Tesco is to open its first store with no staffed checkouts as part of a trial period – making it the first UK supermarket to be totally self-service only.

The Tesco Express store in Northampton will have four self-service checkouts, supervised by one staff member.

The supermarket claims the store will employ the same number of staff, it would if there were checkout staff, but in different job functions.

Tesco says that the trial aims to look at how self-service tills can provide a better service in smaller stores by putting its staff on the shop floor, closer to customers.

“The checkouts are supervised at all times to ensure customers get the same great service and the feedback has been good so far. New technology has a part to play in doing a better job for customers but we will always have staff on hand to offer that personal touch.”

Recently, Tesco also opened karaoke kiosks outside some stores to capitalise on the The X Factor fever sweeping the country, and give customers the opportunity to star in their own music video.

Demand for international air travel has finally started to improve year-on-year, indicated by results published in September, and self-service kiosks are being hailed as one of the key reasons why.

The global aviation industry was widely recognised as being on its knees, crippled by the weight of the recession and growing fuel costs, but self-check-in services are increasingly helping airlines cut costs and improve customer experience. And according to IATA’s 2009 Corporate Air Travel Survey, more than 50 percent of passengers worldwide want more self-service options.

Online check-in, kiosks and mobile technology are ushering in a new era of customer self-service, while self-service kiosks are increasingly becoming more and more popular, as proven by their increased usage. Kiosks are also working well in tandem with online and mobile technologies.

According to the SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self Service Study, kiosk check-in usage is set to rise over the years and interactive kiosks will increasingly shift to the forefront of self-service. Kiosks not only benefit people who do not check-in online, but can also be used to provide multiple functionalities at the airport — like car rental or hotel check-in.

According to a 2009 SITA IT Trends survey, 80 percent of the airlines surveyed are planning to offer mobile check-in capabilities by 2012. In addition, IATA has targeted 100 percent Bar Coded Boarding Passes (BCBP) by 2010- thus ensuring a rosy future at airports around the world for kiosk manufacturers and self-service technologies…

We’re happy to announce our recent success at the Retail System Awards 2009.

Just last night at the prestigious awards ceremony at the Ballroom in the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, we won the ‘Best use of Technology in the Hospitality and Leisure Sector’ for our Cineworld Xen X5 kiosks.

Against the other impressive shortlisted companies, Reward, Pure 360 and Torex, we shone through with the award-winning Xen X5 Cineworld kiosk range.

The award recognised how the innovative Xen 5 kiosk had achieved business growth for Cineworld. With consumer expectations central to this category win, the judges were looking for a winner that employed effective and efficient technology; this was clearly seen in our kiosks.

The story: In 2008, Cineworld contacted us in a bid to automate the whole registration process of its Unlimited Film Programme with an eco-friendly kiosk solution. Membership to the programme entitles visitors to watch any film, any day, any time at any Cineworld Cinema from just £13.50 per month.

Cineworld rolled out our easy-to-use, self service Xen X5 kiosks that customers use to register without staff assistance. Wannabe members of the programme simply sign up by entering their details into the kiosk; an A4 receipt with a photo of the member on is then printed out which they can use as identification until their membership card arrives in the post.

The kiosks currently operate in 27 cinema sites including, Glasgow, West India Queys and Cheltenham and will be in most of Cineworld’s 75 UK sites.

In just 6 months the kiosks saved Cineworld in excess of 1,000 staff hours and increased new members by 100 per week, resulting in the number of Unlimited sign ups being increased by 10 per cent.

For more information about the Cineworld kiosks, and how a kiosk can improve your business, visit www.protouch.co.uk.

Every local church around the globe want to reach out to people and watch their congregation grow.

To fulfill this dream many are starting to realise that people nowadays require more ways to connect with them. And the route of this growth stems from the integration of technology finding new and innovative ways to greet, inform, entertain, educate and grow the congregation whether new or old.

And digital kiosks have been sign posted as the way forward.

