There has been an economic boom in bill payment self-service technology in certain countries around the world, according to a recent report.

GWD Media, a supplier of Genkiosk kiosk software, has stated that there is a new drive in regions such as Indonesia, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands, for bill payment units.

According to the report, there is an increasing need by citizens in Southeast Asia, Oceania and the Pacific for Kiosks that provides services like bill payment, Internet access and money transfer.

This concurs with consumer trends from around the globe, including the UK, where there is a thriving must for flexible and easy-to-use facilities without the need for credit cards and bank accounts.

Statistical analysis worldwide and local market research suggests that in the Middle East, bill payment kiosks have seen a huge success, especially for potions of the population that is under banked because they can pay cash straight into a kiosk without standing in line.

So why are bill payment kiosks so beneficial?

A bill payment kiosk can help consumers in many countries and the touch screen technology is used across a wide array of industry sectors. Whether it is to aid the retail industry and replace over the counter transactions to free up staff’s time, or help the transport sector in taxis and airports, payment systems are very useful.

The featured kiosks are becoming so popular that units have even been deployed in some American prisons to enable the jailed inmates to process their own bail charges. What is more, they can help outdoor and indoor car parks to improve customer experience.

So if the latest report is anything to go by, 2012 will see a rising trend of bill payment kiosks and your business can get involved with the help of Protouch UK!

A deployed touch screen kiosk can help a business throughout the year and it can also reap huge benefits at Christmas time.

The technology can be used to offer information, printing services and way-finding signage and all these features are extremely helpful in the festive season.

Fundamentally, the industry which can profit the most from the technology at this time of year is the retail and hospitality sector.

WAY-FINDING

A kiosk that offers way-finding services is very useful in shopping centres, especially during the mad shopping rush to purchase Christmas presents. Many shoppers may not know where stores are located, so to ease the strain a unit can help by providing a map of the mall.

TICKETING

The ticketing features enable customers to print out vouchers and discounts on offer at retailers or eating establishments. Improve consumer interaction by encouraging them to go online in-store and print out coupons to get fantastic bargains.

INFORMATION

An information kiosk ultimately provides a customer an advanced array of products to buy in-store. If there is a gift idea that a person really wants to buy but it is sold out in-store, the touch screen allows the shopper to still purchase the item and see an extensive collection of other products available to buy.

PHOTOS

And kiosks can also be valuable during the festive period for photographs. Photo kiosks that offer photo gifts including photo books, calendars and holiday cards can be personalised using the touch screen technology.

So if you want to put a picture of the family on all the Christmas cards that go out to relatives, or if you have purchased a pretty picture frame and want to put a nice festive picture inside, the kiosks come in handy.

It may be too late to install the technology in your business for Christmas this year but why not contact us today and discuss deploying some Protouch Touch Screen PCs in-store for the festive season next year.

According to a late survey, online shopping sales in America should rise this Christmas period.

Findings by analytics firm comScore reveal that e-commerce sales in the U.S should increase by 15% this festive season as consumers turn to the internet for their Christmas shopping with the enticement of free or low-cost shipping.

ComScore estimate that online sales from November- December in the States will reach $37.6 billion this year, outpacing last year’s growth.

The study of 1,000 shoppers found that 76% of those surveyed said that free shipping was a decisive factor in purchasing products online.

As shoppers all over the world turn to their computers or retail stores in search for some holiday bargains, jump on board the bandwagon and enhance the shopping experience of your customers who come in- store with deployed internet kiosks.

By giving in-store shoppers the option to buy online ranges in-store, they benefit by getting new products sooner and being able to purchase something there and then. And it means that as a business, you don’t have to stock the full range in-store and instead you can just put some items exclusively online.

A kiosk that has access to the internet is further valuable because help instructions can be offered to consumers who find it difficult to use. Rather than needing a human staff member to guide them through the technology, a help guide can show them and also answer any troublesome questions.

What is more, as well as helpful information an internet kiosk can provide information on many other subjects such as facts and figures about the town it is installed in, advice to save the environment, and offer entertainment for hospital bed-sides.

There are numerous surveys on the web that state how essential the internet is for Brits and how without digital services like this, living would be a ‘nightmare’. So cater to modern day needs and install a kiosk that has access to the internet in your business with the help of Protouch.

Pic Credit: What Would Oakley Do

A survey of more than 16,000 consumers show that self-checkouts rank as the number one technology that enhances overall shopping experience.

