Want To Run An Unmanned Product Kiosk?
Unmanned product kiosks offer numerous benefits and are used by a variety of businesses and industries. This includes retail locations, airports, and restaurants. Even healthcare and government agencies are beginning to supply particular products using such kiosks. The benefits of unmanned product kiosks include being user-friendly, lower costs, reduced wait times, enhanced customer engagement, and more. This article will provide more insight into why offering an unmanned product kiosk is beneficial.
What Is An Unmanned Product Kiosk?
Many of us already know about self-service POS kiosks. They have a touchscreen that allows users to use interactive means to access services and complete transactions. This is often enticing to customers who wish to find information or checkout without direct interaction with staff members. Unmanned product kiosks are quite similar, except the focus is placed on the products themselves.
Fundamentally, such kiosks feature a screen to help the user through its use. It enables the customer to easily acquire information, browse products, and order/pay for said products/services. They are an efficient and convenient addition to many establishments, including retail locations, restaurants, and other service-oriented businesses.
Top Benefits of Unmanned Product Kiosks
While there are many benefits to offering an unmanned product kiosk, the main ones are as follows:
User-Friendly
The goal of offering unmanned product kiosks isn’t to make the shopping experience more difficult for the user. In reality, it’s the opposite. This is why its key feature, the interactive touch screen, incorporates user-friendly interfaces. Navigating the menus, selecting items, customizing orders, processing payments, and receiving the product is extremely easy.
For example, orders can be placed, modified, and completed in just a few touches. This allows the customer to have greater control, thus ensuring their order is correct. Most unmanned product kiosks also allow customers to pay with debit/credit/gift cards and have increasingly offered the option of using mobile payments. As a whole, these kiosks offer a modern and engaging experience that allows the customer to have more control.
Upselling and Inventory Management
Without the need for human interaction, there is some skepticism concerning the use of such kiosks. It is believed that without this component, sales may drop due to the lack of opportunity to offer product upgrades, add-ons, or other deals. However, this is not the case! This technology can be programmed to suggest similar items, inform users of special deals, and recommend add-ons when applicable.
Inventory management can also be integrated depending on the business needs and the kiosk selected. This offers an easy way to track what is in stock, prevent over-selling, and provide information on when out-of-stock items will be replenished. These items can frequently still be ordered with the customer receiving notification once it has arrived to their selected store/shipped to their preferred location.
Business Benefits
While the above benefits are more customer-oriented, there are many benefits for the business itself. Businesses that offer unmanned product kiosks are often more efficient and may experience an increase in their revenue.
Non-Stop Service
Many unmanned product kiosks can be available 24/7 for customers. With having around the clock service options, customers don’t need to concern themselves with hours of operation.
Instead, they can use the product kiosk whenever it suits them best. This form of convenience and efficiency helps to create higher customer satisfaction and a more loyal customer base. This translates to higher earnings for the business.
Lower Staffing Costs
As seen above, while some shoppers go shopping merely to experience social interaction, the majority prefer the self-serve options. This can be beneficial for the business due to saving money on hiring staff to handle such tasks. Or, the employees that may be hired for this purpose can be put to better use.
By eradicating or at least minimizing the need for human staff, money can be saved on what would otherwise be spent on the hiring and training processes. This alone saves a significant amount of resources. While the initial cost for a product kiosk may seem a bit high, it is incomparable to the money saved when staffing costs are reduced.
If it is preferred for an unmanned product kiosk to be used in conjunction with hired staff, this still saves the business on costs. The staff’s performance often improves as there is less stress placed on them to keep up with a large amount of customers. This is especially true during peak hours. While this does depend on which products are offered by the kiosk, it helps alleviate some of the pressure.
Provide Faster Service
One of the main reasons customers choose to use unmanned product kiosks is to avoid long lines. The wait time for being served is greatly reduced without factoring in the usual banter that occurs with the cashier. For example, think of the last time you went to the movies and what the process of purchasing tickets and concessions is like. Odds are, you wanted to avoid the line and bought them quickly at the unmanned kiosk!
According to Insight, you’re not alone. More than 4 in 5 Americans said they prefer using self-service kiosks in general. In fact, 66% said they would choose one over a manned checkout while 14% said they would even wait for a self-service kiosk. This is regardless of there being no line at a staffed checkout option and the service being provided.
Greater Reach
Last but not least, numerous unmanned product kiosks can be placed in various locations. This increases the brand’s visibility which potentially leads to higher sales. While some customers may prefer human interaction, many shoppers desire the flexibility and the ease of use product kiosks provide.
Would Your Business Benefit From An Unmanned Product Kiosk?
Overall, self-service unmanned product kiosks offer a win-win solution for both customers and businesses. This includes enhancing the customer experience while improving operational efficiency and potentially boosting revenue. There are undoubtedly factors to weigh when it comes to any business decision. From the initial investment to ensuring installation and upkeep are facilitated, Octametro can help!
Our goal is to help you make the most of your investment. In no time, our products will help you reach your marketing and overall business goals. We have nearly 40 years of experience and can provide the only POS services and product kiosks you’ll need.
Contact us today by calling +1(305) 715-9713 or messaging us directly on our website.
