As companies in a range of industries seek to reduce
costs, increase revenue opportunities, and improve customer service, they are
increasingly turning to interactive kiosks as an additional channel to enable
their customers with self-service options.
The number of interactive kiosks in operation will rise
from approximately 1.6 million deployed in 2011 to nearly three million
deployed globally by 2016.
The self-service technology trend has been occurring for
several years, with consumers increasingly seeking greater convenience in the
channels that they choose to utilize,” said
Sam Lucero, practice director, M2M connectivity at ABI Research.
At the center of this self-service technology trend are
interactive kiosks. Kiosks are not a new channel by any means, but consumers
worldwide have grown more accustomed to using them for everything from self-
checkout in the supermarket to checking in for their flight at an airport,”
Lucero added.
Interactive kiosks are having a particular impact on the
following seven market segments:
* Entertainment (e.g. DVD rental, photo printing, movie
ticket ordering)
* Retail (e.g. self-checkout, deli-counter ordering,
product information)
* Travel (e.g. airport check-in, hotel check-in/check-out)
* Financial services (e.g. bill payment, coin exchange,
check cashing)
* Healthcare (e.g. patient check-in, patient information,
prescription refills)
* Municipal & government (e.g. train/bus ticketing,
driver’s license renewal, tax payment)
* Information/other (e.g. wayfinding, information, human
resources)
While the interactive kiosk market is expected to grow
strongly over the next five years, there remain challenges to address.
Interactive kiosks in various segments, such as
healthcare, can face challenges regarding consumer acceptance, channel conflict
with other means of interacting with the consumer, and with automated customer
service not meeting a desired level of personalized support,” Lucero added.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
