Razorfish Multichannel

Kiosks and Mobile POS Technologies
Emerging Channels in Integrated Marketing Strategy

Anurupa Sengupta | April 2005

• Promise
Technology options have never been better to launch newer, more efficient infrastructures in support of
truly innovative integrated multi-channel marketing approaches.

• Reality
The consumer’s changing tastes and demands for convenience have accelerated in the digital age like
never before. Competition is increasing to the point that lines are blurring between banks, post-offices,
restaurants, grocery stores, high-volume retailers, hotels and airports. Kiosks have been identified as
one of the major channels to support the integrated marketing strategy necessary to thrive in today’s
competitive environment.

• Problem
A kiosk implementation is one of the most multi-disciplinary projects an enterprise can undertake,
crossing the domains of IT, corporate marketing, in-store operations, finance and creative services.
The definition, design and implementation of the project is best guided by a strategically planned
roadmap.

• Solution
Well planned self-service technology-enabled channels align customer experiences across brick-and-
mortar, catalog, kiosk, online and mobile touch points. A proper implementation roadmap, exceptional
user experience design, and the right vendor partnerships can leverage a kiosk solution to provide
valuable points of interaction, bridging the high-tech and high-touch elements of customer relationship
management strategy.

©2005 Avenue A | Razorfish. All rights reserved. Kiosks and Mobile PMS Technologies 1
Avenue A and Razorfish are registered trademarks.

Kiosks and Integrated Marketing
Integrated marketing is more than the leap from brochure to website to tradeshow kiosk, it's a critical
strategy for the successful marketing of any product or service and a fundamental component of sound
overall business strategy. Whether an enterprise is looking to penetrate new markets, evolve the
perception of branding or drive demand for the offerings, a well-thought-out integrated marketing strategy
can help maximize results while minimizing the costs of program implementation and maintenance.
Integrated marketing is a multi-dimensional combination of strategy, user experience design, applied
technology and quantitative performance measurement, analysis, and optimization.

Fig. 1: Components of Integrated Marketing Strategy

What is a Kiosk?

An interactive kiosk system is typically a touch-screen monitor connected to a computer. It is usually
placed inside a secure enclosure in a public place that enables consumers to have instant electronic
access to information, products, and/or services.

There are three fundamental components of a kiosk solution:

• A physical enclosure which houses the hardware
• A physical hardware (touch-screen monitor, CPU, stereo speakers, printer, cables, etc.)


• A software application that secures the computer, stores information, processes transactions, and
delivers the messages, services, and/or products.

With the success of digital photo kiosks and self-service e-ticket kiosks
in airports, kiosks have been identified as one of the major channels of
integrated marketing strategy. The Kiosk Industry sector Report
(Summit Research Associates, Inc. Retail, 2004) identifies the top
reasons to deploy kiosks in the retail industry:

1. To provide information
2. As line busters
3. To improve customer service
4. To reduce costs
5. To reduce staff
6. To increase competitive advantage
7. As a Public Relations tool.

If they are to be successful, it is also important for retailers to be
proactive and encourage customers to try the kiosk. Promotional
brochures should encourage use, the location and environment should
compel use, and high-touch guidance available at the kiosk should
ensure successful use. Airlines frequently use their gate agents to guide
people to their kiosks. US Postal Service employees are tasked to help
introduce customers to the new Automated Postal Centers.

Fig 2: Recent Articles on Kiosk Trends
Self-Service Technologies: Kiosks and POS Devices

POS, or Point-of-Service technologies (sometimes also referred to as Point-of-Sale), help savvy retailers
to offer just-in-time and just-enough service with an in-store automation solution: e.g. a personal shopping
assistant or a self-checkout system. POS devices utilize barcode readers, RFID readers and wireless
network technologies to provide valuable information to consumers such as product look up, related
product information and other purchase assistance.

In order to take full advantage of the benefits offered by self-service systems, a plan should be in place to
phase out legacy technologies and invest in open standard technologies such as personal computer
based terminals, standard operating systems, web services, and xml-based communication protocols.

