the service to about 3,500 pumps."

According to the article, advertisements will not be utilized immediately. That's really a shame for advertisers, because this a perfect venue for them. My guess is it won't take long before they start popping up.

Putting displays with easy access to directions near gas pumps obviously has some very practical benefits, and as a great service to customers, I think advertisers on such a system would be given a lot more consideration than other pump-top ad networks. Plastering ads in places where they aren't welcome is always a tough sell, but putting in ads for local restaurants, supermarkets and other businesses on these displays will be much more welcome, especially when you can touch a screen to get directions to them. This will be especially true in high tourist areas where people tend to be lost or unfamiliar with their surroundings.

Once they've gotten into the game, why stop at directions or basic advertisements? Why not include actual reviews for restaurants or the capability to print out coupons to local supermarkets, or beam them down to your cell phone. The more interactive these displays are the better, since there's a several-minute long period that people must wait while filling up.

Now, if only they would invent ad-subsidized fuel to bring gas prices down to a more reasonable level :)


Tags: digital signage, interactive kiosks, gas station kiosks

Paying by touch at Chicago-based Shell stations

According to this article on Yahoo!, some Shell gas stations in Chicago are testing kiosks from Pay By Touch that will allow consumers to pay based on fingerprint identification. The firm has traditionally placed its biometric scanners into grocery and pharmacy chains, but has decided that it offers a value-add anywhere that purchases can be streamlined or made faster or more convenient.

The first question I asked myself when reading this was, "with technology like this how long will physical money survive?" It's an important question to ask, and my guess would be not too much longer. In all honestly, I make a good portion of my purchases by just using my debit card. I rarely write checks and with online checking I don't really keep a check book in the conventional sense. I'm also guessing that I'm not in the minority. So what does this mean in regards to my shopping habits? That's simple: more impulse buying. Using a debit card makes a purchase seem less real than using cold, hard cash.

Technology as advanced as this will only increase impulse purchasing, and that is always a good thing for business. It's a lot easier to place your thumb on a screen to buy something you really want but know you shouldn't buy than it is to reach into your pocket, grab the cash and physically see the tole it is taking on your net worth. Not to mention, you can leave your wallet at home, or worse, lose it. You're never without your thumb (hopefully).

Of course, there is the issue of paranoia that comes into play with technology such as this. To most people, finger identification is a tool used by secret agents to infiltrate the lairs of criminals. They don't expect to see it at their local gas station. And if you think I'm over-simplifying or even exaggerating just read this interesting bit from the article:

"Sunflower Market, a Chicago grocery store, also has Pay By Touch systems installed. About 2 percent of its customers signed up for the payment option, said the store's manager, Debbie Britton.

"I think it scares people," Britton said. "They're more confused about the whole system. Some of them say, 'Well, now the FBI can find me.'"

Tags: PayByTouch, kiosks, self-service

Walgreens adds burn-on-demand DVD kiosks

You have to give it up to Walgreens. First they reach outside of their relatively unexciting image as a drugstore in order to start a promotion along side Live! With Regis and Kelly, and now Yahoo! reports that they'll be installing kiosks that will enable costumers to download movies and burn them onto a DVD right at the store.

Burn-on-demand technology isn't exactly new, but what makes this deployment unique is that Walgreens is trying to use the kiosks to reach new customers stores as well as expand their reach and broaden their image with existing ones. From a business perspective, the idea of having thousands of products available for sale in a condensed space is excellent. Studios don't need to ship DVDs in bulk to the stores and Walgreen's doesn't need to clear out large portions of the store to accommodate them. It's win-win. It also allows the stores to carry hard-to-find titles that may not sell as fast and would waste valuable shelf space if they were physically in a store.

By going the burn-on-demand route, Walgreens is also aligning itself with the future of film viewing. Ever since Netflix came along, traditional film rental outlets like Blockbuster and Hollywood have had to scramble to compete. Since then, people have also started becoming more reliant upon downloading media instead of renting a hard copy. So the whole rental business is becoming about meeting viewers halfway between controlling content and making things convenient. And talk about multitasking: if a customer can pick up prescriptions and groceries and then burn a movie to DVD while they wait, chances are it will make their day easier than making another stop at a video store.

Of course, the one thing Walgreens really needs to keep in mind is that their customers tend to skew a little older and therefore may not always be tech savvy. This means they'd better spell things out pretty clearly on the kiosks unless they want to create some severely confused customers. In addition, they'll also need to make it cheaper or at least competitive in price to other DVD sales outlets right from the start. It's never wise to underestimate the willingness of people to go completely out of their way to save money.

Once again, the fact that Hollywood is going to be taking advantage of the kiosk as a method for both promotion and distribution bodes well for the future of this platform. It'll be a while before DVD kiosks can take a sizable chunk out of the profits of more conventional outlets like Blockbuster and Best Buy, but as long as they move towards streamlining the process, making it affordable and making it convenient, they'll have a shot at taking a piece of the pie while letting once niche-retailers expand into a new and profitable product category.

