Wherever you go, self service kiosks are taking over the town. From petrol stations to airports, everyone is jumping on the kiosk bandwagon and whether you like it or not, you are having to learn how they work to keep up with this ever changing society.

While kiosks are being deemed as the way forward, some people are still a little unsure of the concept and are not keen on the idea of purchasing products and obtaining services through a machine.

So to settle this little debate, we at Protouch have listed the pros and cons to kiosk installation, leaving you to answer the question; are you being served?

Pros

  • Supermarket chains are jumping on the kiosk party and fast. In the UK alone, Tesco has installed self service kiosks into 256 stores and are held responsible for over 25 per cent of all transactions. Sainsbury’s is close behind with 220 stores and Wal Mart has been installing self service checkout lanes since 2004.
  • Retailers are taking the kiosk craze that one step further, with Tesco introducing an Express store in Northampton were just one member of staff manned the till and the rest were a host of self-service tills.
  • Kiosks are renowned for their reliability and good manners. They won’t be rude or unpleasant and offer the same service to every customer.
  • With a kiosk you can reduce the amount of staff you take on, with one member of staff able to man four-six checkout lanes at one time. 
  • The self service checkouts can also reduce customer waiting time and leave customers feeling happy and in control of their time. There is nothing worse nipping out for a 30 minute lunch break to be stuck in a queue for 20 minutes; customers like efficiency.
  • Privacy. If a customer is buying products that they feel embarrassed about buying then they can save the hassle by using a self service kiosk avoiding the contact with a cashier.  

Okay we may be a little biased about kiosks (considering we sell them) but we know that people have had a few queries and problems with self service kiosks and here are a few.

Cons

  • Many customers like to deal with humans and feel that kiosks take away that customer service interaction. May be so, but having less people manning the tills allows you to make more use of your staff such as personal shoppers or meet and greet. Now you can’t say that that isn’t excellent customer service!?
  • People are a little technophobic and aren’t clued up on the technology world. To combat this problem stores simply need to have someone on site to lend those non-tech people a helping hand.

Companies are fully aware that not everyone is keen on kiosk but the installation of self service systems and simply there to give people the option.

“We’d never get completely rid of manned tills,” a Sainsbury’s spokesperson has said. “For us it’s all about offering people the choice. Self-service checkouts are very popular with the customers who use them a lot, but we realize people either like them or they don’t.”

So there you go!