Need to boost store sales, make the shop more efficient, or get a jump on the competition? Want to develop a more loyal customer base? Looking to simplify your recruiting process or go paperless with your HR department? If so, then call upon kiosk technology for answers.Interactive, self-service kiosks are revolutionizing the way business gets done and is the customer facing technology of choice for hundreds of other retailers. Kiosk technology is tested, tried, and true. In order to help you get to know what types of kiosk solutions are available for your retail business, the editors of KIOSK magazine have searched the world for the top twenty ways you can use kiosk technology in your retail business. Discover how the dream of collecting vital information, pushing up sales, and offering streamlined solutions can be a reality with self-service.

2. Gift Registry

Sur La Table introduced the use of touch screen kiosks in their stores in 1999 specifically designed for their Gift Registry business. At that time, they migrated from paper & pencil registries to a fully integrated, nationally accessible online Wedding and Gift Registry system. For the past three years, their kiosks have fulfilled the purpose of registry creation, retrieval, updating, and uploading registrant's product selections from a palm type scanning device. In early 2004, Sur La Table will be rolling out an exciting upgrade to their Gift Registry kiosks, giving their customers the ability to self-service create, update, and print out registries using a single touch screen application, which will simplify these processes significantly.

3. Gift Card Dispensing

ValueLink, the gift and spending card service arm of First Data Corp., commissioned a report that found twice as many American consumers purchased a gift card in 2003 compared to the previous year. Forty-five percent of the adult population in the United States, an estimated 97 million people, purchased a gift card in the previous 12 months versus just 23 percent in a similar survey conducted in August 2002. Retailers love gift cards because it means they're bringing in cash, not to mention an estimated 15% of cards go unredeemed. Customers love them because it gives them flexibility in gift getting. The kiosk solution provider TIOSK has developed a self-service solution for purchasing and distributing the plastic magstripe gift cards. Consumers can also perform balance inquires and view printed transaction histories at the Tiosk terminal.

4. Loyalty & Incentives

Enticing and rewarding customers to make a repeat trips to your retail business is only as successful as the program in place. Kiosk technology easily allows your customers to collect points, redeem awards for discounts, savings, or to receive special offers. Not only that, but loyalty kiosks are also a great means to track and collect vital information about your customers. One of the most successful examples of a loyalty kiosk program is that of the TravelCenters of America. The nation chain has an estimated half-million loyalty members with approximately seventy-five percent using the kiosk system on a frequent basis.

5. Product Line Extension

For retailers it's almost impossible to have every single product option physically located in the store. To make the sales, interactive kiosks can allow your customer access to your extended product line. DaimlerChrysler, for example, is using a couple thousand interactive kiosks in their dealerships that provide access to an extended list of vehicle options including interior/exterior color selections, standard equipment as well as optional features and equipment.

6. Product / Service Information

When you sell more than 100 million gallons of paint each year, providing customers an easier way to find the product and color that will work is important. That was the premise behind the Home Depot's implementation of the BEHR?ColorSmart self-service kiosk. At the kiosk customers can browse a collection of inspirational palettes, preview colors in virtual rooms and receive instant color coordination tips. The interactive kiosk also includes practical tips for painting projects and provides users with a paint calculator and supplies list. The system is putting confidence in the hands of customers, increasing sales for BEHR, and allowing The Home Depot to help customers make the most of their paint project.

7. Bill Payment

Whether you're looking to collect on bills quicker, or you want to provide a convenient payment method for unbanked customers, bill payment kiosks are the answer. Sprint Stores have been using the NCR Xpress Payment kiosk, which provides Sprint customers a one-stop alternative to view their bills and make payments and credits to their account. KIOSK magazine recently talked with a customer using the kiosk in a Sprint Store and his impression of the system was simple: "I use the system once a month and this is really the quickest way for me to pay my bill."

8. Gaming

Last October, BMW of North America, LLC launched the teaser phase of an aggressive marketing campaign for the company's newest entry into the Sports Activity genre by placing state-of-the-art wireless kiosks in public spaces throughout key markets. The kiosks - which utilize an innovative wireless technology to connect to the Internet - have been designed in the shape of surfboards as a nod to the active lifestyles of the vehicle's prospective purchasers. In December the company started using the kiosks for an online gaming experience known as BMW X3 Adventure, featuring three different in-car driving experiences and outdoor sporting activities, including mountain biking, snowboarding and kayaking adventures.

