Automated Retail & Kiosk Innovation Show

Rebound dominates KMC reader interest in 2022

Kiosk Marketplace ranks the 10 best read stories in 2022 based on reader interest.

Image provided by iStock.

December 26, 2022 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Twenty-Twenty-Two was a comeback year for the self-serve kiosk industry following a temporary setback caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

An analysis of reader response to stories posted on Kiosk Marketplace indicated business improved for kiosk companies despite the pandemic's lingering effects.

Several of the stories indicated the pandemic boosted demand for self-serve kiosks as consumers looked to minimize human contact.

Following are the 10 most read stories in 2022.

1. Following COVID-19: How coronavirus pandemic is impacting kiosks

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While the pandemic eased in 2022, it remained a force to reckon with and was the most commonly read topic among Kiosk Marketplace readers.

Kiosk Marketplace continued its log of articles addressing how the pandemic was affecting self-serve kiosks. This page listed pandemic related stories by date.

The stories addressed topics such as locations deploying kiosks offering COVID test kits and personal protection supplies, how the pandemic affected kiosk manufacturers' financial results, how locations installed kiosks to reduce human contact with customers and how locations turned to kiosks to reduce onsite labor in light of a tight labor market.

2. Pandemic drives self-check-in at hotels worldwide

The Holiday Inn in Brussels, Belgium offers self-check-in kiosks. Photo courtesy of Ariane Systems.

Hotels boosted investment in self-serve technology during the pandemic. The second most read article in 2022, published in February, described how self-service technology, including self-serve kiosks, contactless check-in/out and mobile check-in surged during the pandemic.

In addition to contactless check-in/out, hotels also expanded into mobile keys, digital payments, in-room technology, chatbots, guest surveys and unattended convenience stores.

Among all the technologies considered, self-check-in/out, which includes self-serve kiosks and mobile check-in, grew the most during the pandemic.

An important benefit of self-check-in/out cited is that it helps a hotel operate with reduced labor, a challenge that grew for businesses during the pandemic.

Another area where self-serve kiosks expanded rapidly in hotels was in onsite convenience markets. The "grab-and-go" markets save the guest from having to take their purchase to the front desk to pay.

3. Uniguest acquires digital engagement firm Otrum

Jeff Hiscox of Uniguest welcomes Stein Surlien of Otrum AS to the Uniguest family. Photo courtesy of Uniguest.

The third most read story in 2022 reported that Uniguest, a provider of digital engagement technology, acquired Otrum AS, a digital engagement provider to the hospitality industry. The story ran in June.

Otrum AS, founded in 1985 and based in Oslo, Norway, delivers digital signage solutions and interactive TV and boasts over 2.5 million users per month.

4. NCR takeover in play?

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A report that NCR Corp., a technology provider for the financial, retail and hospitality industries, was in negotiations to be acquired was the third most read story in 2022.

The report, published in June, cited Apollo Group, a company that vied with NCR for the purchase of Cardtronics, as the most discussed buyer.

In early February NCR said it began a strategic review that could involve structural changes, a company sale, a partial sale or a spinoff.

5. Automotive dealerships gravitate to self-check-in kiosks

A customer checks into a dealership using a GoMoto kiosk. Photo courtesy of GoMoto.

Check-in kiosks at automotive dealerships have proven a great customer convenience.

The fifth most read story in 2022, published in February, explored how the GoMoto kiosk has improved customer convenience and operating efficiencies for automotive dealerships.

Customers can check into a dealership in less than two minutes, drop off their keys and be on their way.

Dealerships reported making better use of their service staff in addition to experiencing higher repair orders thanks to kiosk upsells.

In addition to indoor check-in kiosks, dealerships have added outdoor kiosks with internal key lockers. The customer scans a QR code to open the pickup locker.

6. Self-order kiosks put Delaware eatery on the fast track

Eddie Segovia of Freddy's Wings & Wraps found great success with self-order kiosks. Photo provided.

