Article

Surge in Self-Service

It's the applications, stupid. That's the wisecracking way Craig Keefner explains where companies should place their focus in a challenging economy. Several members of the industry are already moving that way.

October 7, 2004

It's time for the kiosk industry to grow up. It must move to the next level.

That's the opinion of kiosks.org Association executive director Craig Keefner, who counts among his goals for the industry organization a move to recognize the term self-service as paramount and a de-emphasis of the word "kiosk."

"The kiosk industry, per se, is fragmented. It's a tough industry," Keefner said. "A lot of people dropped out and a lot went through tough times (in the last year). The kiosk industry will be better served under the banner of self-service, because that's something corporations understand internally."

In other words, Keefner believes the 192 member companies of the association will prosper when they understand they are better represented as resources for better customer service.

"It's the application, stupid, not the technology," he said, referring to the oft-quoted economic terminology from a successful Clinton presidential campaign. "The word has a technology connotation to it. It's a public-service device. `Kiosk' doesn't apply as well inside the circle of decision of whether to deploy and how. As a word it is gaining, however, in its use as a term in messages from business to its customers.

"We can better talk to potential deployers about customers and improving relations with those customers with the name self-service."

Keefner estimates that two million self-service transactions occur every hour, every day in

Craig Keefner

America. That includes everything from ATM transactions to paying for gasoline and groceries. It includes such diverse activities as helping cell phone customers pay bills and providing cash for a jar full of coins.

Evidence of customer demand for self-service seems to be in every retail store, every consumer purchasing decision, every business decision. In September, a study of retail customers showed that half prefer Web-based self-service as the ideal way to communicate with companies. The study was done by KANA, a provider of online solutions in retail. It found that 47 percent of customers want more self-service choices.

Consider the relatively recent evolution of self-service grocery checkout devices. A decade ago, the idea of customers scanning and bagging their own groceries was a bit far-fetched. According to a Kiosk magazine article, Optimal Robotics Corp. introduced the first one in 1995. Consumers, however, didn't embrace the technology for several years. In 1999, improved systems coupled with consumer demand drove sales of self-checkout terminals to increase more than 300 percent, and the pace has continued since. It's expected that the number of terminals operating will surpass 20,000 in 2003.

Of course, many don't consider self-checkout devices as kiosks. But they are the epitome of customer service, and part of a gray area of devices getting more attention from the kiosk industry.

In September, Kiosks.org Association announced it is expanding the mission of the Association to cover all "self-service" terminals and devices.

Depends on what a kiosk is

Keefner said the traditional kiosk industry has always been focused on self-service; it just hasn't always used the term.

"We've always thought in terms of applications and things that enable people to do things," he said. "That's a kiosk to us."

One of the leading proponents of self-service applications, Netkey Inc., produced a Webinar "20 Top Trends in Self-Service." The Webinar, presented by Netkey chief executive Alex Richardson, proclaimed that self-service "is rapidly becoming a critical channel for companies to use to interact with customers and employees, to improve sales, marketing and customer service, and communications."

Netkey's Top 20 Trends for Self-Service  Consumers are demanding self-service and convenience everywhere they go Brands are using the channel to connect to customers and increase sales Senior execs are now focusing on the self-service channel The lines between retail and financial storefronts are blurring Full motion video accelerates customer acceptance and drives incremental sales Use cameras and phones to connect to call centers or video e-mail Give store and branch employees an incentive to use the channel Accelerate employee communications through the channel Use video testimonials to recruit employees and persuade customers Make channel accessible to all with ADA compliant hardware Manage targeted campaigns on your digital signage network Increase automation of business functions Ensure that your self-service channel is as reliable as the dial tone Support your channel with a world-class help desk Leverage the e-mail channel: allow customers to buy at home or at work Create targeted campaigns based on dates Understand your customers through extensive reporting and analytics Focus on the application on each terminal Adopt an anywhere, anytime strategy Think globally prior to rollout of the channel.

Netkey's hip terminology for self-service calls it "turning the monitor around" so that customers can interact with a company "in a self-directed way."

Bob Ventresca, Netkey's director of marketing, said the kiosk is simply one of several potential hardware devices that can be used to solve a customer's problem.

"Self-service crosses a lot of boundaries, but it's the business process that's really important," he said. "For our business, it's an evolution and recognition of where we see the market going. We have customers that are using kiosks, but others say they don't need a full-fledged kiosk."

Ventresca said the Self-Service edition has been one of the company's most popular Webinars, and that more than two dozen people have tuned in for the 45-minute online presentation.

"It says there's enormous interest in the marketplace in using self-service to increase sales and improve customer service," he said. "Part of the reason kiosks in the past have failed is people have not integrated the kiosk system as part of their overall go-to-market strategy."

And in a message that clearly points out Keefner's views on the industry's direction, Netkey's presentation listed managed PCs, digital signs and plasma screens, in addition to kiosks, as delivery mechanisms for self-service devices.

The new buzzword

Self-service long ago reached buzzword status among a select number of companies. At NCR Corp., the term is as much a part of the company's philosophy as its logo. It proclaims itself "the world's leading supplier of self-service solutions," in news releases, and holds an annual "Self-Service Summit" for customers and partners at its Dayton, Ohio headquarters.

"If we want to grow, we should make sure we focus on what we do for a living," said Nelson Gomez, vice president and general manager of NCR's Web Kiosk Solutions business. "If you look at every kiosk that's been deployed, it's really about self-service. It's truly where the business is."

Gomez said he sees a blurring of the lines between NCR's kiosk and ATM businesses in that some functionality is shared by both.

"We're seeing leverage points across the platform," he said.

Lawrence Dvorchik, president of trade show producer KioskCom, said the industry is grappling with the terminology, but the focus has always been on interactive self-service.

"There's not one clear definition of what a kiosk is," he said. "It's what we all struggle with. I don't know if it has to be a box. It has to be a way to empower the customer or employer."

That and more is essentially the theme communicated by Keefner in his advice to provider members of Kiosks.org Association, user members and in speaking engagements worldwide the past three years.

"Companies can't always effectively serve the customers they have," said Keefner. "People are more and more frustrated with customer service. So solutions have to really save the company and help their current customers at the same time. It's got to be a win-win. Then you look at how it can gain you new customers."

Thinking outside the box

For kiosk enclosure manufacturers like Metalfx, a change in thinking is vital to survival, according to Ben Wheeler, sales manager, Wood Products Division.

"The truth is we're not making money, or a living, just doing kiosks," Wheeler said. "The kiosk by definition is a physical enclosure and what's inside of that is the vision of the customer."

Wheeler said the future is in customized applications that solve problems, and suggests that the days of off-the-shelf boxes for kiosk applications may be numbered.

The problem is that people don't recognize that software is the most important part of the box," he said. "Apunix, WebRaiser, Netshift and Netkey are the only ones who can survive as full-solution providers. The rest of us are going to become subcontractors for them.

"It doesn't matter how pretty your box is, if it doesn't have the software to run the applications, you've got a blank screen."

NCR's Gomez agreed that applications, such as those for delis, hotels and airport checkins, are driving the industry's growth.

"That's where you're hearing the buzz in the industry," he said.

Netkey's Ventresca said companies shouldn't be developing kiosk strategies, but instead think along the lines of using devices to help customers.

"We emphasize that a kiosk is not a strategy. Self-service is the strategy," he said. "A kiosk is a means to the end."