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The Perspective |
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Thursday, 31 July 2008
If you ever want to know how well a given business program is working, you can spend money on focus groups and surveys. Or, you can just ask a child.
My five-year-old son and I were walking through Wal-Mart the other day, when he noticed the "Wal-Mart TV" screens for the first time. We've spent plenty of hours in Wal-Marts before, but the screens had always escaped his gaze (perhaps because they're mounted at heights that give an adult a neck-ache).
But today, he says to me: "Daddy, that's the TV channel that only shows commercials."
An exclamation mark appeared in the air over my head. Why yes, son, that’s right – it's a TV channel with no programs, only commercials.
Now honestly, how many of you would watch such a channel if you were at home? A few of you might have just raised your hands – marketers and ad-men and ad-women and connoisseurs of the art form of the commercial – but for most of us, a network of all commercials, all the time is a nightmare that sends us scrambling for the big, friendly TiVo button.
But there is no TiVo button in a store, only a growing number of screens that the shopper cannot get away from.
In-store media is a powerful tool, and when it is properly done, consumers love it. When the content is entertaining and place-appropriate, it feels like a benefit to the shopper. When the content is nothing but ads, it feels like an intrusion into the shopper's privacy.
Blame the all-too-human nature to be pennywise and pound-foolish. Many retailers, having just written the not-insignificant check for the screens and the software and the installation of their new digital signage program, turn to face the content beast and say, "Oh, wait, we can save some money here by using ads we're already running on television or the Web."
And yes, you can. You can also hire terrible customer service people to save a few dollars in the short-term. How well does that strategy work?
In-store media, evolving thing that it is, is a massively complex touch point between you and your customer. Give it the attention and intelligence it deserves. Do not let it become your company's version of the TV channel that only shows commercials.
James Bickers is editor of Retail Customer Experience magazine.
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Some go to Las Vegas to get married or to gamble. I go to Vegas for digital signage and self-service trade shows. On my return from Vegas in April, I rushed backed from New York’s JFK airport in order to avoid the traffic gridlock posed by the visit by the Pope and to see the new Microsoft Surface installation at the AT&T phone store.
The much-anticipated Microsoft Surface touch table had landed at five AT&T stores in New York, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco.
Much had been written in the trade press about the production delays. It appeared that it had to do with Microsoft running a Betty Crocker Bake-off contest between the original partner, T-mobile and AT&T Mobility.
AT&T won and my congrats to Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility for understanding what it takes to win in today’s competitive environment. (You may recall that AT&T also was the first partner with Apple’s iPhone.)
You can see how the MS Surface application works at the AT&T site by clicking here.
How do I like it?
I’ve been excited by multi-touch technology ever since I saw Jeff Han’s video (now used by CNN Political TV coverage). Not a lot has been written about some of the pioneering competitive technology created by GestureTeks MultiTouch Application or Savant’s AV control touch table. Again, Microsoft has borrowed inventions from other industry innovators and sewn together an affordable, commercially available hardware and software product offering. The Apple iPhone interface also raised the bar on consumer interactive applications.
What is the secret to the AT&T Surface Application?
It’s not about the technology. It’s about the creative application, fused with savvy in-store merchandising skills. The AT&T and Microsoft team (and perhaps a few clever contractors), produced a kiosk application that provides real value to consumers and store associates. The AT&T store salesperson was able to demonstrate dozens of different phone configurations, colors and coverage maps in a matter of seconds—without giving me five different paper brochures.
One market that will be intensely interested in this new digital application will be the self-service industry.
I’ve been involved in this industry for over two decades and love to innovate. And as founder of Netkey and Managing Director of SMP, I’ve worked on over 200 interactive kiosk projects around the world.
The AT&T Surface installation the self-service world.
No longer will self-service deployers be satisfied with simple kiosk pedestals or wall mounted units. They will request the amazing digital features of MS Surface: Multi-touch, product tag initiated information, relevant digital merchandising interfaces — in table top or wall mounted configurations.
