opinion
of 5.69% over the next six years, reaching
$30.5 billion by 2023. At the same time,
market researcher App Annie found
that people spent a collective 1.6 trillion
hours within mobile apps in 2016 – a 50%
increase compared with the previous
year. The firm predicts that growth
will continue, with time spent in apps
expected to more than double to 3.5
trillion hours in 2021.
Clearly, there’s an opportunity in the
marketplace for both kiosks and mobile
apps, and there are a few simple reasons
why mobile apps won’t replace kiosks.
Unless it’s a place they visit on a regular
basis, most consumers aren’t likely to go
through the trouble of downloading an
app if that location already features a self-
service kiosk.
Many people use multiple payment
cards and aren’t going to want to go
through the hassle of entering a new
card number in an app on each visit.
There’s always going to be a segment of
the population who choose not to use
a mobile app. Research firm comScore
found in a 2016 study that half of
smartphone users never download any
apps.
In some cases, poor cellular service
and/or Wi-Fi connectivity may make the
use of a smartphone app difficult in
some locations. In addition, there may
be cases where the deployer wants to
keep certain information on their own
machines. In those cases, a kiosk may
make better business sense. In light of
those statistics and concerns, it only
makes sense to offer customers a kiosk
as an additional self-service channel.
The bottom line
People are busy; if your kiosk doesn’t
help them in some clear way they’ll go
elsewhere. Clearly defining the purpose
for a kiosk project and the audience
those kiosks will serve is instrumental in
achieving project success. In addition,
knowing exactly how you will define
success is something that should be
determined in the initial planning stages.
While it can be easy to gloss over these
questions, taking the time to answer
them early on can simplify the entire
process for you and your team, increase
engagement with your kiosks and result
in a better experience for your visitors. n
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