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KioskCom Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards: The most creative/best use of new technology in a kiosk application

From high-ticket product information to interactive Web phones and Internet terminals, the winners of the most creative/best use of new technology in a kiosk application demonstrate the ideal applications for achieving ROI.

June 30, 2004

Editor's note: On Tues., April 27, the KioskCom Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards 2004 were handed out at a reception and ceremony at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The KioskCom Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards were established in 2002 to honor, recognize and promote the best interactive self-service kiosk implementations over the past year. The 2004 awards honored kiosk excellence in 11 different categories. This is the fifth of 11 profiles covering the winners and runners-up in each category.

Making the sale

When selling complex or high-ticket products, the sales associate must be able to project in-depth knowledge about the product features and about the accessories that support them. When the customer knows more than the salesperson, the customer has a bad experience and the business loses credibility.

Suzuki's Sales P.R.O. (Professional Retail Outlet) - the winner of the most creative/best use of new technology in a kiosk application - is a freestanding kiosk that helps the salesperson close the deal by giving them access to detailed information about each unit.

"It is awesome to be recognized by the kiosk community," said ASMC's Dealer Network Manager Steve Bortolamedi.  "Winning this award just shows how impressive the Suzuki Sales P.R.O. really is.  One of the key factors for Suzuki winning the award is return on investment.  The cost vs. potential sales increases to the dealer really puts the Suzuki Sales P.R.O. on top."

American Suzuki Motor Corp., Eon Reality & Matrix Consultants share in the joy of their first place victory.

Customers use the kiosks to customize their bike or ATV. This feature also benefits the dealer by reducing the need to keep every single accessory in stock. After the unit is customized the buyer can print a detailed breakdown of all items selected.

"Suzuki Sales P.R.O. is unlike any other retail-oriented technology currently used in the motorcycle and ATV industry and is used by 60 percent of our dealers," said Harris.  "In comparable industries, kiosk systems fail to cover the key selling processes and costs four to five times more than the Suzuki Sales P.R.O.  Congratulations to everyone who worked so diligently on this project."

Web phone excellence

Marconi Interactive Systems was the runner-up in the most creative/best use of new technology in a kiosk application category for its ability to enable mobile phone content retailing via either a NET-800 or NET-1000.

Marconi NET 800 Web phone

"To win an award at KioskCom is a tremendous achievement for the whole MIS team, and to win an award for the second consecutive year is even better," said Liam Brown, managing director, Marconi Interactive Systems. "This is real evidence of our credibility in the kiosk market and we are delighted with the recognition for the Marconi NET range of multimedia products."

The Marconi NET 800 Web phone is designed for outdoor locations and tolerates vandal abuse and a wide range of environmental conditions. The unit offers voice telephony, e-mail and SMS text messaging.

The Marconi NET 1000 Interactive Kiosk - designed for indoor locations - extends the NET 800 features by integrating additional hardware options. Extended options include Web cameras and printers. The NET 1000 also offers the option to customize software and applications on a branded user interface.