Exploring the Self-Service Industry: How Kiosk Solutions Enhance Your Brand

There are different ways to channel your company’s resources and enhance customer service experiences. Some businesses want to provide a place where customers can find information, such as the directions to different vendors within a major airport. Other businesses want the target user to perform a transaction, such as making a cash or credit card payment or obtaining a product via a vending machine.

 

Creating a self-service kiosk solution is a way that a business like yours can interact directly with customers, either by providing a specific experience through self-service kiosks or by delivering multiple solutions in a hybrid kiosk/vending machine. When your goal is to build self-service kiosks, the question is whether to create different models (each design specific to the user experience) or to design a hybrid kiosk that delivers multiple products or services to customers via a single machine. At Coolgear, we develop products that are used in the designs of many types of self-service machines.

 

Getting Started

 

Before you can create the right self-service kiosk, vending machine, or hybrid kiosk/vending machine for a brand, it’s important to answer some questions about your current and future business strategy:

 

Will a self-service machine best meet the consumer’s needs?

 

You can create a machine that serves a single purpose — providing one product or service — or a machine that enables a customer to perform multiple tasks or transactions. However, remember that consumers are now accustomed to using their smartphone for everything so they won’t use a kiosk to interact with a brand if there is an easier way to accomplish it. Therefore, when designing a customer experience, be sure to decide whether a kiosk or an app is the best way to accommodate the busy consumer.

 

Can a kiosk take the place of a service rep?

 

Some customers prefer to have a physical interaction with a brand. Think of the consumer who still goes to the shopping mall to try on clothes instead of ordering through Amazon or another website. He or she may be willing to scan the price tag of a garment at a kiosk, but prefers old-fashioned consumer experiences (i.e. asking questions about a product, looking for deals on clearance racks, using the dressing rooms, and paying a real cashier).  If you want to reach targets in the same way a customer service representative would, providing an interactive kiosk could connect with targets without actually staffing employees in a physical location.

 

Will you deliver a product or service?

 

There are different types of transactions that a self-service kiosk can perform. For example, a customer can check in to a facility or event or purchase a ticket or a product. When you are at the cruise terminal, you see kiosks that allow customers to perform everything from renting luggage carts to paying for parking and purchasing sunscreen. A kiosk benefits the brand by decreasing the number of minutes required for a customer to complete a transaction.

 

Will you need to generate more income through kiosks?

 

Self-service kiosks provide diverse consumer experiences. When a customer approaches the ordering kiosk at McDonald’s, he or she can select the type of product and see an image, price, and number of calories for each type albeit a sandwich, a beverage, a snack, a salad, or a dessert that is desired. With this type of experience, a customer can be more likely to spend more. The ordering process is rapid on a touch screen display, and the customer can pay after giving little thought to the total amount of the purchase.  

 

What is a reasonable timeframe for a customer to complete a transaction?

 

Digital consumers are motivated by the convenience factor. They don’t want to waste time or go to multiple locations or machines to interact with a brand. They want your brand to streamline every consumer process, including when they want information, to pick up merchandise, or to return a rented item.  

 

We can help brands understand the increased revenue potential of custom-designed kiosks because many of our products are used in their design. Looking to start a self-service project? For more information, please contact us today.