As the days of 2009 dwindle, I find myself crisscrossing the country, talking to retailers of every stripe. These conversations have revealed a few consistent themes, which are likely to drive customer-facing retail technologies in the coming year.

To my relief, and that of probably everyone in the industry, there’s a sense the economy is coming back. Last month, I was at the Kioskcom Self Service Expo in New York, and I would describe the mood as "unexpected optimism." Retailers and technology buyers of all sorts were on the floor in surprising numbers with specific projects they needed to execute. One exhibitor even exclaimed, "We’re on the way up!" while making a swooping airplane motion toward the sky. Now that’s what I call a return to confidence. It is a safe bet that retailers who have been waiting on the sidelines will resume investments in their store experiences in the coming year.

The dominant theme I have heard from retailers is the need to inspire shoppers. Retailers are seeking technologies that do for any product category what mannequins do for apparel — show the customer how to bring many items together into a compelling, personalized solution. An expectant mother furnishing a baby’s room, a couple designing a home theater, a parent building a fish tank for his child — shoppers need to be inspired and guided to a final solution. Retailers understand that addressing a consumer’s end goal is the key to driving more sales, yet doing this with human interactions is expensive. So, I expect to see increasingly sophisticated shopper-assistance tools emerge from the simple product selectors of today. Retailers are keenly focused on the problem, and a few are ready to test solutions.

Closely related to inspiration is the idea of cross-selling. Retailers are interested in technology that helps them add items to a shopper’s basket by reaching across the store to cross-sell many product categories. I get the sense from retailers that this is an area in need of improvement. Customer-facing technologies that draw upon in-store and online inventories to automatically suggest the best complementary goods will likely be tested in the coming year.

Another recurring theme is a desire to provide quality customer service where today’s economics simply do not allow it. Many complex products do not sell in enough volume or at high enough prices to justify having human experts in the store. Several retailers see technology as the way forward. Expert systems can give customers the additional product education they need to make an informed choice, while sparing the cost of additional store labor. Expect to see customer-facing technologies deployed most commonly around these so-called "marginal" product categories.

Finally, with recessionary pressures on staffing levels, retailers want to make the most out of their store staff through sales-process automation. They want humans doing what humans do best — guiding customers through complex, personalized, real-world product problems and decisions. For the 80 percent of any selling process that is the same for every customer, retailers are looking for technological solutions that do this work, letting store associates handle more customers in a given period of time. In a sense, self-checkout was only the beginning. The phrase I have heard is "moving customers from questions to the counter" as quickly as possible. I personally view this as challenging to execute in practice and anticipate some failed trials, given the need for seamless integration between store personnel and in-store technology. However, the first retailer to do it will reap significant rewards and set the stage for the future of retail.

Retailers looking for ways to enhance the profit opportunities from their photo services department now have an integrated and scalable photo solution for the consumer driven digital age. What we are offering retailers is the opportunity to combine the resources of our superior digital imaging equipment, already deployed in more than 50 percent of the nation's leading retailers, with Lucidiom's creative APM (automated photo machine) kiosks and versatile Web-based solutions.

The University of Kentucky College of Nursing has announced the launch of an interactive health information kiosk at the Erlanger, Ky., branch of Northern Kentucky's Kenton County Public Library.

The touchscreen kiosk, called "The Well," is a feature of the UK College of Nursing's Clean Indoor Air Partnership with St. Elizabeth Healthcare and the Northern Kentucky Health Department and will provide information on heart health, smoking cessation, secondhand smoke and radon. It will allow users to take interactive quizzes about these topics and also features a body mass index (BMI) calculator and a scale.

Several years ago, we began to realize how important the library was as a resource for people in regard to healthcare, wellness and fitness. We are thrilled that the library can now offer this health kiosk because of our partnership with the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, St. Elizabeth's and the Northern Kentucky Health Department.

The kiosk's official launch is Friday, Dec. 18, and the public is invited to attend the free event.

By adopting the name of our core product offering, PatientPoint, as our company name, we are simplifying our brand to better represent our core mission of enabling physician practices to deliver value-added services to patients at the point of care. Under the PatientPoint brand, we will continue to broaden our product line and find new ways to leverage self-service technology to help physicians eliminate inefficient, paper-based processes, reduce administrative costs and minimize wait times while also improving care delivery.

 

PatientPoint Inc. also has launched a new Web site, patientpointkiosk.com, and says it will conduct all future business activity using the new PatientPoint name and brand.

Analyst Paul Coster upgraded NCR to "Overweight" from "Neutral," but lowered his target price to $15 from $16. Coster said NCR will likely get a revenue boost from the Blockbuster kiosks it installs, even as its ATM operations stay flat. Coster said the company can realize a 5 percent growth in sales in 2010.

D2 Sales, a provider of interactive kiosks and digital signage, has announced that the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medial Center has successfully completed a self-service check-in pilot program and will deploy D2's My Patient Passport Express kiosk throughout its facilities.

According to D2, the touchscreen, HIPAA-compliant kiosk allows hospital patients to check in, make appointments, update medical history, make copayments and sign documents electronically. The kiosk's enclosure was created to be consistent with the hospital's branding program.

