Adapting Kiosks for the Pandemic

 Another are we addressed in the innovation centers, kiosks.  Here a good article about how the Pandemic is making us think more about their useful operation.

How the Pandemic Is Driving Kiosk Adaption

Peter Collier, SCB Contributor  in SCM

The COVID-19 pandemic threw the world for a loop. Virtually overnight, everything about the way businesses operated changed. Now, as they come to terms with new operating environments, many are looking for ways to deliver a good employee and customer experience, while improving safety and reducing costs.

Kiosks, the blanket term for self-service devices that automate transactions, can be a key part of the solution. Every day, new kiosks are being deployed in a variety of settings, including healthcare, retail, banks, food service, government agencies, school campuses, and more.

Kiosks for ticket purchase at movie theaters, airport check ins and wayfinding in malls are all familiar, but there are many other uses — especially now. For example, CleanslateUV is putting its sanitizers in department stores and restaurants so employees and customers can sanitize phones, keys and wallets when they enter and leave. Metrolinx is installing personal protective equipment (PPE) vending machines at transit hubs to ensure that passengers have access to masks and other safety items they may need to ride public transit.

And it doesn’t stop at PPE. Pharmacies are increasingly using kiosks to store and dispense drugs safely, and there’s a pilot program in Vancouver testing opioid dispensers from Signifi, using biometrics to deliver safe doses to marginalized communities.  ... " 

Publix Healthcare Kiosks

Worked at Publix in my early days.  Later looked at how kiosks interact with consumers in Grocery.

Publix pioneers an easier way to see the doctor    by Matthew Stern in Retailwire

Healthcare in the U.S. is changing, and retailers are offering a lot of services that once required a visit to a doctor’s office. As this new kind of healthcare takes shape, Publix has been exploring a new model that is showing signs of success.

As part of a collaboration with BayCare Health System, Publix began piloting healthcare kiosks in 12 Florida locations, according to The Ledger. The kiosks are enclosed in a private room where shoppers can teleconference with board-certified medical professionals to receive on-the-spot, non-urgent medical care. Customers enter their symptoms using a touch screen and then make use of tools provided in the room, such as thermometers, blood pressure cuffs and high-definition cameras, to give the doctor the data needed to make a diagnosis. One-thousand customers have used the service since the December 2017 launch. Publix will add kiosks to 13 stores in response to the success of the program.

Although addressing the inconvenience and high cost of arranging doctor visits for non-urgent concerns, seeing a patient via teleconference might pose some concerns. For instance, an accurate diagnosis could rely on the ability of an untrained patient to use equipment properly — and both the retailer and healthcare provider may face issues of liability.  .. ."

Informal Review of McDonald's In-Store Ordering Kiosks

We did lots of work with kiosks, standard and novel, in our innovation centers.  And I am always ready to try them as they appear.  Most recently McDonald's has been experimenting.  Here is a review in Business Insider.  Lots of pictures.   My own take was different, the kiosks gave too many options, were not easy enough to customize to your standard order.    And as the article mentioned, there were always several employees there to help out, so much customer training is necessary until they save any labor. I am sure they are thinking of connecting them to customer apps.  Probably the best way to make them efficient.

We ordered from McDonald's kiosks to see if they're better than real cashiers — and the winner is clear  By Hollis Johnson

" .... So, which is better? I'm used to the kiosks, so I prefer them — they're faster, more accurate, and make things easier to customize. And since workers are there to help if you're confused, I fail to see how it takes away jobs as of now.  ... "  

Wal-Mart Tries Grocery Kiosk

Not a new idea, but new implementation.

Walmart launches automated grocery kiosk

by Deena M. Amato-MCcoy  In Chainstore Age
Walmart is once again raising the stakes in the online grocery game.

In another move that takes a direct hit at AmazonFresh Pickup, the discounter quietly began testing an automated kiosk at a single store in Oklahoma. The 20-ft.-by-80-ft. kiosk, which resides in the parking lot at the Walmart Super Center in Oklahoma City, is fulfilling hundreds of grocery orders placed by customers who shop online or through their mobile browser, according to The Oklahoman.

Walmart spokesman Scott Markley said in the report that shoppers using the kiosk can pick up groceries in “just a few minutes.” He added that it gives the store's online shoppers “another option they can use to save time.”