The Impact of Market Forces

While industry has always been faced with tough competition, thin margins, and high employee turnover,
it has changed rapidly and dramatically due to certain key market forces—consumer demands, market
pressure and evolving technology. The consumer’s changing tastes and demands for convenience have
accelerated in the digital age like never before. Competition is increasing to the point that lines are
blurring between banks, post-offices, restaurants, grocery stores, high-volume retailers, hotels and
airports. At the same time, the choices in technology have never been better to launch newer more
efficient infrastructures in support of truly innovative integrated multi-channel marketing approaches.
Traditionally, industries have relied on technology to reduce costs and improve control. Now they are
looking to new technology solutions to help drive up sales.


Consumer Demands:
• Self-service
• Buying Help
• Recommendation System
• Personalized Services
Market Pressure:
• Increased Competition
• Increased Cost
• Customer retention Self-Service
Kiosk
Opportunity

Evolving Technology:
• New and Mature technologies
• Mixing lightweight and heavyweight
technologies
• Data collection
• Comfortable and easy-to-use hardware
components

Fig 3: Self-service Kiosks Opportunities

Self-Service Kiosks for the Retail Industry:
Challenge, Solution and Value
E-Week reports success of self-service
technologies in retail sales for 2004:
Brand identity, physical stores, online presence and efficient
distribution systems are great assets. But they do not guarantee multi- A recent study by IHL Consulting Group
channel retailing success. The majority of retailers are struggling to indicates that self-checkout and other self-
service systems generated almost $128
find the correct channel strategy and managing the current trends of billion in sales last year, up about 80
online and offline trading activities. percent over a year before. Projections are
that these sales figures will continue to
grow exponentially-up 73 percent this year
The following table discusses in detail the challenges for implementing and then a projected 88% next year.
a kiosk solution in the retail sector:


Table 1: The Kiosk Channel in the Retail Industry

Challenge Description Solution Value
• Provide Kiosk-based solution
with Online alternative
To stay competitive, it is • Increased POS
necessary to find new time- Channels
• Target Customers and Sales
and location- based sales
Associates
opportunities. • Reduced cost of
Increased • Integrate mobile POS devices
managing stores,
Competition (Ex: Sears Kiosk strategy): warehouses and
like Personal Shopping
Let consumers buy out-of- employees
Assistant
stock items and items that
are uncomfortable carrying • Increased Customer
• Build intelligent Barcode-
with them.) Satisfaction
readers and RFID-readers like
Self-checkout
• Perform User-Research

• Use Best Practices

• Provide Context-sensitive
• Ability to remain
Information
relevant and
Transition from traditional
competitive
request processing to • Provide buying help such as
Right- consumer-focused Related Products, Similar
• Increased
Channeling interactive application Products, Print Comparisons,
opportunity to cross-
Customers requires sophisticated User and Recommendation System
sell
Interface and Interaction etc.
Architecture.
• Improved User
• Be sensitive to performance
experience
• Use Rich Internet Application
to make systems quick and
interactive

• Build business strategy
based on user segmentation,
• Builds Just-in-time
case studies and ROI
Achieving Large scale technology and Just-enough
planning
implementations require enhancements
Operational careful Road Map and ROI
• Use Conversion Testing,
Excellence planning. • Provides Quantitative
Lead generation systems,
realization of ROI
Analytics and Extensive
Reporting

The success stories behind companies such as Staples, Circuit City and Home Depot include adaptive
responses to changing consumer demands in the retail industry with kiosk-based solutions to support
loyalty and incentives, product line extensions, self-service transactions, intelligent RFID readers and gift
registries.

An Information Week report shows that profitability of a Kiosk-based solution depends on its relation with
the related online solution:

Staples Inc. in Farmingham, Mass., reported $45 million in sales from its Staples.com site in 1999 and projects $450
million for 2000, figures that include kiosk sales, says Scott Floeck, VP of Information Systems.


Self-Service Kiosks for the Hospitality and Food Service Industries:
Challenge, Solution and Value

Kiosk compatible trends in the hospitality and food industries for
2005 include quick check-in and check-out, placing orders, B2B BTNonline.com reports on the
transactions (e.g. Hotel and Air-travel), concierge services and B2B aspect of self-service
other customer loyalty systems. Kiosk applications (Feb, 05):