Tags: kiosks, self-service, burn-on-demand

MediaMouth expands onto Facebook

This piece of news came out a little while ago, but it's still worth a mention:

MediaMouth (previously known as Digital Kiosk Technologies), a company known for retail kiosks which allow users to download music to a CD, is expanding their operation onto the hugely successful social networking site Facebook. According to this article on Yahoo! Finance, "MediaMouth's new Music Gifts(TM), brand music application for Facebook, is the first and only music store application on Facebook that allows users to buy and gift individual music tracks and create custom mix CDs directly from their profile page, as well as share music clips and playlists with their Facebook friends."

This is a great move on the part of MediaMouth, even if it does take them away from their self-service roots. Facebook really is one of the best places to reach younger audiences, and it is arguably more powerful than MySpace (at least until the new phenom site comes along). Young audiences are a notoriously fickle yet very desirable crowd to gain the attention of, so gaining visibility via one of the Internet's irising stars is a very savvy approach. Additionally, this is a shining example of how kiosk companies can expand their brand into other technologies in order to reinforce their recognition. My guess would be that joining with Facebook will draw people to their in-store kiosks (or at least make the kiosks more visible) more than the kiosks will bring people to the Facebook feature. Either way, it's win-win for MediaMouth.

If MediaMouth can show success with this project, it opens doors for other companies to think outside the box and pursue similar advancements. Don't be surprised if others (e.g RedBox, DVDPlay, etc.) start to look for an angle they can take in order to establish some kind of Facebook, MySpace or other social media network tie-in in the near future.

Although, given how long social networking sites are hot these days, the wisest decision may be to look for the next Facebook and work towards joining forces with that :)

Tags: MediaMouth, kiosks, Facebook

Does self-checkout reduce impulse buys?

Over a year ago we first heard rumblings that shoppers who routinely used self-checkout lanes were less likely to make impulse purchases. Whether it was because people who use the lanes are inherently less likely to make impulse buys, or that the lanes were causing regular shoppers to become a little too efficient is still a matter of much discussion. But only just recently the topic resurfaced when research firm IHL Consulting Group noted that, "impulse purchases among women drop 32.1 percent and men 16.7 percent when self-checkout is used instead of a staffed checkout."

This time, though, the group suggests a few possible causes, backed up with real data. The first cause is simple enough: not many retailers that have installed self-checkout lanes have bothered putting the racks of chewing gum, salty snacks and other popular impulse items nearby. Similarly, while the science of arranging racks of impulse goods near traditional checkout lanes is fairly well understood, the same can't be said for self-checkout, so it's possible that stores will have to re-arrange items near these aisles to make them more eye-catching.

Second, and problematic for the industry, is that customers do appear -- for one reason or other -- to make fewer impulse buys even when the items are nearby. Again, there's no new info on whether it's due to the self-selection effect, some property of the environment, or a surplus effect of the self-checkout lanes themselves. One thing's for sure, though: if retailers find that same-store sales of impulse products fall after the installation of self-checkout lanes, that drop needs to be considering when determining the true cost -- and ultimate ROI -- of self-checkout systems.

Tags: self-checkout, self-service, kiosks

Flytech introduces new all-in-one unit

There's been some noise in the all-in-one space lately, what with IBM launching an updated version of their popular AnyPlace kiosk and this new product getting released by Taiwanese hardware vendor Flytech. According to the (admittedly limited) product website, the "K790 series is an advanced metal Panel PC. Its ultra slim and exquisite metal enclosure catches most eye contacts (sic). [The] K790 series includes four different display sizes, 12”, 15”, 17" and 19" equipped with high brightness TFT panels and resistive/SAW touch screens." Additionally, the units are rated NEMA 3 / IP 55 dust and water proof, and are thus suited for industrial applications as well as more mundane retail, government and transportation-oriented self-service applications.

Thanks to Gadgettastic for the much better-looking images than the manufacturer has on their site :)


Tags: kiosks, all-in-one, Flytech

High Tech Carts Inform Shoppers Of Unhealthy Choices In London

ABC News has reported that shoppers London may soon be pushing around "trolleys" (that's shopping carts for us Yanks) that have the ability to warn them when they are buying too much unhealthy food at the supermarket.

According to the article, "the high-tech model will be fitted with a computer screen and barcode scanner. It will read each product's individual code to give customers information about calories, nutrition, ethical sourcing and the environment." This is definitely an interesting concept and it opens up the possibility for other similarly themed technologies that can provide shoppers with useful information (ill-fate of the Shopping Buddy be damned). It's also a potentially great way for customers without in-depth knowledge of the foods they eat to maintain a healthy diet.

However, the system is not without its drawbacks, the first of which obviously being that there are tons of products in any supermarket that are not healthy (in fact their numbers probably easily outweigh the healthy options). What will the folks at places like Frito Lay feel about a machine attached to a cart that essentially tells shoppers not to buy their product? My guess is they won't be making any contributions to EDS, the U.S. based company responsible for the technology. Plus, it could also cause a lot of overly crowded shopping aisles as customers stop and read information about various products.

This kind of technology is probably better suited to specialized health food stores where people are making the conscious decision to eat an entirely healthy diet, and are willing to take the time to learn about the different options the store offers. In mainstream supermarkets, the systems simply have too much potential to do more harm than good, at least from a business perspective.

Tags: kiosks, smart cart, marketing at retail