News

Tips on using kiosks to improve the customer experience

In this column, provided by IBM, learn how kiosk deployments are most effective as part of an overall customer-service strategy.

March 10, 2003

Executives charged with streamlining and energizing customer service are turning to kiosks in their efforts to personalize each customer's experience. But it's important to view any kiosk deployment as part of a larger strategy to exceed customer demands in terms of convenience, flexibility, speed and overall customer service.

This article explains how answering two key questions can help achieve the well-orchestrated customer experience companies want to provide. Two "real life" examples, one from a leading global provider of entertainment content and another from an international airline, illustrate how companies can successfully use kiosks to reshape their customers' experiences, while also increasing sales.

Kiosks: an integral part of a larger service strategy

The two key questions for customer service executives' immediate attention are:

Setting a clear customer service strategy and accurately understanding the various ways kiosks can improve the customer experience is the first step toward effectively deploying these efficiency-enhancing devices. For example, retailers should consider whether the customer visiting the kiosk simply needs information, wishes to finish a transaction or even complete both tasks. Airlines deploy kiosks to tackle other complex work such as verifying identity, selecting a seat and checking in for a flight. However, loading any kiosk with several, non-related transactions increases the likelihood of customer confusion and frustration.

Once you have clearly defined the functions, use the entire customer experience as a "roadmap" to guide when and where you place the kiosks. Be sure to deploy signage to make it easy to locate and use the kiosks. To encourage customer use, the self-service outlets must be reliable, user-friendly and waiting time should be minimal.

Two global organizations, Virgin Entertainment Group and Air Canada, are pioneering the use of kiosks. Both organizations are partnering with IBM to create and deploy kiosk solutions that increase customer satisfaction, provide opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell, and slash waiting times.

Virgin kiosks become "preview posts"

When Virgin Entertainment Group, the group operating Virgin Megastores, wanted to find a way to expose in-store shoppers to the breadth and depth of its entertainment portfolio, it turned to kiosks. Virgin Megastore customers simply scan a product's bar code at a Web-enabled kiosk to preview more than 250,000 CDs, 11,000 DVDs and 7,000 console games. The kiosks took the traditional "listening post" to a new level, and redefined the concept of preview before you buy for music lovers, movie aficionados and gamers of all ages and entertainment preferences.

A customer uses a kiosk in a Virgin store.

The new MegaPlay system was piloted in Dallas and Los Angeles. The kiosks were occupied 66 percent of the time, racking up more than 32,000 page views a week. As a result of that success, kiosks are now operational in Virgin Megastore locations in New York, Boston and Salt Lake City.

Air Canada extends stellar service to kiosks

Air Canada prides itself on delivering stellar customer service, and its customers have come to expect that level of outstanding service no matter where they access the Air Canada experience. Therefore, when Air Canada considered becoming the first airline in Canada to implement a kiosk system, the proposed program had a clear measure of success: customers must not only use the kiosks, they had to say that kiosk-based service was equal to the service Air Canada agents provided.

With that ambitious goal in mind, Air Canada deployed a 137-kiosk system across eight Canadian airports to serve the 30 million passengers who fly the airline each year. Passengers use an accepted frequent flyer card or credit card to activate the kiosk where they can check in for a flight, change a seat assignment or request a seat on an earlier flight -- all without speaking to an agent. Air Canada's Express Check-in kiosk solution integrates with the airline's flight reservation and departure control system applications, ensuring that kiosks have the same up-to-the-minute accurate information as the agents.

According to a recent survey of Air Canada passengers, customers are more than satisfied with the kiosk experience. Up to 40 percent of passengers opt for a kiosk during peak travel times, the survey said, which also showed that kiosks are slashing check-in time by as much as 80 percent. In all, 93 percent of passengers surveyed said the kiosks have improved the overall flight experience.

From retail stores to international airports, the self-service kiosk is a key part of a company's service strategy that enables personalization and enhances interaction with consumers. Next time you pass a kiosk, listen closely. You'll be able to almost hear the operational efficiencies building and the customer satisfaction soaring.

Kiosk Architecture: A `behind the scenes' look

IBM Kiosks run the most advanced applications, whether off-the-shelf, developed by IBM, created by independent software developers or written by an in-house team. The integrated unit includes an active matrix LCD touch-screen interface, a 3D graphics accelerator for full-motion video and multimedia, an infrared presence sensor and Ethernet for LAN and Web connectivity.

IBM Kiosks' flexible underlying technical architecture works well with a variety of peripherals, including kiosk printers, integrated speakers, magnetic stripe readers, bar-code scanners, keyboards and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices. In addition, the kiosk's PCMCIA slot accommodates wireless and modem connections, as well as RS-232, USB and parallel ports, CD-ROM drives, cameras, smart card readers and other application-specific devices needed by specific kiosk applications.