Self-service kiosks are all the rage at the moment. It’s becoming increasingly rare to find retail shops, restaurants and public spaces that don’t utilise self-service kiosk technology in some form.
This has seen the global sales of interactive kiosks – not counting ATMs and refreshment vending machines – reach an estimated $12.1 billion in 2021, a 14% increase over the $10.6 billion in 2020.
To learn more about the types of kiosks you should know about in 2022, check out our blog post here.
Why are businesses investing so heavily in this technology and why should you join them? Self-service kiosks have a range of benefits, from saving your business resources to providing a quicker service. Your customers will be able to engage directly with your business providing a more efficient experience and improved customer satisfaction.
Keep reading to learn more about the incredible benefits of self-service kiosks.
Jump to:
1. Saving Resources
2. Adaptability
3. Connectivity
4. Serve More Customers
5. Increased Profits
6. Quicker Service
7. Improved Customer Satisfaction
1. Saving Resources
One of the key benefits of self-service kiosks to your organisation is that they will save you resources, particularly staff time.
Take, for example, a self-service visitor management kiosk. These kiosks allow visitors, staff, and contractors to sign in to your building using a kiosk without needing any assistance from a receptionist. This allows your administration and reception staff to focus on more pressing tasks.
Not only are you able to save valuable time here, but you can take these saved resources and distribute them where needed.
Grubbrr CEO Sam Zietz said that “deploying kiosks allows operators to shift staff resources to improve other operational aspects of efficiency.
“For example, replacing a cashier with a kiosk in a quick-service restaurant can move that staffer to the production line, thereby increasing throughput and driving more revenue.”
2. Adaptability
Self-service kiosks can be easily adapted to meet emerging requirements within your business. For example, you may want to take advantage of your customer engagement with your advertising kiosks by adding a payment option to allow your customers to make a purchase there and then.
This can be achieved by adapting your advertising kiosk and integrating a payment device. Most kiosks include the option to integrate with payment devices such as Ingenico, Verifone and Worldpay.
By adapting your kiosk to take payments you have the chance to provide more upselling opportunities.
As your customers progress through the purchasing process the kiosk display could show other similar products or premium versions to offer instead.
3. Connectivity
The adaptability of self-service kiosks ties directly into their connectivity. Because self-service kiosks are networked, they can be remotely accessed and controlled from anywhere with an internet connection using cloud-based software. This allows you to push new content, software, fixes and more to the kiosks remotely from anywhere in the world.
One of these types of cloud-based software is a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS lets you create and schedule the content you want to be displayed across your kiosk network.
Being able to do this remotely means you can update your kiosk displays instantly to push the content you want at any given time.
For example, if you have a new product available, you can add promotional content to your CMS and push that to your kiosk network the moment it is launched. This means you can immediately start promoting your new product to your customers and have less chance of missing potential sales.
4. Serve More Customers
Self-service kiosks that provide a checkout or purchasing system, offer your customers an alternative checkout route that is typically much quicker. In fact, if kiosk ordering is available, more than 65% of customers would visit a restaurant more often and 30% of customers prefer to order from a kiosk versus a cashier.
Spreading your queuing customers across kiosks and a standard checkout allows your flow of customers to keep moving with reduced waiting times. This allows your business to serve more customers in a shorter time, while also working to attract those customers who prefer to use self-service methods. This has the added benefit of creating a positive customer experience that your customers will share through word of mouth.
5. Increased Profits
As mentioned above self-service kiosks allow you to serve more customers, giving you the opportunity to gain a higher revenue. This isn’t the only monetary benefit these devices offer though. Your operating costs will be lowered as staff who would have provided this service for your customers can be freed to undertake other important duties. The overall efficiency of your business will be increased by this, meaning you have less waste and lower general expenses.
As well as this, self-service kiosks offer improved upselling capabilities compared to traditional methods of service, improving the potential for increased profits. For example, in a fast-food environment, you can visualise your menu items on the self-service kiosk. Consumers believe that visually appealing food tastes 29% better and they are willing to pay up to three times more for it.
By having until the moment of purchase to promote your other products, self-service kiosks provide an improved upselling service that can result in increased profits.
6. Quicker Service
Self-service kiosks provide faster checkout and assistance than traditional counter manned options. Customers who know exactly what they want when they approach the kiosk will be able to select that option and checkout without any need for an explanation to a staff member.
This speed and efficiency is desired by many of your customers as 49.4% of retail customers use self-service checkouts because they find the experience to be faster.
You can miss out on potential sales if customers come into your retail space and see a queue at the counter.
Having self-service kiosks available lets your customers quickly and easily check out, enabling you to retain valuable customers and prevents you from losing out to a competitor.
7. Improved Customer Satisfaction
When bringing together some of the benefits mentioned above, such as the quicker service that can serve more customers, self-service kiosks can improve your customer’s overall satisfaction.
The ability to adapt to different requirements and serve more customers in a timely fashion means that self-service kiosks are integral to maintaining a satisfied customer base.
Customers are often most irritated by long lines for checking out. Self-service kiosks help to keep the lines moving which aids in maintaining your customer’s overall satisfaction levels. This is why 66% of consumers prefer self-service over interacting with an employee because it is faster and less stressful.
As well as completing their checkout quicker, customers can use self-service kiosks to access information on your products and services without personal assistance. For example, your customer may be looking for more information on one of your products but all of your staff members are busy. Instead of having to wait for assistance, the customer could access a kiosk and find the product information themselves. This not only reduces waiting times but also enables your customer base to be more informed about the products you offer.
If you are looking to learn more about self-service technology, check out our blog posts on the types of kiosks you should know about and self-service innovations. Or if you have any questions we are here to help, get in touch here.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive supplier of self-service for your organisation, look no further than LamasaTech. We’ll take you through every step of your project, so you can start enjoying the benefits of self-service kiosks in no time.
