Blog

Self-service goes wireless

May 23, 2011

Being able to reach consumers at any time, anywhere has become increasingly important to businesses trying to remain competitive in the current economy. The popularity of smartphones and tablets that are always connected to the online world have paved the way for businesses to do this, and now other technologies are beginning to latch onto this trend.

New and innovative kiosk solutions that are able to communicate through a wireless connection, such as the ConnectNow Kiosk from Zebra partner OpenMotion, are able to tie communications consumers receive outside the store to their in-store experience.

Wirelessly connected kiosks solutions can now integrate with online couponing sites that provide promotions through text, mobile or Web on smartphones, driving new consumers into the store with offers that are validated at the kiosk. The ability to link sites that provide promotions to a smartphone, for example, is just one way kiosks are connecting their businesses to on-the-go consumers. Once the consumer is in the store, interactive kiosk solutions equipped with built-in wireless communication allow consumer check-ins and authentication for promotions and codes scanned from mobile phones, loyalty or reward cards, coupons or manual entry of the code. The kiosk then validates and authorizes the code and prints an authenticated receipt of coupon to be used at checkout.

Wireless connectivity within the kiosk can also help to manage what promotions get offered at what time. The kiosk connects to back-office systems with rules-based promotions connected to inventory levels. Wireless networking also allows a self-service system to:

• Authenticate one-time/frequency-of-use codes in real-time in order to prohibit multiple use or fraud for one-time offers.
• Display digital or video advertisements with options to print coupons.
• Update digital advertising in real-time with built-in management tools.

Tying together how businesses offer promotions, interact with the consumer and connect systems to control promotions as they relate to inventory is just the beginning of how self-service is evolving to meet the needs of an increasingly interconnected world.