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Summit releases new kiosk report

February 26, 2002

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ROCKVILLE, Md. - Notable retail kiosk projects and the impact of the recent economic downturn on projects are among the subjects discussed in Summit Research Associates Inc.'s latest report, Kiosk Industry Sector Report - Retail, which was released in October.

The report details 13 different kiosk projects, ranging from major projects involving Borders Books and Target to smaller projects. The report focuses on how each project was deployed and their purpose, and evaluates each project.

"The ones we studied in the report seem to be much more sound operationally," said Francie Mendelsohn, Summit president. "The biggest problem continues to be the replacing of consumables, like paper. Employees just don't want to do it."

Mendelsohn said employee training continues to be an important component of successful kiosk projects. She said it was important to maintain staff training beyond the initial deployment because of employee turnover.

Mendelsohn pointed out that retailers are not suspending kiosk programs due to the economy, but many are scaling back their plans. She made that point while discussing retail kiosk projects at the KioskCom retail show in San Diego on Oct. 24 (See story: Kiosk potential discussed at retail show).

"The surprise to me in doing the research and writing the report is that while the economy is less than robust, and project rollouts aren't as big, the projects are not being killed," she said on Oct. 31. "They're going forward. There's definitely a reason for hope; if you ride it out you'll be okay. But not everybody can do it."

The report also looks at trends in the kiosk retail industry. The report is available as either a PDF file or on CD-ROM. Information on obtaining the report is available at Summit's Web site.