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Millennials and Gen Z-ers: how generational differences impact the kiosk market

Kiosks traditionally serve the purpose of allowing customers to check out or access information without the assistance of a customer service representative. They should be viewed now, more than ever, as an additional piece to the customer service puzzle.

May 26, 2015 by Laura Miller — Director of Marketing, Kioware

According to AdAge, millennials (born in the late 80s to the mid 90s) are the generation of customer service. They are technologically savvy, and they expect to be able to travel their own path but receive assistance anywhere along their personal customer experience. Gen Z-ers (currently ages 2-19, born after the mid 90’s), on the other hand, are the generation of DIYers, according to a report by the New York Times. They are the generation of YouTube celebrities rather than traditional media stars, and they are profoundly digitally native. For some of them, they have grown up with smart phones and tablets, the ever overwhelming worldwide web, and on demand/online TV shows. 

What does this mean for how kiosk usage should change? 

• AND not OR (Kiosks AND other interactive options)
• More kiosks (multiple, and multipurpose)

Kiosks traditionally serve the purpose of allowing customers to check out or access information without the assistance of a customer service representative. They should be viewed now, more than ever, as an additional piece to the customer service puzzle, and a necessary option that should be provided in addition to (not in place of) the store representative or traditional offline option. As millennials and Gen Z-ers age up (some millennials are already in their 30s), it will become more important to have multiple kiosks with more choices, giving customers many options for performing their desired interaction, many opportunities to seek customer service, and seek out a customized experience. 

What tasks & functions should interactive kiosks focus on?

•        Customer Service
•        Customer Created and Interactive Content
•        Customization, Personalized Experience

Companies will likely shift to spending less on high end formal ads and content that is of polished production quality, and create more unfiltered, authentic messaging. This more authentic message can be easily shared via kiosks. Kiosks will shift to providing more customized DIY options and an opportunity for customer interaction when building content, services and products. Kiosks can be used to gather that information, and allow users to create their own customization and personalized experience. The marketing automation that is becoming standard will also be leveraged on kiosks, as those programs and applications recognize the customer as they walk into a retail location. The ability to provide customers with the perfect message can be leveraged via all channels: mobile, website, social, television (especially digital channels) and an interactive kiosk.

The kiosk marketplace will need to shift its thinking to include the millennial and gen z-er audience. Businesses should make kiosks available in more places and in greater quantity, provide more interactions, and be more authentic. We will continue to see entire industries shift with the incorporation of on demand and self-service, much like we’ve seen with Redbox and Amazon. That game changing disruptor is largely found in the introduction of kiosks and kiosk applications.

(Image via pixabay)

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