Commentary
ICX Summit: our customer experience collaboration lab
The Interactive Customer Experience Summit in Dallas provided the type of education and networking that benefits people in all segments of the customer experience ecosystem.
June 10, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times
No one does it alone. When facing a monumental task, establishing personal relationships to achieve one's goals is imperative.
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| Jason Covelli shows a countertop kiosk at the Appetize Technologies Inc. booth. |
Just as retailers strive to engage customers in a more personalized manner, those of us trying to understand how to use new technology to improve our operations need the personal support of those with expertise in the areas we ourselves lack. In addition, we need associates to bounce ideas off and give us feedback.
ICX Summit — a team building event
Last week's Interactive Customer Experience Summit in Dallas provided the type of education and networking that benefits people in all segments of the customer experience ecosystem. Anyone working in the customer experience ecosystem knows that a team approach is needed to stay on top of the rapidly changing technology that is disrupting not just retail, but the restaurants, theaters, parks and recreation, gaming, financial, government, education, travel, healthcare and telecommunications sectors. Which is why people from all these verticals were in attendance last week.
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| Sandy Berman presents a self-order kiosk at the Frank Mayer and Associates Inc. booth. |
From the tours to the receptions, the keynote presentations, the panel discussions and the many breaks in between, plus the Discovery Zone, Summit attendees had enough time to truly talk to one another and get to know each other with the goal of helping each other succeed. That's an experience you don't get at a typical tradeshow.
With a maximum of around 30 sponsors, Summit attendees were able to visit all the Discovery Zone exhibits in two-and-a-half days and engage in extensive discussions rather than trying to cover a massive trade show floor, filling up big bags of literature and having to sort through it all.
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| Robert Mohle shows a prototype kiosk at the Howard Technology Solutions booth. |
Learning all the new technologies — kiosks, digital signage, artificial intelligence, chatbots, voice assistants, blockchain, cloud computing, edge computing, virtual/augmented/mixed reality and others — is only one part of the customer experience journey. No matter what role you play in the ecosystem — coder, developer, engineer, deployer, marketer, customer support representative, installer, troubleshooter, financier, journalist or any other role — your contribution rests on the quality of the team that relies on you.
First build the team; the technology follows
Scott Emmons, the founder of the Neiman Marcus Group Innovation Lab currently working as the CTO at Current Global, which manages the integration of retail and brands, astutely observed in a Summit panel discussion that technology is not a "silver bullet," but one piece of a puzzle.
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| Alan Atkinson shows a self-order restaurant kiosk at the Betson Enterprises booth. |
Does the team have the resources needed to identify its goals, explore the tools, conduct the testing, measure the results and execute the solution? Can the process execute within budget? Can the solution scale as needed? Does the organization's structure sufficiently support the process? Does management buy in?
In the same session, David Hewitt, vice president of Publicis.Sapient, a digital transformation company, agreed that the discovery and execution process is more important than the technology itself.
"The 'engine' at the end of the day is going to win the race because that race never stops," he observed.
The summit addressed key challenges
One panel session specifically explored how to create a company culture that stimulates new ideas and a willingness to execute them. Attendee Christiana DiMattesa, North America instore and experiential marketing director for Under Armour, said she particularly liked this session since testing new ideas is difficult for retailers.
"If you don't test you won't learn," DiMattesa said in an email following the summit. "We are all working toward better and more engaging customer experiences. Learning from each other will only benefit our brands, our business and our customers."
"The main benefit for me was networking with other brands to better understand what they are doing and how we may be able to share lessons learned and try new and interesting things," said Rishi Gupta, Taco Bell Corp.'s senior manager of technology. "I did appreciate the size as it facilitated the ability to have more intimate conversations with everyone attending."
Attendees engaged in discovery
Discovery was evident throughout the Summit.
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| Dave Adams presents the ALP Pathway to Purchase software at the NEC booth. |
Espartaco Borga, who operates the La Duni fast casual restaurants in Dallas, has been looking to add a self-service component to a traditional restaurant. He was delighted to come across a solution at the Betson Enterprises exhibit in the Discovery Zone.
Betson Enterprises, a nationwide equipment distributor, demonstrated both a self-order restaurant kiosk and a temperature-controlled food vending machine. Borga said the interface between the vending machine and the POS system will allow customers to buy from the vending machine and place orders to the kitchen without having to wait in separate lines.
"That's very convenient," he said. "It (the Summit) was very, very productive."
Summit attendee Joshua Applestone, president and CEO of a company that seeks to make sustainable meat accessible and affordable to consumers, has introduced stores with vending machines offering fresh-cut meat 24/7. Applestone said he gained insight from sessions addressing cashless and cashier-less issues.
"Our company, we believe, will be a disrupter to the industry this time next year," Applestone said. "We would love to come back next year."
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| Stone George shows a kiosk with a 32-inch screen at the Zivelo LLC booth. |
Summit attendee Steve Leasure, director of franchise operations at BurgerFi International, a fast casual chain that has embraced self-serve kiosks, got a better sense on how to integrate artificial intelligence into his operation.
"And of course, the most valuable thing that always happens at these events is the opportunity to network; it is always great to add new contacts," Leasure said.
Everyone who attended the Summit gained a greater understanding of the opportunities available in the customer experience ecosystem and a higher level of confidence in seizing them.
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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Frank Mayer and Associates
Kiosk Design | Manufacturer
Frank Mayer Kiosks and Displays specializes in large-scale rollouts of custom digital kiosks for enterprise and growth-oriented brands. With a relentless focus on premium design, customization, and end-to-end service, we manufacture self-service customer engagement solutions that expand market reach, boost sales, and enhance brand equity.
Howard Technology Solutions
Howard’s innovative kiosk technology is provided to you and your customers by our own host server allowing us to keep your interface up to date. With Howard’s kiosk user interface, your customers can make quick and easy payment transactions while keeping sensitive data safe. For all of your kiosk needs, choose Howard.
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