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Retail kiosks: do's and don'ts

There is no need to restate the importance of retail kiosks. However, to have a successful deployment, you need to keep in mind your "do's" and "don'ts."

January 27, 2016 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

There is no need to reiterate the importance of retail kiosks. You cannot walk into many retailers without encountering a self-service solution to engrave pet tags, exchange coins, rent movies, enroll in loyalty programs and more. With the ubiquitous nature of retail kiosks, you need to keep in mind a few "do's" and "don'ts" if you want your kiosk to stand out and build brand awareness and loyalty.

Do:

Have support for EMV compliance. This is an obvious issue to address, and one for which many hardware manufacturers have already crafted all the necessary tools you need to keep your kiosks up to date with government regulations.
Utilize effective kiosk software. "Kiosk software must keep the kiosk up and running, ready for use," said Laura Miller, director of marketing, KioWare Kiosk Software. "Kiosk software restarts the device when needed, making sure that the device is working properly and resets between users. Kiosk software allows for customizing the look and feel of the kiosk application from the attract screen and start page to toolbar icons and colors. Security is crucial and customer privacy and data must be protected or trust in the brand is at risk. Kiosk software clears user data, behavior and activity, keeping data from being sent or distributed via email, USB or other security holes."
Keep your brand message consistent. When potential customers see your kiosk in different retailers, they should be able to recognize it and use it in the same manner that they did the first time they used one of your kiosks. "Consistency with the brand is key. Clear messaging about [the] kiosk’s purpose and function is also important," Miller said.
Find a good spot for your kiosk. "Location is always king," said Ben Wheeler, director of marketing for RedyRef Interactive Kiosks. "From past experience on the DVD self-checkout projects I worked on, location won the day for the Redbox program. Having a corner on McDonald's, Walmart and Walgreen’s made Redbox impervious to the larger company that entered the space ... that is no longer in the DVD vertical marketplace." For a non-retail example, if you have a ticketing kiosk for a movie theater, don't shove it in the corner where no one can see it.

Don't:

Let your GUI or touchscreen become outdated. Outdated GUIs harm your customer experience and lower credibility. In addition, you need to make sure your touchscreen is accurate enough to avoid frustration, and keeping your touchscreen up to date can fix this issue. "With the technology of today’s touchscreens, accuracy and sensitivity continue to improve," Miller said. "Small design tweaks [like] providing larger buttons and adequate spacing between buttons can reduce frustrations with touchscreen accuracy, particularly for those with larger fingers."
Cut corners on outdoor retail kiosk protection. If your kiosk is outdoors, it has to deal with a host of issues from temperature swings to excessive moisture. There are several methods you can utilize to keep your kiosk safe. For one, you can install heaters to keep it at a reasonable temperature in the winter. You can also reduce the number of crevasses in your kiosk enclosure to prevent frost from getting in and causing problems, according to James Gregorie, director of digital marketing at Swift-Protech LLC. Also, buying industrial-grade equipment can provide some peace of mind.
Use retail employees as a backup. If customers have to go to a retail employee to ask for help with a kiosk, then for that customer your kiosk is no longer a self-service solution. The cellphone-charging kiosk ChargeItSpot has attempted to solve this problem by integrating a live-chat option into their kiosks. If a customer forgets the number they entered to store their kiosk, they can simply press a button to call a representative, who will confirm their identity and release the lock on the locker where the cellphone is stored.

About Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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