How To Use Kiosks For A Customer-Centric Experience

During the pandemic, significantly more people cooked at home, and at the same time developed a greater awareness of food quality and ingredients. After the pandemic saw people’s interest in home-cooking rise, amateur chefs and baking hobbyists alike have been looking to independent grocers for niche items and high-quality produce. Grocers have catered well to a new crowd of consumers who are keen to try new ingredients and 7 out of 10 people say they will continue to cook healthy food at home.

This puts supermarkets and delis in a prime position to capture this increased interest in home cooking. Introducing or upgrading in-store kiosks will help stores adapt to keep customers happy and returning. Kiosks help stores to manage orders more efficiently and offer a solution to long queues from high demand. Through integrated inventory management and POS software, they are able to streamline store processes and successfully enhance customer experience.

What Is a Kiosk?

A kiosk is a piece of hardware, usually in the form of an interactive display stand or touchscreen wall panel, that allows customers to check stock, place orders, and make payments. They include integrated inventory management and POS software that smoothes out inefficiencies in outdated systems for an overall modern upgrade to the customer shopping experience. Kiosks help provide the type of fast-paced efficiency the modern consumer has come to expect. 

Imagine a customer is thinking of preparing a specialty meal for a group of friends. They may look up their options online from their home computer and discover your store. After placing an order, they decide to choose your pick-up option so they can stop at some other stores before the event. Entering your store, they register at a kiosk. The customer might then receive a recommendation to add to their order or browse the full deli menu and suggest a last-minute impulse-buy item like in a traditional grocery checkout. They are then free to explore your store further while they wait for a notification from your store’s mobile app that their order is ready.  Lastly, QR codes then enable the customer to scan their order and pay at the kiosk, quickly satisfied and on their way.

What’s Good For the Customer… Is Good For Business!

Kiosks provide the technological upgrade consumers expect from businesses in 2021 when integrated online services and contactless payment options have become nearly standard. It’s vital for online sellers with store locations to recognize that customers prefer in-store transactions in a variety of ways. That’s why using familiar cash checkouts with a kiosk POS that can handle other contactless payment methods, such as by smartphone or contactless card, is best for giving customers maximum flexibility.  

Kiosks provide another way to personalize the customer’s experience through integrated inventory management. Specialized retail inventory management software means the kiosk can recommend a user other ingredients related to their searches. The kiosk also presents a natural opportunity to promote a store’s own-brand range or a special offer and harmonize digital and in-store marketing campaigns. 

Stores can also use kiosks as a great way to get to know more about their customers and their shopping habits. Collecting customer data via a kiosk can be an easy and exciting way to grow the e-commerce side of your business. Stores can use data to create cart-fulfillment and up-selling opportunities targeted to individual shoppers and look at data sets from multiple customers for a more accurate overview of shopping trends. This type of tailored customer service is how sellers can stand out in a competitive market. 

How To Get Started 

As more customers expect hybrid online and offline shopping, kiosks are a useful way to integrate digital and in-store experiences. If you’re keen to try out a kiosk in your store, the first step is to book a demo with Local Express to identify your options. 

Kiosks come in many shapes and forms, from smaller countertop tablet models to mobile self-service apps. Larger stores may want to consider a full-sized turnkey terminal that stands alone as a device and has a tall viewing display for the customer. Whichever kiosk you choose, effectively integrated and ongoing inventory management software support from Local Express will see you perfect your customer experience strategy. 

After deciding on the right type of kiosk for you, Local Express will support the integration of your inventory and POS software into the kiosk platform. You can then get started using your kiosk to enhance the customer’s retail experience, combining an efficient ordering process with multiple deliveries and payment possibilities for the best possible customer shopping experience.  

Find out more about your options for installing a kiosk today!