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Demand on the rise for customer loyalty kiosks
As a marketing tool, kiosks can engage customers in various ways using email marketing or linking the kiosk to an interactive mobile experience. For the kiosk operator, the information that loyalty reward programs create can provide critical marketing and operational information.
November 28, 2016 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times
Businesses in many industries are becoming more aware of the benefits of customer loyalty kiosks, not only to support their loyalty programs but to engage customers in multiple ways at the point of sale.
Loyalty kiosks provide merchants with a way to promote their loyalty programs. Other functions include card printing and dispensing, receipt and voucher printing, loyalty account management, identification verification, advertising, payment processing, order entry and more.
"Loyalty programs have been managed by staff in the past, and kiosks provide an ideal complement to the team that administers the program, and operators can deploy their staff to other service needs or move their staff to more sensitive roles," said Anne-Kristin Kupferschmid, product manager for printers and cutters at Hengstler GmbH. "By using loyalty programs, operators can increase the length of time that customers spend on the site."
Customers appreciate the loyalty rewards kiosks since they provide convenience. They reduce customer wait times and can also give customers an easy way to check promotions and giveaways.
"Loyalty programs can generate repeat customers, even though the customer might have initially intended to visit the store once," Kupferschmid said. "A one-time customer can turn into a repeat customer."
Critical customer information
For the kiosk operator, the information that loyalty reward programs create can provide critical marketing and operational information. "Keep track of customer habits, provide a flood of analytics for operators on individual habits, capture information on customer likes, dislikes and interests," Kupferschmid said.
As a marketing tool, kiosks can engage customers in various ways using email marketing or linking the kiosk to an interactive mobile experience, Kupferschmid noted.
Airline frequent flyer programs are the oldest and probably the most common customer loyalty programs, she noted. But this is changing. "Customer loyalty programs can now be found in a variety of industries: casinos, restaurants, supermarkets, movie theaters and retail," Kupferschmid said.
Demand rising
The demand for loyalty kiosks is clearly increasing, observed Tracy Trogdon, chief financial officer at ETA Media, a company that also goes by the name "eyeconic" that provides point-of-sale media services. In many instances, kiosk loyalty programs are part of a package of digital services that kiosk owners are asking for.
"It's a way to collect information without getting personal," Trogdon said for customer loyalty kiosks.
Loyalty programs are often part of the self-serve kiosks that many restaurants are introducing, she added.
Another big demand for loyalty kiosks comes from the cannabis industry. "They (the cannabis kiosk customers) always buy a menu screen and a loyalty kiosk," Trogdon said. "They can’t advertise; you can’t really reach out to the public in most ways, but you can with that loyalty kiosk. You can shoot an email blast to every member in that kiosk, letting them know about a sale that’s happening. They can use their loyalty kiosk to do that."
"The only thing they’re collecting from a customer is their telephone number," she said.
Kiosk manufacturers ready
In many cases, a client already has a loyalty software they work with, noted Dave Loyda, sales marketing manager at Frank Mayer and Associates, Inc. "We'll work with them if it requires loading any content onto the interactive component," he said. "The software comes first."
Frank Mayer & Associates worked with Excentus Corporation, the company behind the Shell Fuel Rewards Program, to develop a solution that would provide an easy interactive kiosk solution for Shell customers to sign up and activate their cards.
"A specific goal for them was to encourage more people to sign up for their Shell fuel rewards program and really have more of a call to action within their store environments," Loyda said. "Floor and counter solutions were designed and engineered to hold a tablet and magstripe reader for customers to register and activate their cards right at the kiosk. Over 2,000 kiosks have been placed at Shell convenience stores nationwide."
Any retailer with a nationwide presence will have a rewards program, Loyda said.
In the gaming industry, loyalty kiosks help keep customers interested by offering an easy way to check real-time status on point accruals, member status level and the available rewards bonuses, according to Frank Olea, CEO of Olea Kiosks Inc.
"In addition, loyalty kiosks can be configured with the capability to dispense rewards on-the-spot, including cash vouchers, free meal coupons and even event tickets," Olea noted.
Olea agreed with Kupferschmid and Trogdon that kiosk loyalty programs are expanding to new types of retail venues.
"One major metropolitan art museum saw a 376 percent increase in membership after they launched a multi-channel loyalty program that utilized loyalty kiosks, email marketing and an interactive mobile phone experience," he said.
The newer loyalty software gives the kiosk operator the ability to "set and forget," which lowers overhead without the headaches of staffing and training, Olea noted. Top kiosk manufacturers also provide comprehensive service and warranties.
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About Elliot Maras
Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.
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