News

Researcher finds stores are not using kiosks effectively

June 13, 2002

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Retailers are having mixed success with in-store kiosks because most haven't figured out how to use them effectively, according to a recent industry study.

Twenty-two percent of shoppers surveyed said they had used an in-store Web kiosk, but fewer than half found them valuable or used them more than once, according to a May 15 report from Forrester Research Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.

San Francisco's Gap Inc. pulled Web kiosks out of some area stores last year after a year's use, according to The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

"We pretty much found that customers didn't want to spend time online while they were actually in our stores where they could touch and feel our clothes," Gap spokeswoman Claudia Jenkins told the paper.

In-store kiosks are intended to offer customers additional choices or information on products, including those for which the store might be out of stock. Customers can place orders online through the kiosks.

Forrester Research analyst Christopher Kelley blamed in-store kiosks' failure on the retailers, who often don't train clerks how to help the customer use the Web access. Retailers must first have a well-designed Web site, Kelley told the paper, and then guide customers to the kiosks and show them how to use them.