interview
With over 30 years of experience in
the kiosk industry, Star Micronics is
an installer of packaged and modular
specialist kiosk printing solutions with
an extensive range of products. Star’s
experience pushes the boundaries in
POS and Tablet POS to bring the most
advanced kiosk printing solutions. With
customers across retail and hospitality,
Star’s solutions meet the demands of
the most compact kiosk designs and
offer high-performance printing.
What have been the most
significant changes to the
industry over the past five years?
Kiosks have been present for years, but
their role and functionality is evolving.
Challenged by advances in mobile
technology alongside the demand
for more compact and sophisticated
designs that go beyond simply providing
information to offering ordering and
payment facilities, the kiosk has had
to reinvent itself. Given their inherent
versatility alongside a desire by retailers
to reduce their cost base, kiosks have
become part of a retailer’s overall
omnichannel customer engagement
strategy. They offer users a convenient
endless aisle experience across various
categories in addition to providing
a means of reducing waiting times,
as exemplified within the fast food
sector, and creating more personalised
customer service.
1
What are the main
challenges for your sector?
Kiosk printing manufacturers have
had to adapt to produce printer
mechanisms small enough to fit into
the current trend of sleek, space-
saving kiosks, while still maintaining a
reasonable paper roll size. It’s important
to work closely with kiosk manufacturers
to gain an in-depth understanding of
kiosk design to create tailored kiosk
printing solutions that meet the exact
requirements of the customer.
2
Where do you see the kiosk
industry in the future?
The growing use of tablets in kiosk
design is without a doubt being driven
by their lower cost, compact size/slim
profile, ease of use, easy replacement
as well as connected services. By
integrating a printer with a built-in hub,
a more compact and intelligent printing
solution provides direct communication
between the tablet and printer. This will
open up new opportunities for kiosks
to be present in an ever-wider range of
environments and applications.
3
What will be the market
drivers for the future?
With a far more informed and tech-
savvy customer, retail is having
to provide a seamless shopping
experience across a widening range
of connected channels and social
platforms. Added to this, the dynamics
of the customer base are changing.
Point of sale has to successfully cater
to the needs of an ageing population
as well as a younger customer who is
looking to use a variety of channels
and is seeking not simply a product,
solution or service but a highly engaging
experience. This is where interactive
kiosks have, and will increasingly have,
an important role to play in tomorrow’s
omnichannel world.
4
Can kiosk industry companies
afford to specialise?
As kiosk design evolves, companies
have to adopt a flexible approach to a
changing kiosk environment. Modular,
specialist kiosk printers are successful,
as well as packaged printers for
customers who prefer the familiarity of
a desktop printer to place into a kiosk.
Such printing solutions are opening up
new avenues for kiosk manufacturers
to design kiosks for both retail and
hospitality that respond to the needs
of a world in which kiosks will have an
increasingly diverse role to play.
5
What does the kiosk of
tomorrow look like?
The current trend towards sleek,
space-saving kiosks will, without doubt,
become more prevalent as retailers
seek kiosk solutions that are not only
compact but also aesthetically pleasing.
As a result, we will increasingly see
slimmer kiosks requiring very compact,
high-performance printing solutions.
6
How is Star Micronics keeping
abreast of current and future
industry developments?
With printing solutions simplifying
kiosk design, Star is actively aiding
the development of new generation,
compact tablet terminals with a wide
range of solutions offering connectivity
at every level. In addition to its wide
range of mechanisms, Star’s robust
packaged printers offer ease of
installation, a variety of interface options
and are CloudPRNT compatible for
Internet-connected services, making
them ideal for self-service kiosks where
staff are present to replenish print
media. Providing a lower cost solution
compared with modular printers,
packaged printers are easier to install
and maintain especially with front-
loading printers such as the mC-Print3.
Star’s investment, expertise and
established relationships with Microsoft,
Apple and Google ensures developers
can integrate Star printers with a
consistent experience. Sophisticated
drivers support industry standards from
all major operating systems and being
a member of the UPOS committee Star
prides itself on the quality of its SDKs,
source code and technical manuals
available to developers. In addition, Star
has expanded the Star VIP Club with
the launch of the Kiosk VIP Club where
members have access to additional
sales, technical and marketing
resources from Star. n
7
KIOSK solutions 17