Kiosk Solutions Oct-Nov 2018 | Page 25

opinion of 5.69% over the next six years, reaching $30.5 billion by 2023. At the same time, market researcher App Annie found that people spent a collective 1.6 trillion hours within mobile apps in 2016 – a 50% increase compared with the previous year. The firm predicts that growth will continue, with time spent in apps expected to more than double to 3.5 trillion hours in 2021. Clearly, there’s an opportunity in the marketplace for both kiosks and mobile apps, and there are a few simple reasons why mobile apps won’t replace kiosks. Unless it’s a place they visit on a regular basis, most consumers aren’t likely to go through the trouble of downloading an app if that location already features a self- service kiosk. Many people use multiple payment cards and aren’t going to want to go through the hassle of entering a new card number in an app on each visit. There’s always going to be a segment of the population who choose not to use a mobile app. Research firm comScore found in a 2016 study that half of smartphone users never download any apps. In some cases, poor cellular service and/or Wi-Fi connectivity may make the use of a smartphone app difficult in some locations. In addition, there may be cases where the deployer wants to keep certain information on their own machines. In those cases, a kiosk may make better business sense. In light of those statistics and concerns, it only makes sense to offer customers a kiosk as an additional self-service channel. The bottom line People are busy; if your kiosk doesn’t help them in some clear way they’ll go elsewhere. Clearly defining the purpose for a kiosk project and the audience those kiosks will serve is instrumental in achieving project success. In addition, knowing exactly how you will define success is something that should be determined in the initial planning stages. While it can be easy to gloss over these questions, taking the time to answer them early on can simplify the entire process for you and your team, increase engagement with your kiosks and result in a better experience for your visitors. n KIOSK solutions 25