Article

Interactive conference makes good first impression

When this new kiosk conference kicked off, KIOSKmarketplace had a correspondent on hand to bring you the news.

March 27, 2002

The Interactive Kiosks For Retail (IKFR) conference debuted in London's prestigious Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane May 17-18 2001, representing an expanding kiosk industry. Sponsored by Elo TouchSystems and organized by Access Conferences International, the event attracted an impressive line-up of delegates, including representatives from BP Amoco, The Body Shop, Sainsbury's, Woolworths and Tower Records.

Stephan Herron, Elo TouchSystems European marketing manager, models a super-sleek Danish First Impressions F1-301 15" touch kiosk.

Conference organizer Lacy Curtis-Ward, joint managing director of Access, said, "We are particularly pleased with the strong support from both delegates and speakers, especially considering this is our first time out."

Sixty-six attendees registered to hear speakers from key retail markets discuss their kiosk projects. The main focus of IKFR was its presentations, though four exhibitors graced the lobby with their products. Displaying kiosks wereInterface, Avatar Interactive, Logima, and Every1online.

Asked if the kiosk industry could look forward to a second conference, Lacy replied, "Judging by the response I'm confident we'll be back again next year."

Kodak blazes a trail to a billion dollar industry

Eastman Kodak's Nat Yogachandra explains Kodak's killer app.

Speaking Friday, Nat Yogachandra, worldwide business development director for Eastman Kodak Co., left his audience in no doubt that killer applications are the Holy Grail of the kiosk business. Yogachandra's prognosis was that kiosk and Internet-based infoimaging could become a $225 billion industry.

Attendees to Yogachandra's presentation were rewarded with facts and figures, consumer dynamics, and the revelation of astonishing payback figures. For example, Yogachandra explained that in the typical Wal-Mart, a mere 25 prints per day (at $6.45 per print) is enough to ensure that retailers are more than happy to hand over $18,000 for a Kodak Picture Maker kiosk.

Yogachandra emphasized that it wouldn't have been possible for the number of Kodak Picture Maker kiosks in the world market to top 38,000 without Kodak's worldwide service support. It's already possible for users to insert their film in a Picture Maker in one country and send prints to another kiosk anywhere in the world. Collection is made using a simple PIN number entered at the nearest Picture Maker kiosk.

UK success story

Later in the afternoon Peter Kelly, managing director of Europe Inter-Act Systems picked up the baton for the UK.

Kelly detailed how a 1998 customer relationship pilot program by Inter-Act at Sainsbury's, a leading UK retailer, resulted in an order for 300 units. Sainsbury's order was followed by an order for 380 kiosks by Boots, a pharmaceutical group. Inter-Act filled Boots' order from start to finish in an astounding six weeks.

Kelly stressed that his company provided solutions; the kiosk technology used by Inter-Act is developed and built by another UK Company, Interface. The primary objective of these two kiosk systems was to promote customer loyalty, but with the network in place, expanded use of the terminals is now possible as both clients and users become more familiar with the interface, Kelly said.

Big is beautiful

Tim Heaton, sales director for Interface, shows a 4-sided Interface modular kiosk designed and manufactured in the UK.

More than one speaker covered the importance of kiosk design. Those with hands-on experience managing an installed base agreed about the importance of keeping user interfaces large, and screens childishly simple.

Inter-Act's Kelly described the desired interface buttons as buttons for five-year-olds, while Paul Stanley, chief executive officer of Moneybox Corp., referred to them as Fisher Price buttons, after the well-known toymaker.

Much effort, few sales

As is to be expected in an emerging industry, all is not rosy. Jez D'Netto of Tower Records Europe related his company's experience with the Internet, summarizing it as "a lot of work for few sales."

D'Netto continued with a description of Tower's new kiosk, which is capable of creating a customized CD in five minutes. The unit, currently being tested in Tower shops in Piccadilly and Southampton, has been designed and built by Photo Me, an experienced European photo kiosk builder and operator.

D'Netto and his team were clearly in the early stages of testing, although they had already discovered that speed of delivery is critical, especially to a user-base that's time-poor and cash-rich, D'Netto said. Currently, the Tower Piccadilly kiosk attracts approximately 20 surfers a day, but sales are a mere one or two a day.

Coin-kiosk convergence

The coin operator and kiosk industries appear to be converging. D'Netto said that cash is the way to tempt users to become attached to kiosks. Barry Wallis, from retailer Spar UK Ltd., said, "A cash option is essential, especially for the younger user who may not have credit cards or even access to credit."

Good enough for mum

Spar's experience, gleaned from trials in a number of shops throughout the UK, showed that kiosks are the ideal way to expand product variety in shops where display and storage space is at a premium. Test figures based on 15,000 users showed that the average user flipped through six pages.

Even though the conversion rate to sales was low, Wallis was confident that kiosks in Spar locations would become essential once the range of offers had been expanded. Again, simplicity was emphasized as a key design feature. Wallis said that when kiosk designers review their products, they should ask themselves, "Could my mum use this?"

Products

Avatar kiosks like these are being used on BP Amoco forecourts in the UK.

Products on display at the conference ranged from colossal four-sided Interface modular systems to the sleek and slender First Impressions units distributed by E1.

Andrew Nelson, a Director of E1, was particularly proud of his prototype kiosk destined for the Hills pet food company. Another exhibitor, Avatar, is working on a tourist system capable of printing maps on demand.

The Logina Infomat, a multifunctional interactive multimedia kiosk developed and built in Slovenija, attracted more than its fair share of attention from visitors. More than 275 units have been installed at the Slovenian Health Insurance Institute.

Final thoughts

If this first London Interactive Kiosk for Retail conference is any indication, there's not only a profitable future for the kiosk industry, but a new, informative and important London based kiosk conference.