The 2011 Consumer Insights Panel study, by Empathica Inc, reveals that the self-service is the favourite technology amongst retail shoppers.

The survey asked consumers in Canada and America which technologies they valued the most in their grocery experience. The findings demonstrate that the top five grocery store technologies that consumers value, from the most important to the least, include;

1.      Self-checkouts

2.      Easy-to-use website

3.      Kiosks offering product information, coupons, recipes, etc.

4.      Electronic offers sent via email or mobile device

5.      Wireless access within store

So it is obvious how much a self-service kiosk can benefit a business and improve customer experience but the research also found that dependent on where we live, influences our technology preferences.

Of the U.S consumer, 65% considered self-checkouts important in comparison to only 54% of Canadian shoppers. This shows that not all retail outlets may have touch screen technologies deployed and therefore this will ultimately affect how valuable we think it is. If there are none already installed, then a consumer will value it as low because they haven’t even experienced the advantages.

The study also revealed differences between sexes. More women surveyed (51%) said they valued grocery store technology in contrast to men (46%). They appreciated the electronic product offers like email and mobile device features and the majority of women (57%) said an easy-to-use website initially influenced the overall customer experience.

The survey further found that 80% of consumers aged between 18-24 years old, said grocery technology was an important factor in shopping experience, so differentiate yourself from other businesses today and cater to consumer’s needs that are evolving from time to time by deploying a touch screen kiosk, with Protouch.

Get in touch to find out more about kiosks and touch screen accessories.

Pic Credit: Inventor Spot

A common technology trend that is expected to come into fruition over the next few years is facial recognition.

The director of Intel’s Retail Marketing and Communications unit, Christopher O’Malley, has argued that facial recognition technology will become extremely population as a tool to provide shoppers with more targeted information in-stores.

It involves the scanning of consumers’ faces to determine the approximate age and gender in which then certain products can be displayed on the kiosk interface dependent on that shopper’s specific profile.

A number of brands have already jumped on the band wagon such as Kraft and Adidas and they have already deployed the software in-stores to improve customer experience. It has already been adopted in countries like Japan and is installed in industry sectors like retail (shops), hospitality (restaurants) and entertainment (theme parks).

The technology can be used on kiosks, walls and digital signage and works for example, by advertising a female consumer in her fifties a range of goods that are suitable for her age and lifestyle. Adidas’s Vice Present of Global Retail Marketing, Chris Aubrey, says that “if a retailer can offer the right products quickly, people are more likely to buy something.”

Accurate demographic and lifestyle information is therefore vital for this technology to work e.g. a female aged between 25-29 years old is more likely to have children at home and so kids products can be suggested. Or a male in his sixties is prone to having more disposable income to buy luxury items like cars or gadgets.

The software has even been developed on social networking site Facebook, in which the tool automatically recognises people in photos put online to tag them in the picture.

Protouch cares about upcoming touch screen trends. As Europe’s leading manufacturer and distributor of touch screen technology, we are excited about future trends for kiosks and we work hard to be at the forefront of relevant industry news.

Pic Credit: The Associated Press

Touch screen kiosks can feature a dispensing option for customers, regardless of the industry of deployment.

A kiosk can dispense tickets for the football sector, receipts for leisure and tourism, coupons in retail, wine in hospitality industry and even prescription drugs to customers who need the service 24 hours a day, without the assistance of a staff member.

This enhances customer power and allows them to carry out tasks independently, so staff time can be used more efficiently improving customer experience rather than doing menial paper work tasks.

And now it seems that as well as dispensing these basic products, kiosks can also dish out baguettes.

A baker in France has deployed a round-the-clock automated baguette dispenser that promises to warm bread any time of the day or night.

The kiosks, which cost $71,000 each, finish baking partially pre-baked baguettes and customers don’t need to spend a lot of ‘dough’ because they dispense the hot loaves for just one Euro.

The baker, Jean-Louis Hect, calls the bread-baking and dispensing touch screen technology “the bakery of tomorrow.”

So far, one kiosk has been installed in Paris which sold 1,600 baguettes in the very first month and nearly 4,500 in July 2011; and another unit has been deployed in another town in France.

So if you want to reap the advantages of touch screen technology as is the bread-baking food sector; install a kiosk in your business today with the help of Protouch. And do not fret- they will be the yeast of your worries…

Pic Credit: Just Wicca

Touch screen technology is used to self-scan food at a checkout, check-into a hotel, find a store in a shopping mall, and look at exercise class times at a leisure facility. But now they can also be used to tell the future!

