s ISOs look for new solutions to bring to retailers, the self-service kiosk represents a rich platform for creating up-selling and new recurring revenues. The other important dimension of self-service offerings for ISOs is that they open doors to non-traditional markets, such as airports, theatres, malls, high-traffic office complexes and convention centers.

Who better to explain this opportunity than NCR? In the opening paragraph of this white paper, NCR establishes its credentials by stating that each year its equipment handles more than 20 million transactions through more than 300,000 self-service terminals. Of course, most of those devices are ATMs.

Not widely appreciated is the amount of experience NCR has with the self-service channel for retailers. This document was designed to increase the awareness of these skills.

This white paper is excellent on a number of levels, not only for its educational content in terms of explaining NCR's core competencies in bringing self-service solutions to market on the kiosk platform, but also for showcasing its value-added partners. It would have been a must-read document had NCR devoted more space to hard-dollar returns from this technology.

There is still more than enough valuable content in this white paper to make it worth your time, especially if you are interested in learning more about the components and emerging applications being deployed via self-service devices. ISOs can look forward to someday selling scaled-down versions of the applications NCR describes in this white paper.

Types of Self-Service Kiosks
Before going into the highlights of the NCR white paper, I thought it would be helpful to list the different types of stand-alone kiosks¹ that cover the range of applications found on this platform. Of course, many kiosks are designed for retailers who run two or more of these applications on the same stand-alone device.

--Information and Demonstration Kiosk: New technology and advances in medicine require a great deal of consumer education, and these devices are designed to facilitate this process in an unattended manner. You will find more and more of these in pharmacies, health and vitamin retailers, and electronics/cell phone stores.

--The E-Commerce Kiosk: This is the in-store retailer Web site kiosk. When your inventory exceeds your store floor space, this walk-up workstation enables customers to search and order merchandise appropriate to their unique needs. These are very common in national bookstores.

--The Customer Service Kiosk: When there are wide swings in your customer arrival patterns or the need for specialized skills make it impractical to have this expertise available in each location, these walk-up or sit-down enclosures are ideal. Brokerage houses and banks are deploying these devices. They often will have phone and video IP conferencing capabilities to provide access to a central customer service center pool of experts.

--The Loyalty Kiosk: This terminal workstation will allow new customers to register their membership into a loyalty program, issue cards, provide stored-value load, issue coupons based upon card swipe and provide updates on points accumulation. More and more of the "big box" membership retailers like Costco and Sam's are deploying these devices.

--The Self-Checkout Kiosk: NCR is at the forefront of this technology, which is being deployed in large discount and supermarket chains - primarily for use by customers with a few purchases. Another popular site for this type of device is a library.

--The Incentive Kiosk: An extension of the loyalty kiosk, but for customers without a retailer card. They can walk up to these touch screen terminals and see displays of various discount offers that, once selected, will generate bar-coded coupons that can be redeemed at check-out. Specialty food and wine shops are deploying these devices along with recipe lists.

--The Gift Registry Kiosk: Target Stores made this type of kiosk mainstream for upscale discount and department store chains. The registry process is being integrated with e-mailing lists for bridal registry, baby showers or anniversaries.

--The Store Locator Kiosk: These are common in high-access thoroughfares to malls or "superstores" as convenient ways of directing customers to the store or section they are interested in visiting.

--The Bill Payment Kiosk: NCR is also leading this initiative with installations it has been doing with cellular phone companies and utilities. They provide the customer with bill coupon capture and accept various forms of payment along with printing of receipts.

--The Human Resource Kiosk: This kiosk is deployed as a retailer management productivity device for new employee screening, exit interviewing, benefits program updates, W2 changes, etc. These are quite common with large retailers paying minimum wage to employees without access to the Internet.

--The Customized Kiosk: When you offer a complex set of options to your customers, this device allows your clients to design and order to their unique requirements - such as car showrooms or financial services/insurance brokers. As an example, NCR built a solution for Fidelity Investments that does stock trades, prints research reports, moves investor money around between accounts or checks on stock quotes. Online investor support is also available via phone.

Now that you have a sense of the type of kiosks being deployed in various settings, we can return to the NCR white paper to understand how these programs get designed and deployed.

Self-Service Kiosks Program Fundamentals
NCR opens this document with large showcase-type examples, such as last year's installation of more than 3,000 Web Kiosks for Wal-Mart as gift registries and an online catalog. High-exposure deployments like this one will open the minds of the storefront retailers, showing them how to compete by providing their customers with expanded inventory while giving up very little square footage. The kiosk provides their customers with the convenience to order in-store with either return for pickup or fulfillment directly to their home.

