Self-service-kiosks



45% of all the Jobs can be replaced by automation and in the US alone, 38% can be automated. Amongst all the industries, the retail sector has the maximum scope for automation and the hand-held billing machines contribute to most of the adoption. Autonomous robots that can help shoppers in departmental stores are being tested in Northern California. These Self-service Kiosks are mobile and come with voice recognition and indoor navigation systems. Customers can actually talk to these robots, ask for what they are looking for and the robots would direct the customers to the right section. Some automated systems come with the best POS touch screen monitor that even allow customers to be their own cashier’s letting them do the barcode scanning, packing, and swipe their credit cards for themselves.

Why Self-service kiosks?

Self-service kiosks are an all-in-one solution provider and help in saving, human hours and labor costs. Self-service kiosks are about independence and self-empowerment. They enable you to check yourself out from a retail store, pump your own fuel and check yourself into a clinic.

Self-service technologies dramatically affect the way people act and here are some proven examples. Orders placed through Taco Bell’s app are 20% pricier than the ones that are placed in the cash counters. This is because people select additional ingredients when they have enough time and space to make choices.

How self-service kiosks affect emotions?

Customers always have the fear of being judged for their eating habits. Self-service basically prevents social friction. In face-to-face service, most customers don’t come forward to order items that they’re not familiar with. The fear of mispronouncing the names in the menu, being misunderstood or looking unsophisticated in public make them hold back. Based on this, the National University of Singapore conducted a study which revealed that the orders had increased 8.4% in a liquor store after leveraging automated self-service.

Kiosks are the best tool to upsell and cross-sell your products. The self-service kiosk experimentation in McDonald’s reveal that 20% of the customers who didn’t initially order a drink or dessert ended up ordering them after seeing the recommendation in the Kiosk.

POS Point of sale tablets

Mobile POS systems are a hit in the market. Most of the restaurants around the world employ POS point of sale tablets to place orders. Some restaurants make the waiters use tablets to collect orders and send to the kitchen which would reduce the times that waiters spend in manual communication. A few restaurants deploy POS tablets in the table allowing diners to place their orders themselves. As discussed above, diners tend to try new things and place more orders when given the option of self-service. There are also kiosks that are being experimented in retail stores and hospitality chains across the world. One of the best examples is the ones leveraged in McDonald.

The kiosks in McDonald are touch screen and user-friendly. The touchscreen POS systems use words and pictures to guide them place the order. You can also customize your orders and the kiosks come with a point of sale device that lets users swipe their credit cards and make payments. The POS touch screen monitor reduces the friction in placing orders and make the process more efficient. The units also have a self-contained mini receipt printer in the base that minimizing the unit’s footprint on the counter. Chili’s witnessed a significant increase in the dessert orders after deploying self-service tablets.

Self-service kiosks in clinics

Self-service also reduces service times significantly. According to the Harvard business review,  on an average, reducing service times by 7 seconds can increase the market share by 1 to 3%. MEDENT, a medical software company, recently developed a self check-in kiosk. Patients can use this kiosks’ POS touch screen monitor to make appointments, check-ins, make payments and even manage their insurance. The kiosk also has the ability to scan a driver’s license to validate the IDs and pull out the corresponding records.

Self-service Kiosks in Airports

With the help of airport kiosks, service providers are able to provide enough information to the passengers without depending on airport staff. These kiosks provide useful information such as indoor navigation, ticket details, passenger information, flight status etc..the user interface is touch sensitive and easy to use. The airport kiosk market is growing at a CGPR of 10% and is expected to sustain the growth through 2030. The key players of the market include IBM, Siemens, Phoenix Kiosk, KIOSK IS, TBOTECH,  Advantech, Axon, and Safariland. North America is expected to witness the highest adoption during the forecast period followed by the Asia Pacific. The Middle East and Africa will expect a sustained adoption.

Interactive self-service kiosks from Posiflex have witnessed a significant increase in the adoption in recent years. This is majorly due to the demand created for operational efficiency. They reduce the friction at the counter and eliminate the common hassles that are prevalent in the face to face services.