Kiosks are interactive systems available for public use and can be used in a wide range of different ways. Already, churches use kiosks for event registration, children’s check-in, e-giving and as digital information and direction stands, similar to those found in shopping stores.

With the technology being straight forward and running off dedicated hardware, churches do not have to worry about hiring a computer expert to run them. All the information, both to and from the kiosk is sent over a standard network allowing content changes to be made from virtually anywhere, through a password-protected Internet connection.

And the digital kiosks are so easy to use. People are able to interact with the information on the screen, print out name badges, tickets and event information without having to ask for help from staff or volunteers.

However, churches have found that having volunteers nearby is helpful for engaging in conversation once a person has finished using the digital kiosk.

And the kiosks can be outfitted with electronic card readers as an e-giving solution, or barcode readers for quick-scanning check-in or event registration.

One church took the world of kiosks a step further and installed giving kiosks in their lobby, which saw giving double. And every church that followed suit saw a large increase in donations, which many put down to the anonymity provided for people who feel uncomfortable making their donations public.

The bonus of this e-giving service is that it frees the time of staff members and volunteers to work on other jobs within the church.

Kiosks can come at different costs depending on the style, size and software you want, however the amount of facilities and services a kiosk can provide soon makes you realise that they eventually pay for themselves.

For more information about kiosk systems visit Protouch today.

Whitbread, the leisure group which includes Costa Coffee shops, Premier Inn hotels and the Beefeater restaurants, has recently announced that they are to focus on improving self service enquiries and bookings as the hotel chain faces a financial struggle.

Premier Inn is the largest division of Whitbread in number of sales and saw a 10 per cent drop in the first half of 2009 and a drop in like-for-like sales.

“We have widened our online booking distribution channels, bringing in new revenue streams and introducing new leisure customers to the brand,” Whitbread said in its first half results.

And long-standing Whitbread CIO Ben Wishart has been focussing on improving productivity and processes across the group including self service kiosks and increasing web services.

Now this story is nothing new in the world of business as many companies are cutting back costs in order to keep expenditure low.

However, the budget hotel chain has picked up increased business traveller custom as all companies rein in costs, but has seen overall business decline.

Now it may be a long shot but earlier this year the hotel chain launched a trial of self check-in at five hotels across the UK. The innovative technology reduced waiting time for guests to under a minute and was a great asset to business travellers who wanted a quick and easy check-in.

Paul Canavan, Project Manager for Premier Inn commented earlier this year, “Premier Inn checks in over 23,000 guests every day across the UK, and as the UK’s leading hotel brand we continually innovate to meet the changing needs of our guests.

“Feedback has shown that business travellers like the time saving benefits that the kiosks provide, whilst leisure guests benefit not only from this but also from the increased accessibility, interaction and level of good service they have with team members at the guest workstation.”

Bob Cotton, Chief Executive of the British Hospitality Association commented, “It’s great to see Premier Inn investing in innovative technology. These kiosks will undoubtedly increase the level of service offered by Premier Inn – delivering a fast, efficient and speedier experience at check-in.”

Now with business traveller custom picking up and kiosks proving a success for business guests then it doesn’t take a genius to put them both together.

We can’t completely say that this is the whole reason why the company has received profit in business traveller sales, but it must of made an impact if they keep coming back and using the hotel services again.

The health care industry has come on leaps and bounds of the past few years with the implementation of kiosks and hi-tech systems to improve the efficiency and quality of service the health system provides.

Doctor’s surgeries have installed touch screen kiosks to reduce the waiting time at the reception desk so staff can concentrate on other tasks in and around the surgery.

And in Boston an electronic ‘doctor kiosk’ is under development at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to improve the way the health care system works in America.

The self service kiosk promises to increase efficiency both inside and outside the physician office setting by gathering basic information from patients, such as the patients medical history, weight, pulse, blood pressure, and blood tests for glucose and cholesterol, and directing that information to a physician prior to an office visit. 

It will also be able to function as a virtual health concierge for managing chronic illness, prompting the patient to answer a series of important health questions such as ‘did you take your meds today.’