9. Demonstrations & Trial

Sometimes the complication with selling in products is that customers require a higher level of involvement before making a buying decision. Demo kiosks have proven themselves successful in showing customer the benefits and features of products. Barnes & Noble, for example, has been using a demo kiosk since 2000 that allows customers to listen to virtually every CD in the store and browse and listen to samples of all commercially available albums. The kiosk system, called Red Dot, is applicable to the demonstration and trial of many kinds of merchandise including movies, audio books, and video games.

11. Human Resources

For Texas-based Garden Ridge, a retailer of home d?or and crafts, much of its success is owed to the self-awareness of its corporate culture and the importance the human factor plays in operations. The company is using a hiring management system in all its stores. The job application kiosks are a strong draw for qualified candidates, who say they like the ease of filling out forms in a self-service environment rather than having to seek out a management office.

12. E-commerce

Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), a national retailer of outdoor gear and clothing, has implemented in-store kiosks in its retail stores as part of a multi-channel strategy. The kiosks allow the company to operate e-commerce sales and in-store specials. In addition to finding products and making purchases, customers can also use the in-store kiosks to research hiking trails, camping guides and fly-fishing techniques. 

13. Customer Service

Mahoney's Garden Center in Boston, MA has been trialing a customer service kiosk application developed by Gardening 123. At the kiosk located in Mahoney's retail locations, customers can access recommendations and an extensive library of information about gardening. The kiosk offers customers a full-time garden center expert at their fingertips.

14. Locating & Mapping

What is the easiest way to get Point A to Point B? In what isle is that blue widget located? With the touch of a finger, and the help of some smart software, customers can use a kiosk system to retrieve and print detailed information pertaining to routes or specific locations of the product they are seeking. The kiosk producer MontegoNet (application pictured) has been working with wayfinding and mapping applications for several years.

15. Design & Customization

Searching for the right mobile phone and service package can be an intimidating task with all the products and services available on the market today. In a move to wire into customers, Verizon Wireless has developed a touchscreen self-service kiosk that provides detailed options about plans and accessories for any type of customer. Verizon's largest rollout of this kiosk system is in Circuit City stores, where customers can learn about and select the wireless plan that has everything they need, and nothing they don't.

16. Delivering Coupons & Discounts

Convenience retailing giant Circle K stores has been at the forefront of kiosk technology. Their kiosks, known as ZapLink, are user friendly terminals providing a host of services for Circle K customers. Besides seeing brand manufacturer advertising on the kiosks, customers can also select and print coupons from the in-store system.

17. Sales & Marketing

With high sales associate turnover and growing sophistication in the consumer market, it's hard to stay on top of a customer who knows what they want, and what they need. The sales and marketing kiosk not only provides customers a place to do the research themselves, but also can greatly enhance the sales staff selling process by holding a vast amount of information such as specific product information, product comparisons and differentiation, and overall awareness. John Deere (pictured) has been experimenting with sales and marketing kiosks in its dealerships. Not only are the kiosks deeply branded, but they are also a new key component of the sales process.

18. Credit Applications

Providing customers access to credit as quickly as possible leads to quicker and larger sales, especially for big ticket items. Levin Furniture (see cover story) is one of the first retailers to implement a self-service credit application system. Apunix Computer Services, the kiosk software vendor for the project, is seeing demand from other high-end retail environments including jewelry retailing.

19. Sampling

One of the best ways to give customers a taste of how well your product or service works is to let customers give it a try. Cox Communications, for example, has been using self-service kiosks for the past year, which allows potential customers to sample its high-speed internet services. Located in retail environments, the kiosks invite users to try the service live and compare it to the much slower traditional dial-up service consumers may be using.

20. Vending

Some of the greatest income per-square-foot generators have been self-service kiosks. Imagine the potential of a machine that takes up no more foot space than a small desk and could generate thousands of dollars per month - totally unattended. It's happening. An entire market for self-service vending exists with kiosk terminals that do everything from issuing tickets, to turning pocket change into cash, and from topping off cell phone minutes to custom digital photofinishing. Kodak, and the company's PictureMaker self-service photofinishing kiosk, can now be found at over 35,000 locations around the world.