The next evolution of digital signage has arrived in the form of interactive kiosks. Using touchscreen devices in secure retail enclosures, marketing pioneers are building interactive, web-powered interfaces that allow users to engage with brands at their own pace. This creates a new point of communication for businesses to snag their customers’ attention and interact with them, providing information, customer support, or even a point of sale.
1.) Interactive kiosks are versatile: There are a seemingly infinite uses for touchscreen interfaces within retail spaces. Over the years, we’ve installed kiosks in a multitude of implementations including:
- Loyalty card sign up station at a convenience store
- Interactive component of museum exhibits
- Directory for the lobby of an office building
- Appointment scheduling for a medical office or service center
There are plenty more uses for interactive kiosks—our VP of Media Brandon Bass recently wrote a great article highlighting them.
2.) They can cut down on labor: Interactive kiosks can serve a myriad of purposes, including ones that you’d normally need a paid employee to accomplish. For example, in lieu of a receptionist, a touchscreen kiosk placed front and center in the lobby can easily be equipped with a directory designed to steer visitors to their destinations.
3.) They can cut down on lines: When e-commerce capabilities can be implemented in kiosks, customer traffic can be reduced by using extra Point-Of-Sale stations. With kiosks to divert traffic from choke points, retail stress and congestion can be greatly reduced, allowing you to redirect resources where they can be best used.
4.) They are easy to set up, edit, and maintain: The interactive experience on a kiosk is essentially a website—there are buttons, pages, videos, forms, and other options. Web technology has come a long way in recent years, allowing users to actually create, edit, and update kiosk interfaces, fully online. Codigo’s kiosk editor is designed specifically for people who don’t have any design experience— just select from dozens of templates for a good starting point, then customize with your brand and message to create an engaging kiosk experience for your customers. Our editor software is cloud-based and allows you to pull in virtually any graphic or font you need in order to create your kiosk presentation. You’re only limited by your imagination!
5.) They are still novel: Since interactive kiosks aren’t yet ubiquitous, they tend to grab the attention of retail audiences simply because they aren’t accustomed to seeing them around. Think about the last three businesses you stepped into— Did any of them have a touchscreen interface that you could engage with? If you did notice one, did it stand out to you at all? Was a user already interacting with it? Odds are, if it is well-placed within the location and includes beneficial, captivating content, it’s seeing serious use.
6.) But they’re becoming more popular: Although they aren’t extremely common as of yet, adoption rates of interactive kiosks are skyrocketing. The Global Interactive Kiosks Market Outlook Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Assessment projected that the interactive kiosk industry will expand by 15% by 2022. We also discovered that 44% of banking institutions we surveyed for our annual “Branch Transformation Report” said that they were utilizing tablet kiosks in their locations.
7.) They are affordable: For little more than the cost of an iPad and an enclosure, your business can have a hands-on brand experience. Typically, the creation of the kiosk’s interface is the most expensive part of the implementation—but using Codigo’s online tool, it’s within budget to begin from a template and create your own immersive, animated kiosk. There aren’t expensive design programs to buy, pricey agency retainers, or additional content creation costs that can quickly add up. And if you do need creative services, we also offer head-turning designs at unrivaled prices.