The whole process of investing money into health care technology is to increase the efficiency of the health care system and the patient health care process.

Many patients, however fret about the lack of doctor-patient time they will receive if a lot of their time in doctor’s surgeries and hospitals is spent in front of a screen.

One of the consistent problems with the continuity of care is the lack of resources and time that doctors spend with their patients after being diagnosed.

So although kiosks may ease the weight off staff when it comes to the mundane tasks of obtaining information and filing data, the care of patients should not be replaced by kiosk systems unless they receive offer better after care than what they have now.

Kiosks in the healthcare industry must make patients feel more connected to their health information-not less so. If patients feel that the increase of technology replaces their time with their GP rather than supplementing it, they will most likely reject it outright.

Yet these kiosks are designed to reduce the amount of paperwork a GP has to go through allowing them to be more efficient with their patient and spend more time talking than writing notes.

Nurses are there to assist the doctor and many often take up the mundane tasks the doctor does not have the time to fulfill.

However nurses are often overburdened with a whole host of work and their valuable skills are not used enough. They are trained in the medical profession and spend most of their time doing paperwork, which could be easily sorted with the help of a kiosk.

The kiosk can help collect patient data and allow the nurse to assist the doctor in anyway possible so the patient feels fully catered for and looked after while in their local surgery.

For a kiosk to work in the health care industry, it needs to do the job intended and try and not take over the initial job of doctors and nurses, and instead assist them in doing their job with ease and efficiency.

Cineworld touch screen by Protouch

FILM producers spend millions each year to draw audiences to their movies. And ADVERTISERS take advantage of the pre-cinema screening of ads and promos to promote their products. But now advertisers are moving their commercials to the entrances of cinemas as well, introducing kiosks and advertising boards to appeal to customer’s cinema experience.

Over the past two years, cinemas have been installing touch screen kiosks so cinema-goers can book and buy their tickets with ease and efficiency without having to wait in the queue.

However, kiosks are not just about ticket collection anymore. Cinema-goers want a more enhanced and rewarding experience when they visit the cinema and kiosk systems are the new and exciting way to do this.

Cineword, the UK’s second largest multiplex cinema chain, rolled out Protouch’s Xen X5 and Xen X4 kiosks into a number of its UK cinemas. The kiosk systems were installed to allow users to pick up tickets as well as support Cineworld’s Unlimited Film programme.

Cineworld plan to install the X5 kiosk into all of its cinemas selling the Unlimited programme. John Anderson Cineworld’s Marketing Co-ordinator said, “The Unlimited programme is a large and important part of our business and distinguishes us from every other cinema company in the UK and Protouch’s X5 kiosk is helping us to advance this programme.”

And the latest new promo is telecommuncations firm Sprint, is sponsoring the new marketing effort of placing 500 self service kiosks in movie theatres so that customers can scan in a code from their phones and get coupons for snacks.

The coupons will vary in discount and price with some allowing a free upgrade to a bigger popcorn or large drink.

Companies have been expanding their products and services into cinema advertising, as they noticed that cinemas are a good place to reach audiences that don’t have too many distractions.

“People with high mobile phone usage do tend to go to the cinema more than people with lower mobile phone usage,” he said. “Years back, when cinema advertising was just launching, people were a little skeptical on how it would be received.

“It has only been around for a relatively short amount of time, but all the research that came back said, despite initial skepticism, people feel that the advertisements are not intruding-in fact, many ways are complementing-the overall event.”

The coupons being introduced via the self service kiosks will definitely encourage more people to visit the cinema and make use of the deals on offer.

“The first was a reward for their own customers, building that loyalty, and the other was the envy factor,” said Christine Martino, national account director for Screen Vision who suggested the idea to Sprint.

The kiosk works by instructing Sprint customers to text a certain world (like Sprint) to a certain phone number. The cinema-goer then receives a text message that includes a string of letters and numbers. The kiosk features a computer screen next to the scanning device, and people hold up their cellphones, scan that code and can browse through a few offers on the screen.

