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Lessons Learned
A Study in Kiosk Technology
By Francie Mendelsohn, Summit Research Associates
Prepaid services and electronic services industries are
both subject to similar market pressures, the need to provide high-quality,
consumer friendly service, but at a marginal transaction cost low
enough to be competitive. One of the most promising delivery systems
is the kiosk, offering customers a fast, friendly, and efficient
method for transacting business. Strategically placed terminals,
easily accessed and operated by consumers can enhance sales while
dramatically reducing cost. One of the most successful kiosks of
all times are the ubiquitous photography kiosks, now available in
thousands of convenience stores, office supply stores, drugstores
and general retailers, like Wal-Mart, Target and K Mart.
At Summit Research, we have studied consumer photography kiosks
for more than three years, and are able to make some general observations
about consumer acceptance of self-directed kiosk purchases.
The Photo Kiosk Success
The Photo Marketing Association, the industry trade organization,
reports impressive growth occurring in all aspects of digital image
processing. An impressive two billion prints were made from digital
images in 2002, accounting for 6.1 percent of all photographic prints
made. At the beginning of 2003, 2.6 percent of all US households
had ordered prints from an online photo service, compared to two
percent the previous year. These online services are an excellent
way for friends and family to share and purchase pictures but they
take a few days to ship and the cost per print is not inexpensive.
While obtaining prints via online services is a modern approach
to a traditional process, there is an increasingly popular alternative
that is less expensive and provides almost instant fulfillment;
digital photography kiosks. For the kiosk industry, these units
represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the marketplace.
Photo kiosks, along with digital cameras, are the bright spots in
an otherwise depressed photo industry. In fact, a milestone was
reached in 2003; for the first time, US sales of digital cameras
exceeded those of film-based cameras.
Because of the popularity of digital cameras, digital photo kiosks
have begun to appear almost everywhere, allowing customers to print
copies of various sizes, save the images to CD-ROM, add text, as
well as create specialty items including greeting cards, post cards
and calendars.
To better understand the role of the digital photo kiosk in the
success of digital photography, let’s take a look at the technology
from the standpoint of consumers, and ask a few questions about
the experience.
• Is the process easy for them?
• Is it truly self-service or must a knowledgeable employee
help? In other words: If you build it, will they (the customers)
come and use it?
• And, just as important: If they come, will they be able
to produce prints of their digital pictures?
Our “Kiosk Industry Sector Report – Digital Photography”
includes case studies of several units produced by the leading international
digital camera manufacturers. Other kiosks, such as those produced
by Kodak, Sony and Fujifilm, were tested on numerous occasions,
often in different states. Wherever possible, store employees were
questioned about their observations of customer usage, as well as
their own experiences with the kiosks. Similarly, customers were
observed and interviewed about their satisfaction with the units,
any problems that were encountered and other pertinent issues.
These kiosks are intended for use by the photo specialty, consumer
electronics, amusement park, cruise shop, airport hotel and hospitality
industries. Resorts and other vacation spots offer a particularly
good potential; consumers now have the opportunity for instant gratification
and are taking full advantage. Summit staff observed several vacationers
printing out digital pictures at photo kiosks in the Rocky Mountains.
Not only are they able to enjoy their prints while still on vacation,
but they can free up storage on their digital media so that they
can continue to take pictures without having to purchase additional
memory cards.
Another benefit is that customers retrieve their media as soon as
the order is placed; they do not have to relinquish it to the photo
processor. This was previously a source of apprehension; customers
were afraid that their media would be lost or rendered useless.
The photo kiosks also benefit the photo processing centers, the
self-service nature of the units provide the ability of their staffs
to be used more productively elsewhere, instead of waiting for customers
to decide which prints they want.
The leading photo kiosks enjoy several features in common while
also having unique capabilities.