Just like your sale of POS payment services, self-service kiosks require equipment, supplies, software and processing by solution providers. NCR differentiates itself from its competition by providing a sequence of services leading to a turn-key installation. Of course, it manufactures the equipment, which can be as simple as a single touch-screen tablet up to very complex modules of processing that enable a retailer to provide self-service checkout.

NCR's consulting division provides services such as ROI justification, application development, testing and integration under a project-management team contracted to pull the pieces together and install the kiosk anywhere in the world. For larger clients, NCR can customize the look and feel of these self-service devices. Because advertising is becoming an important component of payback, NCR has established relationships with large agencies for streaming images of the latest movie or new soft drink during wait times in the middle of an authorization or Internet screen refresh.

NCR also realizes it can't be all things to all people and has partnered with a number of specialized value-added firms to justify the deployments of self-service kiosks. The remainder of the white paper provides examples of these win-win partnerships:

--Healthnotes, Inc. develops modules of information on nutrition, diet and drug-herb-vitamin interactions that can be viewed on a walk-up kiosk while a customer is waiting for a prescription to be filled, for example. The specialized knowledge necessary to keep these programs current represents a content-provider relationship that NCR can use to justify kiosk program sales.

--Netkey is the second partner example NCR features in this document. This firm provides a comprehensive suite of software components to devise user interfaces, download applications, monitor terminal wellness and performance reporting.

--e-maxx is a firm specializing in the design and execution of customer-management tools - especially for streamlining peak-period order entry and return-pickup selling environments. It has developed "20/20 Vision" programs for use in the deli, film, bakery or florist locations. These programs allow a customer to approach a kiosk at a section of a store or shopping mall, place an order and return for pickup rather than wait in line.

--3M and Lexmark are kiosk-solution partners of NCR that provide touch screen terminals and printer options for clients - depending upon their unique requirements. This section of the document explains how patented technology or focus on hardware components can play a critical role in differentiating NCR's offerings and competitive advantage.

Excerpts from This White Paper

--"What we looked at were tasks with a repetitive nature and high frequency that could be automated."

--"We were able to install this program globally and to provide the services required to make the installations - on time, on budget and in remote locations."

--"The solution includes the NCR Web kiosk and receipt printer and enables customers to pay with cash, checks and credit or debit cards."

--"By providing shoppers with easy-to-use, actionable information about different subjects, we help stores differentiate themselves and achieve competitive advantage."

--"When you go to the vitamin area of a store, you want some self-care and to give your family things that are good for them. Often, the clerk doesn't have the necessary information and the pharmacists may be too busy."

--"Netkey Creator software helps businesses develop the kiosk user interface as it moves Web content from the desktop to a public space."

--"I have what I call the 'rule of six.' When there are more than six people already in line at the counter, you won't join it. And if there are more than six people behind you, the sales associate won't be able to change your order no matter what - because all you want to do is get off that line." --"Our system is designed so that when a customer walks into a deli and addresses a kiosk, by either swiping an affinity card or entering a phone number, they will be greeted with a message that might say, 'Your usual order is a pound of Swiss cheese, a pound of turkey and a half-pound of ham. If that's what you want, push this button.' The customer can then pick up their order 15 minutes later at the cold case."

--"Benefits include the fact that you don't have to know how to use a computer to interface with a touch screen."

--"One of the other major benefits is the ease of retail staff training."

--"Consumables are also key. The fewer interactions a store employee has with the printer, the better. Our toner cartridges have one of the highest yields in the industry - up to 30,000 pages. For many kiosk applications, a toner cartridge will not need to be changed more than once a year."

¹ This list was taken from an article found in the January 2002 issue of Kiosk magazine. See the suggested site link for this publication in the recommended links at the end of this column.

Web Sites for Kiosk Solutions

www.atmmarketplace.com Excellent site for keeping updated on ATM and self-service kiosk developments. Offers a free e-mail summary of new articles.

www.kiosk.com This is a more targeted self-service kiosk news-tracking site.

www.ncr.com/solutions/store_automation/rsa-kiosks.htm NCR's kiosk-solution site.

www.netshift.com A kiosk-solution provider worth checking out.

www.kis-kiosk.com/frameset.html Another important solution provider in this space.

www.apunix.com A final solution provider.

www.atpos.com This company has extensive experience with flat screen pallets that provide digital signature capture, receipt archive and retrieval supported by a Web-based platform for integration with third-party content providers.

Author: NCR Corp.
Date: July 2001
Size: 16 pages
Relevance Rating: High
Web Address: www.ncr.com/repository/articles/pdf/sa_executivetech.pdf

Eric Thomson is Executive Vice President of Profit Source Advisors. He can be reached at etprosc@attbi.com.