My advice to my colleagues in the digital signage industry? Learn from Microsoft. Very soon, those in the self-service industry will be turning off their computers, getting out of their offices and taking their teams to visit AT&T stores to play with the MS Surface Application. They will want the features it offers. Follow Microsoft’s example: Don’t copy, but instead enhance and improve on their application for your own specific industry market, and you just might beat them...and win over those self-service customers.
Or you might want to leapfrog Microsoft and start thinking about mobile devices. The Apple iPhone, with its rich, multi-touch interface, may be the next battleground for the in-store customer.
Technology will always change every 90 days, but I can safely make predictions about who will win the KioskCom 2009 Best of Show Award, the NRF Best of Show Award, GlobalShop Best of Shop or any other retail merchandising award category. And the winner is, AT&T Mobility.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
I just got off the phone with yet another panicked customer. The story is always the same: their focus in the design of their self-service system is on the exterior appearance, on the screen size, on the housing color and on the many outer options that they have to select.
It's not until the last minute that they remember the largely hidden printer.
"It's just a module we can drop in to our beautiful cabinet, right?"
The panic begins when they realize how wrong they are.
Due to my position with HECON/Hengstler and my long association with the printer industry, my perspective is clearly from the printer point of view. However, I've spoken to other suppliers of the internal kiosk elements, and they have the same problem. Designers too often assume that the printer, bill or coin acceptor, card reader, bar code scanner, etc., can be easily added as an afterthought. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.
Since I'm a printer guy, I'll use a printer application to make my point, but please remember that this applies to every technical component in the kiosk.
First, to begin selecting the printer we have to determine some basics, and the fastest way to do that is to ask about the application. What does the customer want to print? Maps? Receipts? Bridal registry listings? Vouchers that can be exchanged for cash? Web pages?
These answers help us to focus on the paper width that must be printed. Web pages and bridal registry output is usually letter-sized (8½ inches wide). Maps might be 8½ inches, or might be narrower. Vouchers and receipts are usually narrow, typically falling into the 2-3/8 inches (60 mm) or 3¼ inches (80-82.5 mm) paper width ranges.
Also, maps and Web pages may require color; then again, with the increased operating costs, they may not. Receipts and vouchers are usually black and white.
So we've determined the technology that's needed (laser for color and thermal for black and white) and the paper width. Both these choices impact the basic kiosk design, as space must be allowed for the printer and special attention must be paid to cooling if a laser printer is used.
But this is just the first step. Let's assume that we've settled on a 60 mm receipt printer in thermal technology. HECON/Hengstler eXtendo series thermal printers are ideal for such an application. This new line of printers has a very wide feature set, so the customer has a lot of choices that will allow him to minimize his costs while still buying the features he needs.
The next question is, "How much printing is going to be done?" In other words:
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How long is the average receipt?
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How many receipts will be printed on an average day?
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How frequently are you willing to replace the paper?
These three questions together determine the size of the paper roll, one of the issues frequently overlooked by kiosk designers. Say you'll print an average of 100 six-inch receipts a day, and that a technician visits the kiosk once a month.
100 receipts x 6 inches/receipt x 1/12 foot/inch x 30 days = 1500 feet.
Assuming a one-inch diameter core and 60 g/m² thermal paper, that's a roll diameter of approximately 7.8 inches. This means that the kiosk enclosure itself must allow enough room for both the printer and a paper roll almost 8 inches in diameter. That's something that would certainly be useful to know while you were designing the enclosure!
How fast do we need to print?
Let me guess…you're thinking, "As fast as possible, stupid!"
Not necessarily. The size (and therefore the cost) of the power supply operating the kiosk and the printer is dependent upon print speed. The faster you print, the more current you need. If this forces the designer to move to the next larger power supply, then you've increased your costs, perhaps unnecessarily. In some applications, a very fast print speed is critical. For example, if people are queued up to board a train, and you are printing tickets, you may want to allow only a few seconds per passenger in order to get them on board quickly. But in most cases, print speed is not that critical.
Let's take our example. A six-inch receipt printing at 250 mm/second will take 0.61 seconds to print. The same receipt at 125 mm/second (half the original speed) takes 1.22 seconds. Is it worth the extra cost to save your customer 0.61 seconds waiting for his receipt?