Kiosks are aiding the psychic sector with features that enable a person to have a personal clairvoyant reading via a high definition kiosk interface.

The technology, by the Psychic Friends Network, is said to boost the supernatural industry which includes millions of people and has grown considerably since the 1990s.

Robert Klayman, CEO of News Age Entertainment, which has an exclusive licensing agreement, said: “It is now much more mainstream for a person to consult a psychic. This makes it the perfect time for us to bring this popular brand back.”

Whether one believes in the controversial topic of palm, tarot card reading and spiritual world, touch screen technology can help in that;

- The touch screen enables a person to still have the ‘human touch’ experience but without the need to wait and queue.

- Having a reading face-to-face and talking out loud about the death of a loved one can be too difficult for some people but a kiosk offers the chance to be able to discuss the sensitive subject but without the awkwardness of human interaction.

- The technology can link a person with a psychic from hundreds of miles away, so distance should never be a concern.

- The printer feature allows a person to print out the receipt and reading overview to keep as a souvenir.

- The payment feature means one can pay for the reading via a credit or debit card as opposed to carrying cash around.

- What is more, the kiosk screen can display information on bereavement help or advice.

So, just as kiosks can benefit the hospitality, retail, banking and transport sector; a kiosk can also profit the spiritual medium industry.

A retailing survey has revealed that the British economy is missing out on close to £850 billion in sales- simply because of poor customer service.

Findings by Best Buy UK show that some 85% of consumers would go out of their way to shop somewhere with better service and therefore businesses with poor service could be losing on their share of trade by up to £847 billion.

The research, which involved over 2,000 adults, found that 71% would pay more for good customer service and 71% wanted helpful and knowledgeable staff available when shopping.

A touch screen kiosk can benefit the retail industry immensely in that customers can be better focused on because staff can give their time to making their experience better, whilst menial tasks are taken care of by kiosks.

Deploying a kiosk is catering to modern day customer’s needs, as the survey found that most people do not want to be approached whilst they shop. Only a small minority, 23%, would like to be offered help within the first minutes.

Steve Jensen, managing director of Best Buy UK, said: “To thrive you’ve got to give customers the service they demand and deserve. We as customers shouldn’t have to put a price on good service. Unfortunately people perceive they have to pay more for what we believe should be a given. Every company is missing out on crucial sales if they don’t make customer service the focus of their business.”

The hospitality sector came out on top in the survey as it was the most likely to have satisfied customers, with 62% of restaurants and 45% of hotels.

Jo Causon, Chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, said: “It is only companies that make great customer service a priority in store and in the boardroom too that will find success. Every business has to ensure that employees are given the right training particularly on those softer people skills to ensure they’re in the best position to deliver a positive customer experience. You have to fight for every customer now and keep them coming back or your competition will get there first.”

Protouch can help you please each customer by installing touch screen technology that offers more services in-store. A kiosk can help by offering more products online that they can buy there and then, ticket dispensing special deals and way finding features. Consider the future of retailing and better customer service with Protouch.

Some postal service experts have issued warnings to the general public that the role of the post office will demise and they are part blaming this with touch screen kiosks.

In the US alone, the postal service is facing a potential $8 billion deficit this year as mail volume declines and due to this over 3,600 post office stores are closing.

It is said that many rural areas and towns are being left without a post office but not necessarily the Postal Service as the network is already included in drug and grocery stores and self-service kiosks.

Described as the ‘dead letter office’, many retail post offices are being replaced with kiosks as a more convenient access to the Postal Service products and services. Customers’ needs are still being met but via touch screen technology.

Reports argue that a large percentage of citizens from across the world no longer use post offices to physically conduct their post business. A study showed that 35% of the American’s post service’s revenue is generated from self-service kiosks, the internet and smartphone applications.

The postal sector is merely updating itself with modern day times as is other industries and reaping the advantages of touch screen technology. The same service is being delivered but with cost-effective solutions, as fewer staffs is needed at each branch. And of those offices still open, the staff’s time is better spent enhancing customer experience rather than undertaking menial paperwork.

In such a fast paced society, customers are demanding self-service technology and a kiosk to reduce waiting times. As a business you can meet these requests with the help of Protouch; Europe’s leading manufacturer and distributor of touch screen technologies.