The future of retail is the entire product showcase in one self-service kiosk

Direct growth in costs has an increasing impact on the reduction in revenue for Russian retailers. The unstable economic situation and fluctuations in rental prices are forcing chain stores to reduce space, staff, and transfer a significant part of business processes to online. At the same time, simply launching a website and letting customers take orders on their own is not always effective for all types of products.

Incorrect or insufficient optimization steps lead to a significant loss of market share, which for a small or even medium-sized wholesale or retail network may become a threat to its existence.

An effective solution is to create an omnichannel space that includes:

• Online store
• Self-service kiosk with a product showcase (deployment of an online store in the interface) and payment functionality
• Minimum number of sales consultants
• Pick up point

On the one hand, such a sales platform meets all modern sales automation standards, on the other hand, it significantly saves money. At the same time payment kiosk with a product showcase is a device with very flexible software, which in addition to generating orders and paying on the spot, allows for example scanning and dispensing of RFID cards or implementing a face recognition system.

New trend of removing cashiers

A payment kiosk with an opened online store significantly reduces personnel costs. Taking into account the existing prices for kiosks and software, the most expensive kiosk with support for accepting and dispensing cash costs 500 thousand rubles and pays off in 10 months in comparison with one employee, the price of which for a retailer is over 600 thousand rubles annually, taking into account holidays, taxes and other business costs.

The kiosk in fact is a modern cash register, so the service costs are the same as those of cash registers. If the store chooses only non-cash devices for 200-300 thousand rubles, the issue of cash collection disappears and the payback period decreasing.

Integration into the sales system

Retailers practice various techniques to encourage visitors to use kiosks. For example, the availability of a number of transactions only through a kiosk or various marketing steps.

In automated stores, sales assistants only assist in choosing an order on the website through the kiosk interface, while their participation is recorded in the system and taken into account when calculating efficiency. Customers can also be informed through online store notification systems about one-time or recurring bonuses and discounts when ordering through a self-service kiosk.

Finally, the payment kiosk itself is not something special for the average shopper and is as popular as the human employee.

Reduce costs even more

Kiosk reduces the area of the store as much as possible while maintaining all its capabilities, now there is no need to physically place all goods. An illustrative case is the implementation of kiosks into Nortek, a leading tire manufacturer in Russia. In 17 stores of the chain, it is planned to reduce up to 70% of the area allocated for the demonstration of tires for cars and trucks.

Kiosks help retail chains expand by opening small-format stores, warehouse stores, or simply creating remote points of picking up of orders in high-traffic areas, for example, in a shopping center. Bright kiosk acts as an interactive dashboard and does a great job of grabbing the attention of people who ultimately become customers.

Large-format kiosk can present a product in a more favorable point of view or facilitate an impulse purchase, ordering here and now.

Market trends

According to data from open analytical sources, 87% of visitors choose self-service stores due to faster payments, 28% are willing to visit such stores more often, and 50% of visitors expect from retailers not just purchases, but an omnichannel experience when choosing goods and paying.

The customer likes to be able to make a purchase in a different way and do it in a self-service format. A person wants to place an order at home or at work through a computer, smartphone or tablet, and in the store edit the cart in the kiosk interface, pay for it in a couple of clicks with a bank card, cash or bonuses from past purchases and immediately pick up the product.

In a densely populated urban environment, there is a tendency to reduce single large outlets in favor of more small-format near living areas. This is the strategy used by the Carrefour French chain, providing a remote order or on-site ordering service for 60 000 grocery items at their small-format convenience stores, which can be picked up at a convenient time. In this case, payment kiosks effectively replace employees and are the first step towards creating stores without employees.

Are you lagging behind your competitors?

Thanks to the unlimited possibilities of the electronic showcase and functionality, kiosk satisfies needs of the modern consumer, effectively reduces costs for the retailer and is suitable for both specialized and multi-format stores with any range of products.

Citilink electronic discounter, 4Lapy pet store chain, Petrovich retail supplier of building materials are all gradually implementing self-service kiosks in their stores. And this is not a fashion trend, but rather a necessity or a step ahead of the curve, which will eventually divide all market participants, regardless of size, as since the popularization of the Internet into those who have a website and those who do not yet.