TIO Networks Corp., a provider of expedited bill-payment processing, has announced transaction revenue results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, ended October 31.

According to a news release, TIO processed $4.7 million in bill-payment transactions, with revenue increasing 11 percent over Q1 2009 and one percent over Q4 2009.

Fasig-Tipton, a Lexington, Ky.-based thoroughbred auctioneer, has worked with Hammond Communications Group to design, implement and manage a mobile kiosk and digital signage solution for its auction arenas. According to the company, a horse auction is an information-intensive event where buyers and sellers demand access to content that is both visual and data-driven.

Fasig-Tipton needed to enhance the way information is disseminated during the event, requiring both real-time data and on-demand access to horse workout videos. Furthermore, Fasig-Tipton needed a system that could be moved nationally from facility to facility during the course of a year’s auctions. Auctions are held several times each year in each of Fasig-Tipton’s sales locations including Lexington, Ky.; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Miami, Fla.; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Timonium, Md.

The system centers on a mobile control unit comprised of multiple equipment racks housing servers, media players, HD camera switching and control, audio, SD and HD playback and recording devices and HD cable head-end A/V distribution equipment. From this control center, Hammond manages all the equipment, media transmission and content the system requires.

LCD panels are located in high-traffic dwell areas and feature a multizone content layout. From these displays, Fasig-Tipton customers can view catalog updates and videos, real-time sales information, a live feed with current hip data, prices from the sales ring and more.

For the two-year-old sales, where horses work out prior to the sale, there is a bank of 18 LCD panels in a separate tent that features a different set of horse workout videos per LCD.

Beyond the components and infrastructure, Hammond provided a number of services for the system. Starting with system design, Hammond’s staff of managers and engineers formulated a content-delivery strategy, component mix and implementation plan. Hammond’s graphics department designed the branding for the multizone displays, interactive GUIs and tote board system. The company’s video-production services are used to shoot and edit the HD workout videos critical to the information library. Programmers also have developed applications to allow Web-based maintenance of sale information (which also drives Fasig-Tipton's Web site data) as well as integration of real-time sales information from an off-site AS400 database.

L-1 Identity Solutions, a provider of identity solutions and services, today announced the release of automated kiosks for processing driver's license renewals and replacements. L-1 says the kiosks will first be deployed today at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) headquarters in Jackson, Miss., and six additional kiosks will be rolled out at other DPS offices across the state by the end of December.

Stephen Simpson, commissioner of the Mississippi DPS, says that automating license renewals and replacements, which account for more than half of all license transactions, will benefit the DPS and its customers:

For us, this is more than just a technological innovation; the kiosks add a new dynamic to the way in which we interact with our customers. Automating the simple, yet time- and labor-consuming tasks of renewal and replacement will boost operational efficiencies while paving the way for reduced wait times, shorter lines and more quality interactions between our staff and the public. We have promoted the kiosks to the public over the last few months and the reaction so far has been very positive.

L-1 says the touchscreen kiosks feature a camera and biometric facial-recognition technology that matches the customer to existing photos in the DMV's database to confirm her identity. The kiosks also are equipped with credit/debit card readers and feature state-of-the-art security technology, the company says.

Our acquisition of DVDPlay accelerates NCR’s growth in the DVD-rental business as we expand our operations, technology leadership and consumer experience in key markets with premium retail partners. Over the past six months, we’ve seen tremendous enthusiasm from consumers and retail partners for our DVD-rental kiosks. We’ve been able to deploy quickly and maintain high levels of availability. This further investment will help us bring our kiosks to even more consumers in even more locations around the United States, especially in major markets in California and other parts of the western U.S.

Zytronic today announced that its ZYBRID touch sensors, equipped with projected capacitive technology (PCT), have been integrated with Taiwan-based Sunvision Technology's ViViMirror interactive self-service display.

Morgan Wen, COO for Sunvision, says the ZYBRID technology was essential to the ViViMirror's functionality:

PCT's unique ability to function through an overlay material, in this case mirrored glass, coupled with ZYBRID's customization capability and drift-free performance, together with excellent local project support, have been central to enabling us to deliver this significant innovation. ViViMirror allows customers to stylishly conceal a full-function touch display until the moment it is required and is already generating high levels of interest from the home appliance and retail markets. The product can be customized depending upon the application and additional functionality including RFID, and fingerprint recognition can even be incorporated into the system.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. (LAEDC) has announced results of an economic study that it says illustrates the negative impact of low-cost DVD rentals, such as those at redbox, Blockbuster Express and other DVD-rental kiosks, on the Southern California economy.

According to a news release from the LAEDC, "The Economic Implications of Low Cost DVD Rentals" indicates that an estimated $1 billion in lost revenues to the domestic home video industry in the region because of low-cost DVD rentals would lead to an additional $500 million in reduced economic activity. LAEDC's study also says the loss of film production in the Los Angeles area would mean more than 9,290 lost jobs, with annual earnings of nearly $395 million.

