unattended payments
bookings in entertainment. Unattended is
now a familiar and daily experience.
Unlocking hidden potential
Despite this success, current usage may
only be a small part of unattended’s
potential. So, what’s holding it back?
It’s certainly not the technology. Next
generation devices have never been
so versatile, flexible, easy to integrate,
durable, energy efficient or secure. But
some merchants are wrestling with how
to add self-service convenience without
destroying the essential sales experience.
They’re reluctant to explore kiosks
because they’re worried about losing
the close physical connection that keeps
consumers loyal. Without direct contact,
through a person or a sales point, how
can they know their customer, add value
and deliver the personal service that
gives them a competitive edge? This is a
challenge for some retailers, but here are
some of the ways unattended solutions
actually help strengthen, not erode
customer closeness:
•
•
Connecting kiosks
Contactless and NFC capabilities
don’t just enable faster and mobile
payment, they also create a way for
unattended devices to communicate
with users via their phones. And, with
kiosks now able to connect directly
to the Internet via Wi-Fi, GPRS as well
as ISDN, there’s no reason why even
remote locations can’t be online,
delivering mobile loyalty and other
seamless cloud-based services.
Kiosks and omnichannel
Rather than running kiosks as
isolated channels, they can be
connected via payments to the
wider ecosystem. To support this, UX
unattended payments systems can
be made available on a Payment as
a Service gateway (PaaS). This allows
them to be managed through the
same merchant portal as other online
and physical channels to provide
a holistic view of all transactions
and a seamless view of customer
journeys.