CAN KIOSKS FINALLY BE TRULY COST-EFFECTIVE?
By Annette Tarlton, Marketing Director, Star Micronics EMEA
Originally, the kiosk market suffered from a general consumer reluctance to use the technology. When coupled with the hardware limitations of the time, this resulted in a kiosk market with limited growth potential. However, this is no longer the case to the point that consumers today are more technology-minded and kiosks as a result have to inspire and meet consumer expectations by becoming increasingly more interesting and entertaining to use.
As with everything in the commercial world, retailers need to see a return on investment through the generation of high volume and value sales and therefore the location of kiosks is critical. For example, a retailer that can provide a range of additional services to the consumer will generally attract a proportionately larger number of customers. This increased footfall will generate greater volume sales and in turn compensate for the initial outlay incurred. In value terms, a kiosk printer can now provide a range of software tools that can generate increased revenue through advertising and the addition of coupons to receipts. By simply being imaginative, the kiosk can be transformed into an invaluable and powerful marketing tool as well as a significant revenue generator.
The ‘accepted’ environments continue to demonstrate their value and the advances in printer technology are leading to a faster and more efficient service. For example, within high volume ticketing applications, kiosks are successfully being deployed for the issuing of cinema and travel tickets. Ease of use and reliability are fundamental requirements for the success of any kiosk and central to this is its printing capability. Consumers require a fast and efficient service and this includes the jam-free presentation of a ticket, label or receipt. Star Micronics recognises the importance of this and has been at the forefront of kiosk printing technology for a number of years. With a highly skilled research team the manufacturer has developed dedicated kiosk printing solutions offering exceptional levels of service and reliability.
Typically, Star kiosk printing solutions are successfully being deployed in a range of different applications. An example is at Skavsta airport, one of Sweden’s fastest growing and largest cargo airports offering modern facilities capable of dealing with large volumes of passengers and cargo. With customer service being of high importance for its passengers, the airport has deployed Star Micronics TUP992 printer in self-service kiosks. The service offers passengers convenient, fast and easy access to ‘FlygbussarnaKombi’ combination bus tickets that provide a link between the airport and Stockholm City’s local bus service.
Major retailer Coop Switzerland has also selected the TUP992 for its Superbox kiosk located throughout its stores providing customers the opportunity to regularly check the amount of points they have accumulated on their Supercard, multiply these points and exchange these for rewards via the interactive kiosk.
Within the leisure industry, Sun International is a company specifically focused on the development, operation and management of hotels, resorts and casinos. Located in its casinos are information kiosks utilised by customers to redeem and print vouchers and draw tickets. Given the high volume use and security implications with ticket redemption, Sun International needed a high speed reliable printer that could also cater for ticket verification procedures. Moya Breytenbach, Casino Divisional Manager of XN Corporation Africa states, "As the kiosk provides a variety of critical functions to customers on the casino floor we required a reliable printer which could securely handle a variety of print functions. The TUP992 from Star Micronics has proved to be the ideal solution."
Fundamental to kiosk printer design must be large capacity paper rolls accommodating different paper widths, presenters that negate the majority of potential jams, easy access to the printer mechanism itself and simple paper loading. The TUP992 meets all these criteria. A two-colour kiosk printer capable of output at a fast 150mm per second, the TUP992 is designed to accommodate either 15cm or 25cm paper rolls, ranging from 65gsm/0.065mm to 150gsm/0.15mm in thickness. The printer also offers a multi-position adjustable near end paper sensor, presenter and document capture facilities. Its automatic paper loading facility with a ‘lift and tilt’ mechanism and multi position design provide enhanced flexibility. A further benefit is the provision of an A4 to A6 scalable raster driver facilitating reduced legible A4 or Internet output on 112mm wide paper.
In order to provide virtually jam-free operation the presenter is designed to protect the document during the print process by not allowing customer contact with the printed ticket until the document is finished and separated from the paper roll. The unique clutch ensures that if the paper path is temporarily blocked by the customer the presenter will wait until the paper exit is clear and then present the receipt.
Driving the growth of the kiosk market, Star Micronics has further transposed the kiosk into a complete payment and labelling service to the consumer. Such technology has proved particularly successful within the photo kiosk market where the TUP992 is being used to provide personalised printed labels for developing conventional films.
The TUP900 series builds on the success of Star’s TUP400 series of kiosk printers and reflects the manufacturer’s commitment to continual product development. With enhanced features the TUP900 series provides kiosk solution providers with a versatile and reliable printing solution for high volume applications.
But, it is the advanced functionality of printers that adds the real value to kiosks. The ability to automatically generate coupons, vouchers and advertising banners on receipts, simply, using WindowsTM and in response to individual consumer transactions. This facility immediately positions the kiosk as a marketing tool, and enables the initiation and cessation of promotions instantaneously, without the need for a high level of IT expertise or system software changes.
The benefits of such technology are exemplified by Alphacom which has developed prepaid airtime dispensers. With more than 500 kiosks installed in shopping malls and urban centres across South Africa, Alphacom enables consumers to top up their air time at any time. Deploying the TSP700 from Star Micronics, the company uses the printer’s integral Auto-LogoTM feature to simply and instantly add coupons, advertisements and logos to receipts. The ease of use of the TSP700 is summed up by Garron Zlothnik, kiosk developer for Alphacom, “With Auto-Logo, we can instigate and discontinue a promotion at the touch of a button; we can attribute different promotions to distinct types of customer transaction and all without the need for expensive system software changes.”
Building on the TSP700, Star has recently launched a second version of the printer which, alongside the TSP100 futurePRNTTM series from Star, provides a print speed up to 250mm/second combined with an extensive range of software tools at no extra cost.
Beyond the advantages of such tools, a key benefit of packaged printers is their ability to be quite simply and easily installed and replaced. And, it is precisely the simplicity and ease of use of the packaged printer that is driving its greater use today within the kiosk industry. Not only is this type of printer easier to install, service and maintain but it also offers the same level of performance and reliability today as an open frame printer, particularly for low volume applications. This is why companies such as Vodafone, Jessops and Vue Cinemas have adopted such printers for their top-up kiosks, digital photo kiosks and self-service kiosks, respectively.
The scope to increase revenue in both high and low volume applications is significant as the tools are now available to make kiosks truly cost-effective. Retailers need to commit to deployment and it is only by understanding the real benefits of the kiosk both in terms of offering a reliable and efficient service to consumers and as an effective marketing tool that the kiosk market will develop and attain its true potential.
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