opinion
that in 2012 the company removed all of the kiosks from its U . S . stores .
Consider the value proposition
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Don ’ t forget to clearly define the purpose of the kiosk , the value of offering a kiosk solution and the operational impact . Greetings card maker American Greetings was one of the earliest entrants into the self-service kiosk market , deploying thousands of CreataCard greeting card kiosks throughout thousands of retail locations in the early 1990s .
The kiosk featured a selection of greeting card templates and a pen plotter , allowing users to choose their own design and personalise it with names and messages . Once the user made their selection , a number of coloured pens created the card .
What the company apparently didn ’ t consider , was how a kiosk that could take up to 10 minutes to print a greeting card at a price more expensive than off the shelf cards improved the lives of shoppers . Another point of dissatisfaction was the limited number of templates available compared with the number of card styles on the rack .
The final nail in the coffin , though , was the fact that the kiosks didn ’ t require payment until after the cards were completed . “ They ended up becoming what I would call a kiosk babysitter ,” Mendelsohn explained . “ They ’ d have them in stores and people would say , ‘ Johnny , go make a card while Mommy shops ,' and come back in ten minutes . It was quite an interesting thing for a kid to sit there and watch , but at the end of the day , they didn ’ t buy the card . Of course , the company lost a tremendous amount of money .”
Here are some excellent questions to consider when planning a kiosk deployment provided by Janet Webster with Creative Solutions Consulting :
Why are you offering this selfservice solution ?
• Reduce operational costs ?
• Increase revenue ?
• Improve customer satisfaction / engagement ?
• Expand access points ?
• Improve brand ?
• Be more competitive ?
Don ’ t presume that you know what the customers want / need – validate your rationale for offering a kiosk . Ask your customers what they want , need , and expect of your business . And provide examples of planned kiosk offerings to ensure you ’ re on the right track . Multiple focus groups will help clearly define customer expectations .
What is the advertising / marketing strategy ?
• How will you let customers and employees know this new kiosk is coming soon , and now available ?
• How will customers provide feedback ?
• Don ’ t presume they will use it just because it ’ s there !
What are the success metrics and how will you collect the data ?
• Define the baseline and timing for metrics
• Revenue vs . Performance ? What ' s the impact of a ‘ down ’ kiosk ?
What if it doesn ’ t work ?
• How will you notify the customers and employees ?
• How will you replace the new kiosk services to ensure customer satisfaction ?
Note : Janet Webster and Francie Mendelsohn are both principals with DigitalBusiness . us which is a kiosk and self-service consultancy . Other principals include Peter Snyder , Karla Guarino , Benjamin Wheeler and Craig Keefner . n
20 KIOSK solutions