The customer then selects their chosen offer, to which a receipt will be printed that people can take to the concession stand for a free upgrade, such as a larger drink.

Margaret Clerkin, the head of the invention group at Mindshare, Sprint’s media agency and a unit of WPP, said that offering something to Sprint customers was a necessary element. “There is entertainment value provided by cinema advertising, but there is also an exchange of value-can you enhance their experience?” she said.

In time, ScreenVision would like to see other companies like Burger King offer discounts on a post-show hamburger for instance.

“It is a direct reward for the consumer,” said Andrew L.Blacker, senior vice president for marketing at ScreenVision.

Implementing a self service kiosk into your company can really increase the amount of sales that come into your business…if installed and designed properly.

The whole objective of a self service kiosk system is to free up the time of an employee to interact and liaise with customers as well as general management of your store, so any transactions can be made via the kiosk.

Chris Gilder, CEO of Meridan Kiosks, said, “It is foolish to have a salesperson waste time accepting a payment when they could be working on landing new customers.

“A kiosk is a great way to free up that employee to sell more while giving customers a much better experience of not waiting in line.”

Airport self service kiosk are a prime example of an outstanding system which has changed the way consumers travel. Gilder said it took a concerted effort by the airlines to get people to use the kiosks, but now people seek out the kiosks because they know it means a shorter wait.

The best way to start a kiosk design is to plan it as simple as possible with the end user constantly in mind. However, it still needs to be as reliable as possible in order for it to work.

“There are way too many kiosks out there with blank screens,” Gilder said. “Most of the time it’s the result of poor hardware choices. These things are designed to run 24/7.”

Not only is the hardware very important, the software is just as essential to get it right and working for each individual user. The software needs to meet the needs and requirements of each individual customer and allow them to fulfill their order or transaction so that they go away feeling happy.

And it really isn’t just the hardware and software either, the location of the kiosk as well as its shape and style will play a massive impact as your customer needs to see it to use it.

Think about:

• UL (Underwrites Laboratories) –  This is so that the kiosk meets all the health, safety and fire requirements.
• Ventilation – Proper ventilation will ensure that if the fans fail a back up system is in place so the kiosk doesn’t overheat.
• Accessibility – So that you customers and staff can easily access the machine on a daily basis.
• Environment – Will it be in dusty environment so you need fan filters, or outside so it needs climate control. Make sure you are clued up on these requirements.
• Special Considerations – If it is a medical kiosk you need to may consider a privacy screen so people can’t look over at what the user is doing.

For more information about self service kiosks and how it can improve and benefit your business visit our website today on www.protouch.co.uk

A recent study by founder of Summit Research Associates, Francie Mendelsohn, says that the kiosk industry will see a massive growth in 2010, after recent reports stating that the installation of kiosks has languished.

Kiosk installation is no longer about getting the users to understand the technology as millions of proven that they understand how they work and even prefer self service.

The main area of focus is keeping the consumer confident that they can do better than the shop assistant and that the applications the kiosks have installed give consumers more and different options.

In her detailed analysis of the DVD kiosks industry, Mendelsohn warns that the application will be eclipsed by the digital delivery of films in upcoming years. While the whole Hollywood/DVD saga is going on, consumers are looking into the future and wondering whether digital distribution will ever overtake the rental market.

Video Business recently reported that Sony Home Entertainment and Universal Studios both already offer video-on-demand service in the home through cable pay-per-view provider iN Demand, and both studios are working with others in Hollywood to provide a Web-based VOD service soon.

MOD Systems got their foot in the door on the digital download front with an upcoming pilot deployment of kiosks that allow users to download movies to an SD card, which they then plug into their televisions. While this is a step in the right direction for the industry, however not everyone owns a TV with SD slot cars and built in media players which may make the solution totally impractical on a larger scale.  

Although companies are working in the right direction, the process of installing self service systems needs to fit naturally into a consumers shopping experience.

The Summit report also states that airline self service will continue to grow, moving closer to the idea of mobile capabilities. Already, Canada and Asia are offering the technology and one US carrier is testing it at present.