Hilton Hotels Corp. this month
Travelers seeking faster check-in are already driving the use of completed a beta test of the first kiosk
kiosks in hotel lobbies. Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hyatt Hotels Corp. in an airport that enables guests to
and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are among the large check in to their hotel while they wait for
luggage.
hotel companies that have already implemented kiosk check-in.
Electronic check-in kiosks at airports are also already big success
stories for the airline industry where kiosk implementations can
easily be scaled based on arrival patterns and the amount of
HotelNewsResource.com
frequent business travelers served. reports Hyatt offering
More interestingly, in the food service industry, self-service kiosks Personalized Services using
Kiosks (Feb, 05):
are being introduced to solve persistent staffing challenges. One
U.S. Labor Department study notes that self service terminals Hyatt guests can complete their check-
have been successful in making low-paid, high-turnover staffs in/checkout transactions in under a
(common to the restaurant industry) more efficient and effective. minute . . . Kiosks will soon allow
customers to choose the newspaper
Now that customer activated kiosks are possible, the report claims they want delivered to their room, make
that the next logical step is “to empower the customer to quickly dinner reservations and select from a
enter the order himself or herself.” Arby’s and Sheetz, Inc., a variety of activities at Hyatt's resort
chain of convenience stores and gas stations in Pennsylvania and locations.
nearby states, are already using kiosks to accomplish just that.

The following table discusses in detail the challenges for implementing a kiosk solution in the food and
hospitality sector:

Table 2: Kiosks in Food and Hospitality

• Reduced Waiting time
To stay competitive, it is necessary to • Provide Kiosk-based
offer alternatives to waiting in line. solution with Online
• Increased Business
alternative
Increased (Ex: Hilton Kiosk strategy: At a kiosk,
• Reduced cost of
Competition guest can enter their Credit-Card or • Target Customers and
managing employees
membership number, then be able to Sales Associates
view details about their services to
• Increased Customer
choose.)
Satisfaction


Table 2: Kiosks in Food and Hospitality (cont.)

• Perform User-Research

• Use Best Practices

• Provide Context-sensitive
Information
• Ability to remain relevant
• Provide help such as and competitive
Transition from traditional request
Right- transportation facilities,
processing to consumer-focused
tourist information, Print • Increased opportunity to
Channeling interactive application requires
your e-ticket, etc. cross-sell
Customers sophisticated User Interface and
Interaction Architecture.
• Be sensitive to • Improved User
performance experience

• Use Rich Internet
Application to make
systems quick and
interactive

• Build business strategy
based on user
• Builds Just-in-time and
segmentation, case studies
Achieving Just-enough
Large scale technology and ROI planning
enhancements
Operational implementations require careful Road
Map and ROI planning. • Use Conversion Testing,
Excellence • Provides Quantitative
Lead generation systems,
realization of ROI
Analytics and Extensive
Reporting

Building a Successful Kiosk Channel
The Four-Step Process: Establishing a Roadmap

A Kiosk implementation project is one of the most multi-disciplinary tasks to cross the domains of IT,
corporate marketing, in-store operations, finance and creative services. The definition, design and
implementation of the project need to be guided by a strategically planned roadmap. Constant ROI
evaluation at every step is crucial. The project timeline might vary from a minor 4 months to years
depending on the size of the project. A typical project plan would have the following steps:

Kiosk Application Infrastructure Deploy
Kiosk Strategy
Architecture and Pilot and Manage

• Industry best • Application scoping • Build infrastructure • Deploy applications
practices
• Infrastructure • Build pilot • Train end user
• Assess opportunities planning applications
• Support and monitor
• Develop strategy • Develop • Establish
• Evaluate and evolve
partnerships organization
• Evaluate partners
• Organizational
• Acquire training
planning
• Own vs. rent
Fig 4: The Four-Step Process for a Successful Kiosk Channel


In an engagement, real-world examples of actual kiosk deployments and a project analysis should be
used to customize the principles of planning the implementation.

Critical Component: Designing the User Experience

A user's experience with a kiosk only lasts a short period of time, so a user adoption strategy is a must for
successful kiosk implementation. Here are key user experience goals to keep in mind while designing a
kiosk application:

Work with a team that has the experience and expertise in building successful user
adoption strategies
• The team should have experience in designing kiosk and online user experiences.
• The team should be able to produce solid technical design and network and systems design
and should be following a software development process to complete implementation and
deployment in a timely fashion.
• The team should have expertise in using analytics and conversion testing to test and build
incrementally.

Tailor-make the kiosk for your audience and their environment
• Kiosks are true “walk-up-and-use” interfaces: users often use them once and never again.