Unit Costs
The costs of a photo kiosk vary considerably – several models
tied into digital minilabs are available for roughly $8,000. Other
units providing instant prints and sophisticated editing capabilities
cost in excess of $20,000. The ROI has been shown to be impressive,
even on more expensive models. Furthermore, the ability to up-sell
the customer through promotions—Buy one set of prints, get
one free—and the bundling of specialized printing services
(calendars, postcards and greeting cards) are excellent sources
of additional revenue. Some retailers, especially in the South American
market, have had success in augmenting their revenues by offering
one-stop services. They provide instant framing (often including
a choice of mats), enabling the customer to leave the establishment
with a finished and framed photo (placed in a box) ready to be given
as a gift.
Popular Features
Every kiosk tested included a touchscreen. And none of them included
a keyboard. Receipt printers were used in 93 percent of the kiosks,
while 46 percent offered the interface in multiple languages. Fully
half of the photo kiosks included a credit card reader making the
units truly self service.
In keeping with the consumer/end-user orientation we discussed,
the focus was on the ease of use and features of the various self-service
devices and less on the technical aspects. We walked in the shoes
of the average digital camera owner: could he successfully use the
kiosk to make prints of some (or all of) his pictures? Questions
included: Was the unit operational? and Was it too complicated?
7 Important Lessons Learned
Although we learned many lessons in effective kiosk design and deployment
by virtue of our digital photography kiosks, here are seven that
are relevant to any consumer kiosk.
# 1 - The kiosk has to be easy to use. While this might seem self-evident,
there are several examples of photo kiosk software that demand too
much of the average customer. The consumer has to spend too much
time trying to figure out how to use the kiosk application, flying
against the conventional wisdom in self-service, “Don’t
Make Me Think!” The screens have to be intuitive, open (not
cramped) with an easily understandable interface. The buttons should
be large and should provide visual feedback when touched.
# 2 - The kiosk should be able to load a customer’s pictures
very quickly. No one likes to wait. People should be able to start
viewing their pictures almost from the moment they insert their
card into the appropriate slot in the kiosk’s memory card
reader. Several DP software manufacturers have devised ways to mask
the load time; one method is having the customer fill out his name
and phone number in advance of any picture selection. When he has
entered this information, the images have started to populate the
screen.
# 3 - There is a fine line between having too few and too many choices
on the screen. If too many are displayed, it is hard to really see
each image clearly. Time is then wasted by having to enlarge them
to see if they are to be included in the print order. At the opposite
extreme; the individual images may be too small to make an educated
decision. Showing fewer than eight is also counter productive; it
takes too long to go through all of the images on the storage media.
# 4 - Charge for extras. Digital Photography kiosks are there to
provide a service and to generate revenue for the establishment.
If customers are allowed to “fool around” with various
borders and text options, they will—but no additional revenue
is usually produced. This frequently results in a very long user
session with customers waiting their turn becoming increasingly
frustrated. When this happened the customers waiting their turn
end up leaving in disgust. That customer is often lost forever.
# 5 - Provide default options. Photo kiosks are there to provide
a means for customers to get high-quality prints of their digital
pictures. Many customers have already winnowed their pictures down
to the ones they want to obtain in print form. Having a Select All
option makes this a fast and easy transaction. Always give the customer
an out, they can opt to hand-pick the images they want printed.
# 6 - Provide explanatory signage. Customers have to know where
the kiosk is located. The units are sometimes hidden in out-of-the-way
places. It is naive to assume your customers will hike all over
a store looking for the kiosks. If they can’t see it and if
there is nothing to tell them where the kiosks are found, they will
give up and take their business elsewhere.
# 7 - Get employee buy-in. For kiosks to succeed, the employees
must understand that these kiosks are not there to take their jobs
away. They can drive a great deal of business to the store’s
photo department. Successful deployments have followed this advice
very well. The employees can help customers if they run into trouble,
but generally the software interface has been so well designed that
the customer needs little or no help. This allows the employee to
spend his time doing the job functions for which he was hired in
the first place.
The lessons learned is that making the kiosk approachable, easy
to operate and intuitive will pay off in consumer acceptance. Unless
consumers can relate to the kiosk as well as to a live person, they
will not use it, making the investment wasted.
Francie Mendelsohn is President of Summit Research Associates,
Inc. She can be reached at 301.670.0980.
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