How a Delaware wings and wraps restaurant used self-order kiosks to boost its sales was the sixth most read story in 2022.

The restaurant, Freddy's Wings & Wraps, introduced kiosks in 2018 which now account for 98% of its orders, despite the fact that it also takes mobile orders for pickup and delivery.

The percentage of kiosk transactions surged since the onset of the pandemic due to customers favoring contactless transactions.

The kiosks also drove add-on sales.

7. 2022: Optimism rides high for self-serve kiosks

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While economic uncertainties continued to dog U.S. business decision makers at the start of 2022, kiosk equipment suppliers were highly optimistic, given the high number of orders being processed.

A story about the industry's optimistic outlook, published in January, was the seventh most read story in 2022.

Projects put on hold in 2020 came back to life in the second half of 2021, industry decision makers said.

While much of the optimism was based on the strength of the retail sector, even hospitality, which was hit the most by the pandemic, was also recovering.

More than a third of U.S. shoppers anticipated a major increase in their use of self-checkout kiosks with nearly 20% expecting a minor increase, according to a 2021 shopper survey.

8. 2022 Kiosk Marketplace Census Report: Rapid growth returns in 2021 as consumers embrace self service

Image provided.

Twenty-Twenty-One marked a turning point for the self-serve kiosk industry as consumer acceptance of the technology reached a banner level, driven in part by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the 2022 Kiosk Marketplace Industry Census Report.

A story about the Census Report, published in March, was the eighth most read story in 2022. The Census, in its fifth year, provided statistics on the self-serve kiosk industry's size, operating metrics and outlook.

In 2021, the industry gained relevance with consumers as many closed businesses and organizations reopened and sought technologies to protect customers, visitors and employees.

The industry resumed the double-digit growth trajectory of the prior three consecutive years.

9. Exhibit floor rocks at Self-Service Innovation Summit

Image provided by Networld Media Group.

Attendees at the 2021 Self-Service Innovation Summit found a wealth of innovation in the exhibit area, with many exhibits demonstrating customer experience advances discussed during the education sessions.

A report on the 2021 Summit, published on Dec. 29, 2021, was the ninth most read story in 2022.

The 2021 Summit was the first physical Summit following the 2020 virtual inaugural event. The Summit drew hundreds of attendees to the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida looking for the most up-to-date unattended checkout experiences designed to meet consumers wherever they might be.

Exhibitors covered were Automat Kitchen, CAV Solutions Ltd., CRS Inc., DPL, ExpressCube, Fastcorp Vending, Ginko Systems LLC, Honeywell, Holo Industries LLC, Invenda AS, MicroTouch, MTI, Nayax Ltd., Neonode Inc., Nextep Systems, NZ Technologies, OptConnect, Partner Tech, PopCom, Southco, The Perfect Shipping LLC, Touch Dynamic, UST, Vendors Exchange International Inc., Ventus, Vispero/TPGi and Zebra Technologies.

10. How McDonald's helps low vision customers with self-serve kiosks

Kelsey Hall of McDonald's and Matt Ater of Vispero describe the self-serve kiosk for low vision and blind customers.

Attendees at the 2021 Self-Service Innovation Summit got an inside look at a McDonald's project on improving access for low vision customers using self-serve kiosks.

The story, published in January, was the tenth most read story in 2022.

Kelsey Hall, senior product manager, global digital accessibility, McDonald's, and Matt Ater, vice president of business development and software engineering at Vispero, a partner specializing in technology for blind and low vision individuals, demonstrated in detail the workings of the digital accessibility.

The kiosk's keypad offers arrow keys, one that allows the user to move to the next item on the screen while another moves to the previous item. Another key activates the current item selected while yet another one moves to either the next section or the previous one.

The kiosk also offers Braille labels at every point of actionable contact, such as the scan area, the receipt area, the payment pad and the headphone insert.