LAEDC only specifically names redbox in its news release and says the $1-per-day rental model puts the foundation of the film distribution industry at risk:  

Redbox's low-cost kiosks are challenging the traditional distribution and release model of the industry, which is built upon timed, sequential release into differentiated market segments through a variety of channels (box office, sell-through, rental, pay television and cable). ... Although box office numbers are headlined in industry and popular press, revenues from this income stream account for less than 25 percent of the total revenues earned by distributors. Most movies are not immediate money makers, and companies rely on sequential sales, such as in the home entertainment market, to recoup their production and marketing investment.

Redbox continues to be embroiled in litigation with several Hollywood studios that have imposed new release distribution delays of up to 30 days on the DVD-rental company. According to the Los Angeles Times, redbox even has amended its suits against 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., alleging that the studios have imposed restrictions on the number of DVDs specific retailers can sell to any one individual. Redbox has made no secret of its "work-around" process — its employees frequent retailers such as Walmart, Target and Best Buy to purchase in bulk the new releases that have been delayed by studios.

Blaine, Minn.-based Mosquito Productions has announced the deployment of its BigBox DVD-rental kiosk in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Mosquito is a provider of digital technology solutions and already operates four BigBox DVD-rental kiosks in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

According to Mosquito, the BigBox kiosks break from the norm by offering movie rentals on a per-hour basis. The kiosk charges six cents an hour for new DVD releases, four cents an hour for DVDs older than one year and nine cents an hour for Blu-ray discs.

Mosquito says BigBox's unique pricing model, along with a selection of movies it says is larger than in competing kiosks, creates a different DVD-rental experience for consumers:

Offering rentals on a per-hour basis gives the customer incentive to bring the movie back in a timely manner in order to save money, and that in turn keeps the inventory fresh in the kiosk. … But combine that theory with kiosk designs that can store up to 15 times the number of discs as some of BigBox DVD's main competitors and you literally end up with a video store in a box, able to serve up classic titles and a wide array of new high-definition Blu-ray Discs, along with the latest new releases.

Customers also can use the BigBox.com Web site to search and view details about more than 100,000 DVD and Blu-ray titles, search for title availability in specific locations and even request to have a certain title added to particular kiosk.

The kiosks, which have been in use in a handful of Ontario hospitals for two years, will likely become as indispensable as bank machines and cellphones, particularly as governments look for ways to cut healthcare costs, said Peter Suma, president of PCA Services, which developed the machine.

 

'It will be like a cell phone. It will free you from locational dependence,' Suma said in an interview with CBC News.

 

He used an example of going to a grocery store late at night, only to find the pharmacy section is closed. In the future, a customer will just head over to a PharmaTrust machine, as they're called, feed the doctor's prescription through a slot and pick up the phone for a video conference with a pharmacist. Upon payment, the pharmacist releases the actual drug in the machine and the interaction is complete.

The conference and expo's purpose was to create a communications platform for the self-service industry and we believe that we succeeded in this effort. Consensus was that it should become an annual event, so we have commenced planning for next year's event. However, as successful as the conference was, there has been a feeling that the industry needs additional communications, marketing and information platforms.

The kiosk industry Web portal and resource center is dedicated to providing information and promoting professional solutions for kiosk suppliers, manufacturers, products, services and other related technology applications. It will contain a directory of participating vendors, suppliers and solution providers and will feature product information in its virtual showroom, under a variety of categories. It will have a news gallery, featuring local and international kiosk news, case studies and white papers. It will also host special product launch, new technology or future vision pages.

BizCommunity.com says other sponsors of JustTouchIT — The Forum include South African digital signage company Public Display Technologies and kiosk solutions provider iOmeida. The Web site says other international kiosk players, including IBM, are expected to participate in the initiative.

Will Shaw, director of production and marketing for Oblate Media, says the technology will help the organization reach young people more effectively:

We are hoping to plant a seed — the idea that the priesthood may be their calling. (Candidates for priesthood) start thinking about serving the church at a young age. Many teens who visit our centers are in Catholic schools, and some of them are already kicking the idea of entering the priesthood around. The assumption is that these young people are interested in technology. We are trying to cast the bread out as far as we can.

NCR Corp. today announced the deployment of its Blockbuster Express DVD-rental kiosks in 200 Duane Reade drugstore locations in Manhattan. The kiosks offer DVD rentals for $1 per night and will be installed in 200 locations over the next several months, most of them by the end of the year, NCR says. Some of the kiosks already are operating at Duane Reade locations.

Alex Camara, vice president and general manager of NCR Entertainment, says the kiosks' convenience factor is well-suited to Duane Reade's customer experience.

DVD rental kiosks are a great fit in high-traffic urban areas because they take up a very small retail footprint. Paired with a convenience or drug store location, it gives consumers a very convenient way to pick up their favorite entertainment titles while they shop for everyday items. New Yorkers think of Duane Reade for convenience. Our DVD kiosks provide Duane Reade with additional convenience for its customers.

NCR says the Blockbuster Express kiosks offer the largest selection of new-release and classic titles in the DVD-rental kiosk market, with more than 900-disc capacity.