STRATEGIC PARTNERS
A new organization is being formed in Germany to help establish kiosk industry standards and speed the development of strong kiosk projects.
April 7, 2002 by Eckhard Reimann — Owner, ERCM
A new organization is being formed in Germany to help establish kiosk industry standards and speed the development of strong kiosk projects. This eKiosk group, consisting of more than 200 participants representing 125 companies, plans to establish a constitution as part of its meeting during the German Multimedia Congress and the Multimedia Market Fair May 2-4 in Stuttgart.
Recent meetings of key players in the kiosk industry in Germany have focused on the need for a network of communication and cooperation, and a way for kiosk companies to share tips, hints and do's and don'ts for quality projects. As a group, the 200 people involved recently joined the German Multimedia Association, the largest multimedia and Internet association in Europe with 1,300 members.
From May 15-17, most will attend another kiosk event in Berlin, SMARTKIOSK 2001.
Kiosk development in Germany is plagued by slow progress and mistakes that seem to be made repeatedly, but a new effort by kiosk professionals signals that things may be changing.
Telecommunication and multimedia technologies are growing in Germany, where 30 percent of the citizen surf the Internet and one in two owns a mobile device. Of those mobile devices, one in 10 has WAP direct access to the Internet. In all, 36.8 percent of the population has access to the Internet.
Conversely, 63.8 percent of Germans do not have Internet access.
For this significant group, interactive multimedia kiosk terminals would seem to be a popular device for finding information, especially in the retail arena.
Studies show that consumers make buying decisions once inside the store at a rate of 70 percent (for chips) to as low as 20 percent (baby food). The POPAI Institute, which conducted the study of shoppers, puts the average at a rate of 55 percent. With more than one in two buying decisions made inside stores, retailers have focused much of their marketing efforts on in-store promotions.
In consumer electronics, for example, there are 4,500 products, 500 new products each year, and it's nearly impossible for salespeople to stay up-to-date on the changing technology. A kiosk terminal providing interactive sales information on products could help provide decision-making information for consumers, and boost the sale of products in stores.
Despite the numbers, German retailers have been slow to install kiosks. Only nine percent of retailers have installed POI/POS systems, a number likely to increase dramatically in the near term. In Germany, and neighboring Austria and Switzerland, the day of the kiosk may be just around the corner.
Consider that one in seven Germans surveyed considered in-store media applications a more important part of the buying decision. Orders for kiosk-related products in Germany among Internet and multimedia companies are going up.
Frost & Sullivan predicts that by 2004, 80 percent of all kiosk installations in Europe will provide Internet access, and many of those will come in the form of public Internet cafes. The Frost & Sullivan report claims the development European kiosk applications trails the U.S. market by 18 months.
Eckhard Reimann is an independent marketing consultant based in Germany.
