Kiosks come in many configurations and footprints and are packing more functions than ever before. Consumers can step right up to one to order a meal, cash a check, search a gift registry and even check into a hotel.

Such self-service devices are helping retailers to elevate sales and customer service levels and have become less taxing to their IT departments and operations. But when it comes to kiosk perfection, more work appears needed.

With that in mind, RIS News recently discussed the notion of kiosk perfection with executives from Lund Food Holdings, 7-Eleven, Boscov’s Department Stores and Wawa Corp.

“A perfect kiosk is not a general appliance, but a device that is flexible and customized around the lifestyles and needs of customers,” says Keith Morrow, senior vice president of IS of Dallas-based 7-Eleven, who is overseeing the c-store chain’s V.com kiosk that brings together a bevy of financial and informational services.

Content & Context
For some merchants, kiosk nirvana is realized when these devices save time and provide useful information within the context of a traditional shopping experience.

Tres Lund, president and CEO of Edina, MN-based Lund Food Holdings, says, “Technology is the key to customer service, not an impediment. Advances in technology put the customer in control, and empowerment is the ultimate form of service.” Last summer, Lund Food Holdings, which operates 20 Lunds and Byerly’s supermarkets in and around the Twin Cities, installed six Web and information kiosks from NCR at a newly opened Lunds in Plymouth, MN – a unit dubbed Lund’s “Store of the Future.” Says Dennis McCoy, the project manager who oversaw the kiosk installation, “Kiosks allow us to add technology without impairing what we do best, that is, create sensational shopping experiences.”

The elevation of service levels was a top kiosk driver for Wawa, the 530-unit c-store chain that last fall began installing touch-screen kiosks from Radiant Systems. The kiosks save consumers time by allowing them to quickly order sandwiches, sliced deli meats, soups and sides.

The terminals will be installed in all stores by the fall of 2002, according to John McCallister, director of operations engineering for Wawa PA-based Wawa. “We went through an extensive process to make sure that all customers would be comfortable using the terminals. Other key litmus tests were associate satisfaction, improving order accuracy and speed of service, remote ordering capability and financial returns.”

The trail to kiosk perfection will also include employee-centric features to, for example, allow employees to manage their benefits and other human resources data via intranets.

“Kiosks have to fit into the overall infrastructure of the enterprise, and that includes using them as intra-company tools for information dissemination,” says Harry Roberts, senior vice president and CIO of Boscov’s Department Stores. “Right now they are just gift kiosks, but we foresee a time when each store will have a browser-based kiosk that is connected to our intranet.”

The Kiosk Road Ahead
So what else will contribute to self-service Shangri-la? Retailers seem to be looking at platforms and integration issues that will make kiosks easier and less expensive to manage, maintain and upgrade.

The vast majority of kiosks run various versions of Microsoft Windows, but operators still have reliability concerns and might look toward other operating systems that are considered to be more stable.

“I’d like to see vendors target Linux and my directive over the next 24 months is to replace some of the kiosks with that OS,” Roberts predicts. “Linux is more task-oriented, more robust and doesn’t fail.” Boscov’s is already looking at purchasing Linux-based price verification scanners from IEE. An important integration goal for kiosk savvy retailers is to tie these devices to their CRM applications. “That’s going to be the critical piece,” says 7-Eleven’s Morrow. The other integration “caveat” for the chain’s V.com kiosk is full-fledged integration with the in-store point-of-sale terminals and the gas pumps. “That’s the holy grail,” he adds.

Many wireless developments, such as WAP, may bode well for kiosks, but Morrow sees security as another obstacle to kiosk perfection. “There are some significant security hurdles for wireless kiosks. We just don’t see enough of a benefit to offset the potential risks,” he says. Instead, 7-Eleven is looking at extending the utility of its V.com kiosks with MSR-based stored-money cards.

While the perfect retail kiosk may or may not exist, operators will continue to push the self-service envelopes to give their customers greater convenience, to enhance shopping experiences, and to drive costs out of their stores.