Not many industries can count 2009 as even a decent year, considering the gloomy economic downturn that struck fear into suits all over the world, but the kiosk business is one of them.

It’s natural that deployments have been put on hold because of tight credit and companies have been forced to “trim the fat” as they struggled through the global recession, but kiosk developers with compelling value propositions have reaped the benefits of cost-conscious deployers and consumers alike.

Two of the obvious self-service superstars of 2009 are Coinstar and redbox, who have never had a better year, all because they made consumers an offer they cannot refuse, especially when times are tight. Coinstar, in particular, is of course directly tuned into those who are looking to save money by converting their copper shrapnel pennies into pounds.

Whereas Redbox have recently posted impressive statistics for their DVD rentals throughout 2009, renting out over 450 million DVD’s.  Many believe the economic climate has resulted in an increase of customers; this seems likely considering their $1 a night rental service.

More importantly, however, more deployers are becoming convinced of self-service’s lasting positive impact on their bottom lines. Self-checkout deployments continue to grow because retailers simply cannot ignore the rise in customer satisfaction and the dip in labour costs that follow deployment.

The same can be said for airline self-check-in, photo kiosks and patient self-service, to name a few. It’s not often that an innovation that benefits a retailer so dramatically also pleases consumers and improves their experiences at retail. Thanks in part to a financial landscape that has forced some tough decisions, more and more retailers continue to realize that self-service does just that.