Online shoppers can choose from more than 30,000 items, including fresh produce, meats, dairy products and organic groceries, and picked up free at the kiosk. The minimum purchase is $30. .... " 

Table Delivery from Kiosk Orders at McD's

The test is now over, and rollout is starting to all 14K US stores.   Benefits seen were lower perceived wait times,  higher average order value,  about $1 per order.   More and better interaction with employees.   No mention of decreased labor required, or fewer payment options at kiosk.   Is robotic cooking/delivery far away?   Given the ubiquity of McDs, this could also end up 'training' the public to use and expect kiosk interaction more broadly in retail.   We experimented with kiosk interaction in retail.   Good expert comments at the Retailwire post:

Will table service be a difference-maker for McDonald’s?   by Tom Ryan
McDonald’s last week announced plans to roll out table service to all of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants.

After customers place their orders at a touch-screen kiosk and pick up a digital location device, orders will be delivered to their tables. Orders can still be made from the counter or picked up at the counter after using the kiosk.  ... " 

IOT and Vending Machines: Coke and SAP

Good points, we had looked at related applications with vending,  service communications and kiosks, before the advent of IOT.   Cognitive application of supply chain efficiencies can also be considered.

In Readwrite: IoT and vending machines: Connecting an already distributed network  by Amanda Razani. 

Smart vending machines are an excellent example of how the “Internet of Things” (IoT) can affect business models and revenue flow. ... The vending industry is going through a sea of change. The access to data that is generated by connected devices has changed the way companies can operate and the way in which they generate revenues. Constant connectivity allows companies to offer customers a product utility as a service, as seen in vending machines.

With user customization, improved security, smart payments and continuous monitoring of inventory and consumption patterns, opportunities for vending machines to dispense new products in more profitable ways, using a network of connected devices are limitless.

Traditional vending machines have evolved, since they were first introduced almost a century ago. Technology that includes more digital capabilities, has transformed them into smart, connected machines.  ... 

 ....  chipmaker Intel have stepped in with smart solutions, enabling a new breed of connected, smart vending machines that offer lower operating costs and cloud connectivity.  With these solutions, machine operators can diagnose and repair systems remotely, and receive real-time updates, such as supply and operating status, that can be used to optimize delivery schedules and improve inventory tracking and controls.

Includes a case study of Coke and SAP.

Wages and Jobs, a Future with More Robotics

Consider the interaction between, wages, jobs and getting things done.   Starting to see more robotics in kiosks to replace labor in additional contexts.    Implications.   On the relationship.

Balancing Automation and People

Finding the right balance between automation and people
This talks about fast food, primarily McDonald's, but the breadth of the problem in retail is considerable.  As robots and smarter in store devices evolve, this will change the way jobs are seen. How are they more than just labor cost? ... "

Wal-Mart Health Kiosks

Did much study of the kiosk idea, but now we have our own personal smart-phone kiosks.  The standalone kiosk can add additional marketing experience in physical spaces.  What has been done to compare the results?  Wal-Mart example of health assessment and reward  kiosks. 

Skip: More In Aisle Checkout

One of the holy grails of retail is to much decrease or even eliminate the checkout experience .  It would cut labor needs, and also eliminate one of the most common complaints of shoppers, the long checkout line. We examined a number of methods that used kiosks or checkout devices loaned to the shopper.  But better yet, why couldn't they use their own smart phones to scan items?   Minimizes retailer cost.    At last week's Brandery  event we were pitched another such approach called Skip.  http://GoSkip.com   A partnership with Microsoft and P&G was stated.   " ... A mobile POS integration system giving shoppers the power to scan, pay and skip the line -- all from the convenience of their smartphones ... " .   Ideas were good.  Look forward to seeing a live demo.

Zapaday: A Calendar Store

Interesting concept, calendar as a forward looking event monitor.  I worked with Recorded Future, which had some similar intent, but is more analytical.  Some calendar subscriptions are free, some quite expensive.  Like to see the justification for the expensive ones.

Zapaday launches worldwide Calendar Store

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS – Today, Zapaday, the future events monitor, launches a worldwide Calendar Store. In the store, journalists, newsrooms and corporate communication teams can subscribe to topic-specific calendars that best match their news reporting and communication issues.

Similar to an app store or a kiosk, the Calendar Store offers ready-made bundles of upcoming news and events on topics from around the world. Those include planned ‘Protests and Strikes’, ‘Human rights’, ‘Military movements’, ‘Official Visits’, ‘Product Launches’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Rocket launches’, ‘Telecom Sector’, ‘Court hearings’ or ‘European Royalty’, to name a few.

The Calendar Store launches with over 300 ready-made calendars at zapaday.com/page/calendarstore. More calendars will be added weekly.

Stefan Hoevenaar, founder of Zapaday, highlights the importance of the new product for corporate communication departments: “With the Calendar Store, corporates can track and anticipate planned events in their field, relevant for their issues. They can see upcoming opportunities, never miss threats and align day-to-day activities with the future.”