With the subject of print speed we are really talking about output speed. This assumes that we can get the data into the printer faster than the printer can print it. To ensure this, we must select an interface that will transfer data quickly enough. The options include USB, parallel and serial. The option you choose depends upon the type of printing you do (either using a driver, which prints everything as though it were graphics, or using the internal character set of the printer.)
We still haven't addressed many issues that have to be considered. Is a cutter needed? How about a presenter? If there is no presenter, how will you prevent vandalism? You can drop the receipt into a chute, but that must be part of the enclosure design. How many USB ports do you have available? Serial ports? Is your operating system Windows, Linux, or something else?
Hopefully you're getting my point. The manufacturers and suppliers of the components in your kiosk are a valuable resource to help you make the best decisions in your design. Involving the suppliers of all the kiosk components early on in the deployment ensures the most cost-effective, timely design effort…and keeps you out of panic mode!
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
EDITOR'S NOTE: To view comments on this article and submit your own, CLICK HERE.
If you ever want to know how well a given business program is working, you can spend money on focus groups and surveys. Or, you can just ask a child.
My five-year-old son and I were walking through Wal-Mart the other day, when he noticed the "Wal-Mart TV" screens for the first time. We've spent plenty of hours in Wal-Marts before, but the screens had always escaped his gaze (perhaps because they're mounted at heights that give an adult a neck-ache).
But today, he says to me: "Daddy, that's the TV channel that only shows commercials."
An exclamation mark appeared in the air over my head. Why yes, son, that’s right – it's a TV channel with no programs, only commercials.
Now honestly, how many of you would watch such a channel if you were at home? A few of you might have just raised your hands – marketers and ad-men and ad-women and connoisseurs of the art form of the commercial – but for most of us, a network of all commercials, all the time is a nightmare that sends us scrambling for the big, friendly TiVo button.
But there is no TiVo button in a store, only a growing number of screens that the shopper cannot get away from.
In-store media is a powerful tool, and when it is properly done, consumers love it. When the content is entertaining and place-appropriate, it feels like a benefit to the shopper. When the content is nothing but ads, it feels like an intrusion into the shopper's privacy.
Blame the all-too-human nature to be pennywise and pound-foolish. Many retailers, having just written the not-insignificant check for the screens and the software and the installation of their new digital signage program, turn to face the content beast and say, "Oh, wait, we can save some money here by using ads we're already running on television or the Web."
And yes, you can. You can also hire terrible customer service people to save a few dollars in the short-term. How well does that strategy work?
In-store media, evolving thing that it is, is a massively complex touch point between you and your customer. Give it the attention and intelligence it deserves. Do not let it become your company's version of the TV channel that only shows commercials.
SEE ALSO: The top 10 digital signage deployment blunders
Friday, 18 July 2008
It should be no surprise that the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) would sponsor one of the first books to explain the business of digital signage. Out-of-home digital displays offer a powerful extension of or a cost-effective alternative to television advertising.
The great benefit is in the degree to which “Digital Signage: Software, Networks, Advertising, and Displays: A Primer for Understanding the Business” (NAB Executive Technology Briefings) by Jimmy Schaeffler, describes digital signage. Also beneficial are explanations on how it fits into the marketing and communications mix, and what to consider when investing, deploying or using this medium.
No matter what it is called — dynamic display, retail TV, narrowcasting or electronic signage — digital signage has accelerating momentum as a powerful marketing, staff and patron communications instrument.
While I am pleased to have been one of the people mentioned, the book includes references to many, many of the people, suppliers, networks, advertisers and organizations that comprise the billion-dollar industry.
Digital signage is described in a holistic perspective. Schaeffler describes the medium as a business and business-enabler in communications industries such as broadcast, print publishing and Internet.
It describes various business models for digital signage in a wide range of applications including retail, transportation, hospitality, banking, education, automotive, houses of worship, medical, consumer services and staff, visitor and patron communications. It also references deployments around the world with a focus on North America, Asia, Europe and South America.
The history and emergence of digital signage are addressed by reflecting on the use of videotape runway shows used by New York fashion houses in the late 70’s. The current state of deployments and ad spending presented in the early chapters help to clarify the megatrend toward out-of-home dynamic display.
