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Expanding customer reach via vending kiosks

January 25, 2012 by Dean Sanders — Director, industry Sales, Zebra Technologies

Where can you find an iPad for sale in a clothing department store, or a portable DVD player for sale in an airport terminal? In product kiosks.

 Product kiosks dispense merchandise, in most cases small electronics, almost like a high-tech version of a vending machine. Apple and Best Buy are two examples of companies taking advantage of using kiosks to reach consumers away from their traditional brick and mortar stores. In the U.S., Apple product kiosks are in nearly 200 Macy’s locations as well as in airports and malls across the globe and supply iPods, iPads and accessories. Best Buy Express product kiosks offer similar small electronics and accessories and are in 150 locations in the U.S. with plans to deploy another 100 in 2012.

 In the Apple and Best Buy kiosks, as well as other similar kiosks, customers choose a product on display in the kiosk, insert a credit card, make a selection and receive the product. Included with the product is a printed receipt as proof of purchase. Whether a consumer buys a product from a store or from a product kiosk, they need to know that, if necessary, they can return or exchange their items.

 For retailers, product kiosks are the perfect way to be present in areas where it is either not physically feasible to open a store (e.g., train station, college campus, amusement park, etc.) or too expensive to do so. This allows retailers to reach consumers in non-traditional places or in places where there is a need for a certain product (for instance, travel entertainment in an airport) without incurring the costs of operating and staffing a full store. These types of kiosks can also provide significant incremental revenue.

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