Newsrooms, too, can use the Calendar Store to stay ahead of upcoming events from around the world by adding niche content to their Newsroom account at Zapaday..... 

Calendar subscriptions range from 5 to 300 dollar per month. Some calendar subscriptions are free ... " 
  

Mashgin Checkout Does Well at Demo Day

In FastCompany:

" ... He spent the next few hours showing off the self-checkout kiosk that his company Mashgin sells, and that Srivastava believes will revolutionize how we shop and pay for stuff at stores. Instead of scanning bar codes or dealing with a clerk, customers simply put their stuff in a breadbox-sized device for less than half a second and then swipe a credit card. "Everybody was trying to break it," he says, referring to Demo Day attendees who tried out the mock storefront he set up in a nearby room. They would place items into the box upside down or sideways in an effort to fool the machine. "But it doesn't break."   ... "      See video and more at Mashgin.  

Innovation Using Restless Dissatisfaction

I like the statement, you should always be dissatisfied.  And looking for solutions, or parts of solutions,  that can be fitted together to lead to better results ...   This blog is my statement of that search.  Join me.

Behind H-E-B's philosophy of "restless dissatisfaction" 
Part of H-E-B's success comes from the retailer's culture of "restless dissatisfaction," which keeps the company innovating, improving store formats and perfecting the customer experience, McMillanDoolittle Senior Partner Neil Stern writes. One of the chain's newest stores, a 91,000-square-foot location in Texas, illustrates H-E-B's philosophy with its expanded local and private-label offerings, a Cooking Connection kiosk to engage shoppers and its farm-to-table in-store restaurant Table 57 ....  " 

Finding Things at Lowe's

Not a new thing.  Using an App to find things in a complex space like Retail.  We examined this, starting with kiosk systems.  But I like the implication that things can be found by association with related things. Associating things on the shelf with needs?  Or even by analogy,  Or with a Watson AI?

McDs 3D Printing in Store

McDonalds Doing 3D Printing in its stores?     " ... Fast food chain is also mulling tablets and touchscreen ordering kiosks FAST FOOD CHAIN McDonalds has said that it will consider bringing 3D printing into its 'restaurants' to broaden its appeal to technology savvy customers.

Speaking at the Fujitsu Forum in Germany this week, McDonalds IT director Mark Fabes said that the firm is currently mulling plans to bring 3D printing to its restaurants, hinting that it could be used for churning out Happy Meal toys ... "  

Smarter Cashless Vending Machines

Cashless Vending machines are now smarter. We examined machines like this in Japan that could adapt to supply chain and demand problems.

Recycling Kiosks

Have been a long time examiner of the kiosk in retail.  Have followed Coinstar (Now called  Outerwall) and integrating the Redbox kiosks.  Now the company has bought a device recycling kiosk company called EcoATM. An interesting play. Both in the space it creates, and in the additional array of kiosk locations the company will control.   How will a company like this, with physical locations, integrate itself with an increasingly online world?

Chromebook can be a Kiosk

We examined kiosks for retail.  It is surprising the number of alterations that have to be made to deliver a secure and easily usable kiosk based on a PC or laptop.  Chromebook has made this easier.  Engadget article.

Telepresence Healthcare

Brought to my attention by Mark J Perry.  Description and link to a video.  This addresses remote healthcare in an enclosed kiosk..  In the early days of our retail center development the major vendors we worked with believed that most things could be serviced via kiosk.  We explored cosmetics examples.   That was before the smartphone.  And now there is a belief that most things can be done with the smartphone.  A similar distraction?  More at Healthspot

Indoor Mapping

We experimented first with kiosk based store floor maps, then with the advent of the simplest smart phone delivered directions to shoppers to allow them find a product.  Now the emergence of the precise indoor map has led to new ways for the shopper to understand where they are and where products that they need are.  This PopAI article describes a good example of how this can work today.  Mapping, location finding and directional help in doors is here.  To the right an example display:

 " ... Indoor mapping: a retail myth, up until now. Meridian, a Portland, Oregon-based mobile software company is seeking to change that, all with the help of magical, pulsing blue dot. The company recently announced that their “glowing blue dot” feature was being prepped for a beta test in Macy’s 150,000 square-foot flagship store in New York City. The turn-by-turn navigation system at Macy’s was one of three beta-test locations, and Macy’s was the first major retailer to grab the new tech tight and resolve to never let go–in other words, to innovate their brick-and-mortar model through implementing the technology.... "