The characteristics and inherent capabilities of digital signage are well articulated, along with trends and key reasons that are driving the exponential growth of digital signage.
Ways in which digital signage fits naturally into communications campaigns are presented in case studies. Numerous examples of digital signage are provided, including the Mayo Clinic, emebaVet, Gas Station TV, Clear Channel Outdoor and others. These examples point to areas of unique value provided in the planning of networks.
The technology infrastructure and key considerations for network design, integration and deployment are explained implicitly, but the focus is on describing the business of digital signage, the “what” and “why,” rather than the “how.”
As digital signage grows, system integrators, content producers and network operators are getting on the bandwagon. This book is a “must read” for such companies and those seeking to leverage existing offerings, organization or infrastructure to serve or diversify into this new market.
The book is well-written for and applicable to brand managers, communications professionals, advertising agencies, media planners and media buyers for whom digital media and display are part of their future.
“Digital Signage: Software, Networks, Advertising, and Displays: A Primer for Understanding the Business” (NAB Executive Briefing Series) by Jimmy Schaeffler is published by Focal Press. It can be purchased by clicking here.
Lyle Bunn, Principal & Strategy Architect of Bunn Co., is a noted authority on the digital signage industry.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
EDITOR'S NOTE: To read user comments on this article and post your own, CLICK HERE.
It wasn't until 1997 when cash-recycling ATMs, developed in the 1970s in Japan and Korea, made their way to Europe. They began cropping up, primarily, in France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
Yet up until recently, only 10 percent of all ATMs in those countries accepted automated deposits, and only about half were able to recirculate money after the notes and coins had been checked for quality and forgery.
New branch concepts and steadily increasing cost pressure soon gave a boost to automated deposits, which were originally described as superfluous and impractical.
Studies show that 96 percent of all deposits in Europe are made via self-service. And contrary to popular belief, business customers are not the only ones to use deposit technology. In large cities, such as Berlin, it is predominantly private customers who make self-service deposits.
It's not surprising that recycling systems have a higher growth rate than conventional ATMs in Europe, even though the latter are far higher in number. But it is becoming increasingly obvious that both cash systems complement each other usefully.
Cash-recycling systems are fail-safe, and the emergence of cassette technology, which results in higher recycling volumes and shorter transaction times, has also aided cash-recycling acceptance rates.
New cassette-based and drum-based systems are making their ways into the market. Sales for cassette-based systems are up, but the same is true of drum-based systems, and for good reason. With the same required space, the drum can accommodate more denominations, and experts see the ability to handle up to five denominations as a necessity for branches interested in cash recycling. Five cassettes are virtually compulsory, since everything depends on greater flexibility where the number of denominations paid in and out is concerned.
Furthermore, networked devices make it easier to comply with money-laundering regulations because they automatically reject invalid deposits. Previously, breaches were only noticed during post-processing.
Rigorous fight against costs
Even more important are the quantifiable advantages financial institutions of all sizes are now experiencing with cash recycling. Consistency pays off, in terms of higher self-service quotas for deposit and dispensing transactions, and in terms of cost.
Dresdner Bank was the first major bank to completely change over to recycling technology. The bank now saves around €2 million annually.
On average, the intervals for cash replenishment and removal at ATMs increase by a factor of between three and four. With cash-recycling ATMs, instead of twice a week, cash-in-transit companies or employees only need to go to each location every other week.
The cutback results in savings of €600 per month. In ideal locations, where there is a high degree of correspondence between money paid in and money paid out, it is even possible to reach intervals of five weeks and more.
Around 80 percent of a bank's ATM savings, once cash-recycling is implemented, can be traced back to the automation of cash handling. This not only eliminates the need for post-processing in the form of sorting, checking and the effort of searching for discrepancies, it also significantly reduces staff time at the teller terminal or cash desk.
One savings bank with a balance-sheet total of €1 billion was able to reduce two-full tellers. In relation to night safes, another financial institution saved €16,000 annually on each installation.
Payback period of 2-3 years
Investments in recycling technology pay off after two or three years — faster than some decision-makers in banks ever thought possible.
