Technology has made lots of things different in terms of the way we shop, including turning shops and shopping centres into just one of our options. Of course, while online commerce has become the mainstream, retail shops haven’t been left behind, and have also looked for innovative new ways to keep people interested in visiting their premises and offering better, more convenient ways to shop. One such change that more and more retailers have implemented is the self service kiosk, which allows shoppers to do all kinds of things without needing to queue to speak to a shop assistant. Here, we look at how these kinds of kiosks have altered the in store experience in shops who use them:
More Freedom for Customers
Stores use self service kiosks in a number of ways. In some cases, they are used to check if a product is in stock and order it in store to collect at the counter, including having the facility to pay for the purchase. While this style of shopping was originally associated with catalogue shops like Argos, it is something that is now used more and more, with many branches of McDonalds now even having self service kiosks where you can place and pay for an order.
In other shops, the kiosk can help you find the right product to meet your needs, or let you view tutorials and other information about products. This can work well in anything from a place that sells health and beauty products like Boots to a home and DIY shop. In other places like supermarkets, self service checkouts are now the norm. What all of these styles of kiosks do is give the customer far more freedom to get the information they need and make their choices, without feeling that they are taking up somebody’s time, keeping other customers waiting, or being pressured into buying.
Faster Service
Because the kiosks take a lot of the work of answering questions and checking if things are in stock off of the hands of human employees, this means faster service for those who do actually need someone to help them with a more complicated customer service issue, and also speeds things up at the point of sale. This is great for both the customers, and the shop, who can give the impression of very efficient customer service and reduce the stress on their employees.
Selling Opportunities
For the retailer, kiosks also allow a good way to promote and sell products to customers in store. Kiosks that can make recommendations or allow people to experiment with or find out more about products can actually do a better job of persuading people to buy than staff and in store displays alone.
With more and more retailers, as well as other places consumers visit like restaurants, using technology to allow customers to get the service they want more freely, it is no surprise that the experience we get in a retail environment has changed quite considerably. It will be interesting to see how retail space tech evolves in the next few years.
