Problems in the Retail Industry
In the retail industry “About half of all new establishments survive five years or more and about one-third survive 10 years or more. As one would expect, the probability of survival increases with a firm’s age. Survival rates have changed little over time,” Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This means that quality differentiation, customer service, and branding are important for the survival of a business. Specific to physical retail stores, online competitors pose a major threat to the survival of the retail business.
Over 50% of retail consumers will purchase their products online, making it important for in-store facilities to have online options. Kiosks can be placed in stores so customers can scan item tags, check for coupons, and order online. This way, if the customer can not find what they were looking for in the store they may order it through the kiosk and have it delivered home or to the store. It can also help businesses by saving costs on paper resources and staffing, allowing employees to focus on more difficult tasks while customers help themselves to the kiosks’ resources.
Rather than have posters designed and printed for every sale and discount, the kiosk can display this information on the homepage using a photo slider. The customer can see the deals as they walk in and when they need to use the kiosk for its many capabilities. Overall, the main problems a retail kiosk improves are:
- Differentiation of business
- Online retail sales
- Branding and awareness
- Employment and budget
Solutions using Self-Service
As discussed briefly, the common solutions a kiosk provides for retail businesses are:
- Reduced administrative costs
- Improve customer experience
- Increase sales and lead generation
- Save time and money on staff and labor
- Online purchasing at location
- Manage product campaigns
For restaurant chains, the margin of positive impact has been huge.
Cut back on wait times for your customers by installing a kiosk that can provide POS, bill pay, and coupon services while answering common questions that the customer would otherwise have to wait in line to ask. A great solution for those who don’t speak English as a first language, these kiosks can provide multilingual services that may not have been available.
Common Uses for a Retail Kiosk
Most commonly, retail businesses implement a kiosk to provide the following services:
- Point of Sale
- Advertisements and product campaigns
- Online purchases
- Wayfinding
- Price checks
And there are plenty of solutions for retail depending on the business’ needs. The most common is our specially designed retail kiosk. This model can have hardware add-ons to increase accessibility, including a card reader, receipt printer, side tables, wheels, camera, privacy screen, VOIP, signature pad, and an external keyboard added onto it. If the project requires mobility, a free standing kiosk with wheels may be a better option. While we have a kiosk developed specifically for this purpose, there are plenty of options for any project. For retail, the most commonly used software would be browser lockdown and a homepage solution. Advanced Kiosks provides quality tech support, a 3 year warranty (with the option for 4 and 5 year warranty upgrades), and is made in the U.S.A.