After 10 years, the technology is no longer in its infancy. Retail Banking Research expect cash-recycling at self-service terminals in Europe to grow 30 percent in 2008. According to current estimates, that rate of growth will increase by 170 percent by 2010 and 215 percent by 2017.
The positive trend can be attributed to several factors. New branch structures, whatever they may look like in detail, envision the shift of routine transactions to self-service terminals. The move affects coin acceptance and cash-recycling systems, and a coin function or a coin sidecar, already have been introduced in the market.
The European Central Bank also has provided a secure basis with its recycling framework.
"It significantly broadens the maneuvering room for banks and savings banks in terms of shaping their cash processes," said Niels Riedel, a banknote expert at ECB.
In addition, financial institutions are increasingly putting their faith in recycling technology.
Most systems rank with a 96 percent to 97 percent level of reliability. And integration of recycling systems into cash management helps optimize processes.
In light of ongoing cost pressures, this will be reason enough for combined deposit/dispensing machines to gain ground and replace basic cash dispensers. The high investment costs pale in comparison to the rewards.
Multifunctionality also is playing a role, with more and more demands from domestic and international markets. Similar to basic cash dispensing ATMs, recycling systems are being equipped with passbook processing and check-deposit functionalities in order to completely automate cash processes.
Single-purpose or multifunctional — the general conditions on site play an important role in this decision.
Tuesday, 08 July 2008
Design is an interesting thing because it is so subjective. Everyone has an opinion on design, what they like, what they prefer, even if they don't understand what drives their opinions. Sometimes kiosk interface design can become very complex, hard to navigate and frankly too much to look at. Often, simple is better. It's better because it is easy for the viewer to understand the purpose, and easier for their eyes to focus on important content.
Design can set the mood. Visually simple design can set a calming mood and affect the user's experience. Busy designs or designs with heavy animation can create a sense of high energy and can be good for kiosks with a multimedia or entertainment purpose. But either way, design should be strategic with the goals and the user in mind. If budget allows, do focus groups or A/B testing to see which designs provide the desired results or actions by the guests.
Just be careful of the dreaded "design by committee" which is when multiple people within a corporate setting feel they have to interject their own design ideas, and in the end you get a Frankenstein design, which often is poor. Trust talented design professionals who went to school for design and know how to effectively engage. Just be sure to give them all of the strategic goals up front so they can consider them when conceiving the designs.
While I'm not a good designer myself, I did attend art college and know how the creative process works (I ended up in photography). I also have managed interactive teams with design agencies for nearly 10 years for major brands, and know both the account executive side of things as well as the designer or producer side of things. Give a good designer the right information, and you'll be happy with the results.
In my blog, I often reference kiosks I see out in the real world, and the image shown here is from a local Verizon Wireless store near my home. I took the images with a camera phone so please excuse the quality. This check-in kiosk is simple in design, which makes it easy to understand and the guest quickly can perform the task at hand. Branding is consistent with VZW's other corporate material and onscreen media. Our company has done mobile marketing kiosks for Verizon Wireless and while the design is a bit more creative on ours, you would still tie the two together in regards to branding.
The purpose of this kiosk was to quickly get the patrons to the store into a queue for service.
The store always is busy, and they find it to be most effective to get them into the system and then allow them to wander the store until their name is called or posted on digital signage in the store. This prevents them from standing in a physical line, when they could be exploring new phones and accessories or making impulse purchases. It was pretty effective and made the process clear.
More images of the interface are available on my Flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21792517@N02/2176776060/ along with other retail examples.
The photos show the hardware, as well as the onscreen interface to allow the guest to self-serve and get checked in.
Check-in kiosks are a common form of self-service. We have developed check-in kiosks for an American Express sponsored event where guests registered online before the event, and checked in at the kiosks once at the event. They confirmed their information and registered for the door prize at the kiosks. They also filled out a short survey that enabled us to gather yet more demographics and learn more about them. Amex and other sponsors had onscreen branding and expo information. The beauty of this type of setup is that it allows you to measure attendance, build your profiles of your guests for remarketing purposes later, provide automated sweepstakes winners on site and more. All done electronically, not by hand and by paper, thus speeding up the time for turn around of data for data mining, removing double keying and lowering error rates.
