By the end of 2009, there were almost 30,000 DVD-vending kiosks deployed, with more on the way. This application likely has surpassed the photo kiosk as the second-most visible symbol of self-service working, next to grocery self-checkout. Anticipating the next such "big thing" keeps all of us in the kiosk industry busy following the tweets and news in the hope of catching the next wave.
Here is a roundup of 2010's potential suspects, from my point of view, divided into three market groups — maturing, growth and new drivers.
Maturing market
Vending and reverse vending — These are apps where customers put money in to get a product, with the DVD kiosk being a prime example. Reverse vending is where products/goods are deposited into a machine and money/credit is given to the customer. The ecoATM self-service e-cycling kiosks would be an example of this, and the TITO ticket and token redemption machines in Las Vegas are good examples as well.
Customer flow — These are apps like check-in, ticketing, customer ordering and queue managment. Patient check-in terminals at clinics and hospitals are all the rage, and why shouldn't they be? They have a captive audience that requires the service (health) and is willing to pay for it (copay). Though we've said it before, I expect 2010 will seethe QSR and related segments hit their stride in this area, as well. Ticketing — As we enter 2010, the airlines are well into a major upgrade/update cycle for check-in kiosks, which by itself signifies maturity. Ticketing kiosks in entertainment venues such as movie chains alsoo are growing and are feeding the trend toward outdoor-rated terminals.
Financial services terminals for self-pay — Kiosks featuring money-transfer and bill-payment applications, among others, saw double digit growth in 2009's weak economy. Look for that growth to continue in 2010 as the cash-preferred segment remains relevant.
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Public services — Many public services are being forced into the self-service kiosk camp simply as a matter of survival and existence. Drivers licensing centers, payment centers, information centers and many more are getting into the game. Growth markets
Coupon, incentive and loyalty applications — These applications are poised to grow right alongside the mobile revolution. Being able to download coupons in your home or at the store and then redeem them at checkout is an exciting application. Telecommmunications giant Sprint deployed branded couponing units in movie chains last year, and in December 2009 we saw mobile couponing announcements from Wendy's and 7-Eleven. With Cellfire, Kroger has the ability to save coupons to your savings card, as well as to your phone.
Evolving deployment models — Flexible business processes have reinvigorated the classic revenue share and leasing deployment models from the past. New deployment scenarios often are coupled with more robust service packages, remote monitoring and warranty agreements.
Transactional terminals — Where's the beef? Most deployers are looking for a way to add revenue streams or cut their bottom lines. Informational terminals will continue to be used, but they will tend to be a la carte installations rather than mass-deployed.
New drivers
Mobile — This rates subcategories of its own as it has several dividend impacts in the self-service kiosk market.
Kiosk interfaces — It used to be that the office desktop drove the design of user interfaces, but suddenly kiosk UIs are beginning to resemble those of handhelds, such as mobile phones from Apple and Google with touch capabilities. Buy some tacos at the order/payment kiosk at Jack in the Box if you don't believe me.
Kiosk devices — Smaller and greener devices, such as the cloud computing model with energy efficient (and green) computing terminals (thin clients) are a common new model in the self-service kiosk world. Self-service terminals now often marry small hockey puck-sized computers to touchscreens. A big question these days for kiosk applications is whether they can run on an ATOM?
Kiosk connections: Bandwidth — Many more kiosks now utilize wireless connections rather than the usual LAN connections. This is a nice dividend from new 3G networks. And with the latest and greatest 4G going into place, wireless network connections may finally be as fast or faster than the old T1/DSL/ISDN model.
Kiosk advertising: Expanded geographic context with GPS everywhere — Self-service terminals, along with mobile phones, are more capable of geo-context so that users experience a comfort level more quickly and more targeted advertising is possible. Better and more effective communications are a result of stronger customer context.
PC over IP — This is already a real technology being used for transaction touch terminals in store aisles. This year we'll see POE (power over Ethernet) increase its footprint, thanks to its low cost.
Security regulations — This might be the year of the Payment Card Industry (PCI). A few years back, ATMs went through their 3DES cycle and chip-and-pin in Europe. July 2010 is the deadline for PA DSS applications to pass, and the rush to get platform and applications certified is ongoing. Data warehouses and merchant gateways/accounts in the cloud will become the norm.
Along with PCI regulations having a bigger impact, many privacy issues will result from technology stars such as biometrics and new focus markets in healthcare and general identification.
Craig Keefner has been in the kiosk industry for more than 20 years and is the channel manager for KIOSK Information Systems. To submit a comment about this commentary, please e-mail the editor, Tracy Kitten.