• Simplicity is important. Users often return to a website, learning more and more about how to
use the site. But they may never come back to the same store kiosk if they find it to be more
difficult than the standard high-touch system.

Choose hardware and placement based on customer needs
• Choose hardware (touch-screen, keyboard, mouse) and ergonomics (seating, height) based
on known customer needs – long vs. short usage, simple vs. involved tasks, one-person vs.
two-person operation.

• Place the kiosks where customers will find them – in open areas with many lines of vision to
the kiosk, and where there is an opportunity to use signage for the kiosk.

Create a compelling user experience
• Implement integrated marketing practices by unifying the kiosk experience with that of the Web
platform.

• The experience must support the needs of a broad range of customers and users with limited
time – research shows that one in five adult web users give up on a task after as little as 8
seconds of wait time.


Critical Component: Partnering with the Right Product Vendors
A solution based on integrating different systems and partnering with different vendors requires careful
planning. This means that an enterprise needs to consider business, functional, technical and user
experience goals for the system in order to choose the right product vendors. Some such considerations
might be:

• That the products selected must have the required features to support implementation by the
release dates

• That the future vision of a selected product meets the ongoing updates to the kiosk application

• That the platform is cost-effective, is functionally rich, based on open standards and extensible

• That the implementation methodology compels use and in turn increases sales

The following diagram shows a sample of vendors in the related market and where they would enter into
a kiosk implementation project:

Client Tier Presentation Tier Application Tier Security and
Remote Management

Fig 5: Related Vendors


JC Penney Gift Registry: A Case Study in Integrated Marketing

Challenges
JCPenney wanted to regain its leadership position for wedding registries and increase both loyalty and
revenues. The gift registry experience needed to be entirely revamped across multiple channels from in-
store kiosk to online. The existing experience did nothing to match the special quality of the occasion, nor
did it take advantage of the natural ebb and flow in the registry lifecycle.

Key Avenue A | Razorfish Market Insight
Customers use gift-registries more often when they are available both online and in stores via kiosks.

Solution
An integrated marketing program was developed that included:

revised registry products across catalog, in-store, online and support for 1-800 JCP GIFT
celebrity endorsement
product development
integrated program management
a strategic communications program
a user-centric approach

Fig 6: Online JCP Gift Registry Fig 7: JCP Gift Registry in Kiosks


Conclusion
An integrated marketing offering can help your business in
building the right-channeling strategy to:
The growth of Internet and self-service
technology-enabled channels will realign 1. Increase sales
the customer touch involving brick-and- Simplify and integrate the in-store and on-line
mortar, catalog, kiosk, online and mobile experience using RIA
touch points. The critical success factors
in integrating these channels will revolve 2. Increase loyalty
Provide personalized experience
around effective planning and
implementation. Kiosks provide a Offer Incentives
valuable point of interaction, bridging the
high-tech and high-touch elements of 3. Build a measurably better integrated marketing
customer relationship management experience
strategy. Leverage analytics

Increase marketing performance using conversion
testing

About the Author

Anurupa Sengupta, Senior Technical Architect
Anu’s experience includes software engineering processes and systems, systematic
software reuse, object-oriented development, software agent technology and
simulation-based e-training solutions. She was featured in the Training Magazine and
has spoken at conferences on Knowledge Management Frameworks and Analytics.
Anu received M.Sc. in Math from IIT Kanpur and M.E. in Software Systems from
BITS,Pilani. She is a member of the IEEE Computer Society.

About Avenue A | Razorfish
Avenue A | Razorfish (www.avenuea-razorfish.com) is the largest independent interactive services firm
and an operating unit of Seattle-based aQuantive, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQNT), a digital marketing services
and technology company. Avenue A | Razorfish solutions are entrenched in deep technology, rigorous
analytics and a rich understanding of customer needs, including award-winning web media & creative,
search marketing services, email marketing/eCRM, and world-class creative, design and implementation
of customer websites and intranets/extranets. Avenue A | Razorfish has offices in 12 US cities and is
headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Clients include AstraZeneca, Best Buy, Kraft, Microsoft/MSN,
WeightWatchers.com, and Wells Fargo.

Avenue A | Razorfish
821 2nd Avenue, Suite 1800
Seattle, WA 98104
Voice: 206.816.8800
Fax: 206.816.8808


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