Recent data from SITA, a provider of communication and IT solutions for the air-transport industry, 44 per cent of passengers indicated positive feelings towards mobile self check-in, and 66 per cent of self service check-in users said they would prefer an electronic boarding pass over a paper version.

Here, airlines are trying to figure out where they can charge a fee in this self service process, while travellers are wondering when they will finally be able to head to security with their boarding passes on their smart phones.

However, us consumers don’t have to worry as kiosk manufacturers have landed on something big so to provide an easier way of travelling, shopping, etc on a daily basis.

Dominique El Bez, SITA’s director of portfolio marketing, said, “It is not about doing the same thing from a different channel, it is about doing things differently.

“Kiosk providers have to adapt rapidly and must consider the kiosk as a component of a holistic self-service transformation.”

Airlines and airports around the globe are jet setting into the world of self service to enhance customer experience when travelling the world.

And the move to implement self service kiosks has proved a massive hit with passengers after a recent survey revealed that six leading airport hubs across five continents has seen a 20 per cent growth in adoption of self service check-in options over the last year.

This change in passenger habits has also seen more passengers demanding improvements in security procedures and airport dwell times as they check-in less baggage.

The survey conducted by SITA, also found that convenience as much as price is driving online booking which is now close to 100 per cent availability in mature markets, 63.7 per cent of those questioned in the survey booked online.

On top of this consumer habit, passengers are spending more though the airline websites in ancillary services such as hotels and car hire and their numbers are expected to double.

Airlines are now clocking onto this and have designed their websites to become a channel of choice for pre-flight and post-flight customers services. 50 per cent of passengers interviewed, for example, are using airline websites to modify reservations or update frequent flyer information.

The 4th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self Service (PSS) survey is a detailed look at the attitudes and trends of a representative sample of the 232 million passengers who use these six leading international airports: Harsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Mumbai International; Charles de Gaulle, Paris; Moscow Domodedovo; Sao Paulo, Guarulhos, Brazil; and OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg.

The data is extracted from interviews with 2,193 passengers who conducted the survey at the departure gate earlier this year.

The top four steps that passengers would most likely change about their journey was the: security screening, 18.2 per cent, dwell time at the airport before flight departure, 14.8 per cent; in-flight experience, 14.5 per cent and waiting for checked baggage on arrival, 9.3 per cent.

Dominique El Bez, SITA Director, Portfolio Marketing, said, “The survey does provide a good news for the air transport industry, and airlines in particular, because it proves that self-service has passed a tipping point in the last 12 months.

“We have seen a 20 per cent increase in adoption of self service check in options across all these hubs. It is also significant that this holds true among transit passengers who exercised the self service check in option at over 200 other airports.

“The main obstacles to the further rise of self service are check in baggage which is being addressed by the industry through revised bag-drop processes, and the necessity to have access to a printer to acquire a boarding pass through web check-in.

“This last issue is being addressed by the industry through adoption of the mobile Bar Code Boarding Pass (BCBP) which will allow a BCBP to be sent from the web check-in interface to the passenger’s mobile phone. In fact, 66 per cent of the self service check-in users would prefer an electronic boarding pass.”

In 2009, the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta, found that self service check-in reached a record 83.9 per cent in 2009, up from 64 per cent in 2008.

Web check-in was used by 25.6 per cent of departing passengers at Mumbai International Airport making it by far the most popular self service option for Indian passengers. Kiosk check in is still the most popular self service user option at Atlanta (45.8 per cent) Paris (18.9 per cent) and Johannesburg (8.1 per cent) while web check-in proved the most popular option with passengers in Moscow (9.2 per cent) and Sao Paulo (6.4 per cent).

There has been a very positive attitude among passengers when it comes to checking in with kiosks, with 75 per cent preferring this option to 62.5 per cent opting for website check-in and 44 per cent of passengers more positive towards mobile check in.

Passengers flying on more than 100 different airlines and representing over 80 different nationalities were interviewed during April/June 2009 in this independent survey.