News

All-in-one units: More profit in less space?

September 2, 2004

C-stores are built around a model of providing a multitude of services in limited physical space. So are multi-use kiosks.

In response to the prospect of a new revenue stream, some C-store operators have started to deploy kiosks that offer services such as bill payment, prepaid, mobile content, gaming, digital photo services and Internet access in one machine. Talk about the perfect all-in-one unit. Or is it?

This story and all the great free content on Kiosk Marketplace is supported by: Olea Exhibits/Displays, Inc.

"I don't agree with these e-services kiosks that have multi-uses," said Frank Olea, vice president of sales and marketing at Olea Exhibits. "When you come in to pay a bill, you're not going to want to stand there for 15 minutes waiting for a kid to burn a custom music CD."

According to Olea, putting Internet access on a bill payment machine could be a bad idea. "If I had to run in at the last minute to pay my electric bill because it is going to be cut off, and some kid is standing there playing video games, downloading music or sending e-mail, I am not going to want to wait for him. I want to get in there and leave," he said.

Olea agrees, however, that multiple applications might make sense if more than one person at a time could use the kiosk. According to Doug Peter, CEO of St. Clair Interactive, that's exactly how you overcome the wait factor. "Potentially you could off-load the delivery of that CD away from the touchscreen so that another user can be using the system while it is preparing the CD," he said.

Peter explained that when users order a custom CD they would get a bar-coded slip with instructions to check back in a few minutes. After returning, customers swipe the bar-coded slip across a barcode reader and the CD ejects into a bin.

The key to engaging C-store customers is to supply an appealing product that gets them out of the store quickly, or else gives them a reason to hang around the store a little longer. When designed properly, multi-use kiosks can accomplish both.

Design is the key

When designing a multi-use kiosk for a C-store environment, all the functions should be placed on the kiosk so that it's intuitive and natural, said Olea. He offered some suggestions to help ensure successful deployments:

Pre-determine size and location. C-store units must have a small footprint due to the crowded conditions in most stores. Before production begins, determine where the unit will sit. Then, select the components. "From the PC, style of the case, printers and paper mount, it's important to select the right components before any deployment begins," Olea said.

Keep cash secure. Many C-stores offer bill pay and prepaid kiosks with cash acceptors, which increases the need for security. In these cases, designers need to make sure that employees or service personnel do not have access to the cassette. One security measure Olea has used is to put the bill acceptor inside another locked box.

Make it stand out. Because C-store environments are cluttered, branding is critical. Kiosks that too closely resemble the store's brand will blend into the background. "There needs to be design elements that make it stand out," Olea said.

Acknowledging that multi-use kiosks do generate revenue, Olea suggests that operators should study which features are used and how much time is spent using them. "If one application keeps users from using a revenue generating function such as bill pay, then I would get rid of it," Olea said. "Some of those extra features are just that: extra features."