How Remotely Adjustable Interactive Kiosks Are Powering Sales

Chicago-based Florsheim Shoe Company became one of the first companies to deploy retail kiosks to sell products in 1981. The company’s machines offered digital product catalogs, played audio explanations of shoes’ features and let customers place orders to be delivered within several days. The technology has evolved and spread since then, and today’s interactive kiosks enable consumers to do everything from browse real estate properties and pay bills to renew vehicle registrations and take healthcare surveys.

Kiosk-based shopping experiences may be convenient for consumers, but they also work out for retailers. These solutions provide consumers with services without retailers having to designate staff or significant floorspace. Quick, anonymous self-serve experiences reportedly drive up customer spending, with a recent study finding that customers tend to spend 15 percent to 20 percent more when purchasing through kiosks as opposed to traditional checkouts.

Solution providers and retailers are not satisfied with resting on their laurels, continuing to explore ways to advance the technology. Bhushan Mehendale, vice president of engineering for kiosk app management and development platform provider Esper, sees the next stage of retail kiosks as one in which businesses can remotely change machines’ capabilities to support different purchasing or shopping functions as new needs or desires emerge. Esper installs an Android software platform onto kiosk hardware, enabling apps to be run, updated and swapped. This also gives retailers the ability to remotely manage and monitor their kiosks.

“I predict a future in which brick-and-mortar stores [will] have kiosks as very essential aspects,” Mehendale said in a recent interview with PYMNTS.

The Kiosk Value-Add

Kiosks give brick-and-mortar shops the opportunity to weave digital supports and offerings into in-person shopping experiences. These solutions can reach out to consumers and provide product information, helping shoppers better understand items so they feel more confident making purchases. Mehendale pointed out that beauty stores may want to use camera-equipped kiosks to offer consumers 3D visualizations of how hair dye or makeup will look on them, for example.

Sellers can expand their kiosk-based marketing approaches to encompass more than just product visualizations, he said. Stores can create stronger calls to action by providing customers with discount coupons at kiosks where they virtually tried out an item, for example. Value-adds like promotions and deals help push more customers to engage with the kiosks.

“They incentivize the customer to [buy] by saying, ‘See how the lipstick looks on you and if you would like to … buy right now, here’s a 5 percent [off] coupon,” Mehendale said.

Kiosk-issued discounts can be used to prompt customers to purchase items available in stores or to direct and encourage them to place online or phone orders for products that are not in stock. The machines give businesses the opportunity to sell items that may be inconvenient or expensive to keep in stores. Mehendale pointed out that a common use case is leveraging kiosks to sell gift cards that can then be texted or emailed to customers’ intended recipients.

Big-box retailers and grocery stores can also use the machines to smooth out in-store shopping frictions. They could provide informational services such as maps – one of Esper’s most popular use cases – customer surveys, payment acceptance, visual product simulations and more, he said.

Multipurpose Approaches and Remote Monitoring

Businesses can explore new uses for the machines and adapt them to changing needs with remote updates. Single-purpose retail hardware has to be removed, and retailers must install new software or entirely new kiosks to offer different self-serve capabilities. Machines with software that can support the addition of new apps and the removal of old apps enable retailers to redeploy already-purchased kiosks to new sections of the store. They could move kiosks from electronics to women’s apparel and adjust the item catalogs accordingly, for example. Kiosks’ software can also be updated to promote items according to the time of day or the season to better appeal to customers.

“[With this approach, retailers] can say, ‘You know what? From 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., I’d like my kiosk to show ads related to beer and diapers, and from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. it’s something different.’ Everyone gets super granular control over each of their kiosks,” Mehendale explained.

Kiosks are also adjustable based on location, should companies discover that shoppers in particular states or cities exhibit different preferences than those in other locales.

Remotely monitored devices give retail executives the chance to quickly gather information about how customers at stores across the country interact with the kiosks, including how many consumers engage with them and when. Businesses also get readings that let them quickly learn about any issues affecting machines’ performances, such as if one unexpectedly turns off.

The kiosk retail landscape is continuing to develop as store owners and brands explore new ways to deliver their products, promotional offerings, maps and other supports that facilitate better in-store shopping experiences. Remote kiosk management and updates could be valuable tools in helping brands test new ideas and quickly roll out successful concepts to more store locations.