Check-in kiosks can take many shapes, event check-in, hotel check-in or retail check-in such as this example above. How might your company use check-in kiosks?
Tim Burke is the owner of Electronic Art. This column first appeared on his blog, "Kiosks Changing Self-Service."
Tuesday, 01 July 2008
What is a kiosk?
Sounds like a simple question, but different people have perspectives that are relative to their world. The other day, our designer spoke to a person who called about a kiosk. After much discussion, he determined she was looking for a kiosk booth, like you see at the mall, to sell jewelry in. He politely told her we work with computer kiosks, which took her by surprise as she wasn't sure what that was!
Believe me: This is common.
Another type of kiosk is for posting hand bills and flyers in outdoor public spaces. These often are littered with staples and thumbtacks.
The computer kiosk industry has several variations to think about, too. Often, I see ATM machines that have upgraded their screens to full-color touchscreens, and even can vend postage stamps. The ATM industry is taking advantage of touchscreen technology to provide a better customer experience, and to allow them to use more impactful advertising and design on the screen. Every touchpoint with the client is important.
Speaking of vending, many vending machines are now a quasi-kiosk mix. They often use a touchscreen interface to engage and assist the consumer, showing them how to complete a transaction. In the end, they still are a vending machine with mechanical levers and switches to release the appropriate product through the cabinetry.
But in the not-too-distant future, I think you will see vending machines take on a more multi-faceted role in assisted selling, surveys, product promotion and more. They have the real estate, so why not? If you go to the supermarket, you likely will see vending kiosks for DVD rentals, or the famous Coinstar spare change exchange machines. Their interfaces are nicely done, and they often have a small amount of promotion taking place. Every touchpoint with the client is important.
Often, a self-service kiosk may be used to provide you with an encoded mag-stripe card, such as a store loyalty card or a membership card tied to your digital account. It's not exactly vending, since you are not there to buy a product. Instead, it's more of a "dispensing kiosk." It may allow you to create a membership account, manage your preferences, gain points by watching a promotional commercial and, yes, dispense your loyalty card. You'll use that card when purchasing to get discounts or coupons, and the store will better understand their customers' buying habits by store, region, time of year, etc. And you can revisit the kiosk to swipe that card and edit your preferences, all through an account card dispensed to you via the kiosk.
Occasionally kiosks are transactional, allowing you to purchase at the kiosk. Perhaps you are in a retail store, but need to buy something they don't keep in stock. Square footage isn't cheap, and they keep those very large or rarely purchased items in a warehouse. But you may be able to browse the full product catalog at the kiosk and actually pay for the item and have it shipped to the store or to your door. This is a great way for retailers to avoid losing your sale just because you couldn't find the right item on the shelf.
Often, kiosks simply are self-service informational devices. Browse through a list of recommended items that would go great with the item you just scanned at the shelf, or learn about why certain types of hair styles need a particular conditioner. Find out about a health issue, or which wine goes best with spicy flank steak (I recommend the Malbec from Argentina in the International wines department).
A more recent use for kiosks is the help desk or concierge concept. A self-service kiosk to find information or solutions, and when you need an actual person to help you, you touch a "live agent" icon to do an instant video chat with a helpful and knowledgeable staff member who gives you the personal touch that sometimes still is essential to an interaction with clients.
Convergence. I guess that is what I am really talking about. In many ways, a kiosk is more than a kiosk. It often will take advantage of multiple technologies to make the shopping experience a good one. Once the mall kiosks start integrating computer kiosks that vend items, that's when it gets kinda hard to describe! My blog is devoted to discussing computer kiosks in general, and that often means the integration of several hardware components, software drivers and a pool of vendors to bring a total solution together. Kiosks now are being used to supplement digital signage, or interact with cell phones via SMS or e-mail. Every day we are challenged with a new concept from a client that has a unique need, with a convergence of unique hardware components, branding needs and custom software requirements. We enjoy the unique nature of each challenge, and the resulting solution.
Tim Burke is the owner of Electronic Art. This column first appeared on his blog, "Kiosks Changing Self-Service."
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