Learning to Love Merchanising Kiosks

Nokia-branded kiosks are starting to appear in Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK. They are being used to promote their Pixie Lott Illuvial range of phone designs.

The kiosk is sleek and attractive. It invites customers to "touch the one you love" and has limited touchscreen interactivity - giving more detailed information. It also has three sample handsets, which are securely fastened to the front of the kiosk.

Nintendo is also installing new touchscreen and camera-activated information kiosks in gaming stores. Customers are able to access information about Nintendo titles, game recommendations, sales figures and upcoming releases. They will also be able to hold up a DS or Wii title to the station’s camera to see a trailer for that game.

These are the latest examples of a relatively new trend in retail kiosks - units that are placed in store to promote a particular brand. We think this application of interactive technology will grow significantly in 2010. We know that some major corporations are already thinking about deploying their own kiosks. They recognise the benefits of being able to control the way that their product is promoted and, if they also implement remote kiosk management, of being able to update that presentation quickly and consistently in every location.

NeoProducts is very well qualified to design an manufacture such kiosks. We have a great design team and years of experience in implementing remotely-controlled interactive kiosk solutions. We know how to make customers "love the one they touch!".

On-Demand Software Pilot with Neo Kiosks

The first Digital Lifeware on-demand software system in a retail partner store is now live at BIG W’s store in the Sydney suburb of Winston Hills, with customers able to browse, click and burn a wide range of PC and Mac software via Fujifilm touchscreen kiosks, which are manufactured by NeoProducts.



The system creates a fully licensed disk and prints a super high quality cover and manual on the spot in minutes. These are put into a DVD case and the customer walks away with an original quality product. The catalogue has around 1,000 titles now, is always in stock and the system is very environmentally friendly. It significantly reduces the need for transportation, storage, real estate and wastage. Digital Lifeware is working with all its partners to further develop the system to include new publishers, ranges and formats, including platform games and movies.

The catalogue currently encompasses language, fun learning, games, multi-media, office software and tools. It has the widest range of language and educational games with over 100 languages available to learn. Customers select the titles they want on the touch screen kiosk; pay for them at the counter, and the Tribeka SoftWide on-demand platform produces the product boxed in a DVD case in minutes. The product is the same as the publisher’s original, and is fully licensed and warranted by the publisher. Customers can feel safe in the knowledge that they have a legitimate product that is theirs for life and can be re-loaded in the event of any computer problems or whenever they replace their computer.

Digital Lifeware developed the retail and customer systems and integrated them with SoftWide. Fujifilm Australia developed the kiosk technology with Neo and integrated it with the Digital Lifeware systems. Tribeka developed the SoftWide platform. Other global users of the SoftWide platform include Carrefour, the second largest retailer in the world, and Microsoft.

Managing Director, Digital Lifeware, Rhett Sampson said: "We are very pleased to be working with BIG W and Fujifilm Australia to provide the best possible retail content shopping experience for their customers. They join some of the biggest and most innovative retailers and software publishers in the world in using our on demand systems to revolutionise the retail content shopping experience."

General Manager (Hardgoods) at BIG W, Charles Davey, said: "The Digital Lifeware on demand system from Fujifilm allows us to carry a wider range of software than ever before. We don’t have to manage inventory and we are always in stock. Customers can come to BIG W confident that they can find the widest range, always in stock, every day."

General Manager, Imaging Networks, at Fujifilm, Paul Rogers, said: "The Digital Lifeware on demand system combines the expertise and experience of Fujifilm Australia and Digital Lifeware in bringing innovative, quality solutions to retail."

This is another example of Neo designing and manufacturing a kiosk to meet a particular need and helping our customers achieve advances through innovation.

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NeoProducts is an international leader in the design, manufacture and implementation of touch screen kiosks and interactive kiosk software. Since 1987, Neo has delivered over 40,000 kiosks worldwide and has particular expertise in digital photo kiosks; digital music kiosks; job search kiosks, and in the design of self-service kiosk user interfaces. Neo can supply complete kiosk solutions - including hardware, software, project management and support.

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Kiosk Innovation in the Public Sector

Touch screen kiosks have been used widely by public sector organisations to give information to the public. They typically provide a wide range of functions and services to meet the needs of the local community. They often focus simply on access to the organisation’s website. In the best examples, a special touch screen interface version of the website is developed. In the worst examples, the website is presented without any adaptation to the needs of the general public - thus completely missing the benefits offered by a touch screen. But many public sector organisations are now taking fuller advantage of what kiosks have to offer. And some are even stretching those capabilities into new areas. Here are some examples.

Health Service
Many GP surgeries now greet patients with a kiosk in the reception area. A simple touch screen allows a patient with a pre-booked appointment to announce their arrival. This reassures the patient that their place in the queue is secure and saves the time of the receptionist. Some hospitals have also followed this route: King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Police
Several police forces in the UK have trialled information points in police stations and even in shopping malls. Avon and Somerset Police were early adopters of kiosk technology - using kiosks from NeoProducts. But they and other constabularies are now looking at allowing the public to report minor crimes on kiosks. This, of course, saves police time, but it might also appeal to citizens who prefer not to go into a police station and who do not have access the internet at home.

Public Sector Housing
The Choice-Based Letting (CBL) approach has fundamentally improved the service offered to those seeking public sector housing. The HomeFinder service in Coventry is a good example of this. The Whitefriars Housing Association in Coventry has used kiosks from Neo to make CBL available to the public in their local offices. This takes the process of searching for a suitable property away from a housing advisor - allowing the prospective tenant to browse the database him or herself on the kiosk.

Social Benefits
The local authority offices that handle claims for social benefits tend to be extremely busy. They already use ticket-based queueing systems to marshal claimants who arrive sometimes with and sometimes without an appointment. One leading council is working with Neo on a more sophisticated version of this. Claimants will be directed towards a kiosk to announce their arrival. If they have an appointment, they will be directed to the correct location within the office. If they do not have an appointment, they will be issued with a ticket and directed the correct queue. This is again intended to save staff time but also to demonstrate to claimants that they are being dealt with quickly and fairly.

Public Employment Services
Still one of the best examples of the use of kiosks in the public sector is for job-finding. Most public employment services in the developed world now offer job search on kiosks. Neo supplied kiosks to one of the first systems in Australia. We also supplied kiosks to one of the biggest systems for Jobcentre Plus in the UK.

The public sector is now going beyond using kiosks simply to give information. In some cases it is leading the way for the private sector. The need for massive savings in public expenditure in the wake of the global recession will surely encourage more public bodies to use touch screen kiosks in exciting new ways.

Kiosks are the Future

So thinks HLN's Money Expert Clark Howard. He says: "The best service in the world is yourself" and goes on in his blog to cite the rapid growth of petrol pump and check-in self-service kiosks as a model for the future.

"If you go into a fast food restaurant, which I'm very familiar with, I'm always annoyed if I can’t make my own soft drink. I want to be able to do my own perfect mix. And when they make it behind the counter, it’s not going to be the way I want it. Now, Coca Cola is testing a new kiosk that is essentially a touch-screen computer that allows you to make your own custom beverage."

"In the next few years, even at mid-priced restaurants, you will most likely place your order and pay for your meal at a kiosk. At mid-prices and below, it’s hard to track and retain servers because there’s just not enough tip income. Or you have a server who has to cover too many tables. And it will be so much easier to have a kiosk where people can place and pay for their orders, and the server just brings you your food and beverage."

He concludes by saying that kiosks will not undermine good service: "isn’t it a service if someone puts in a machine that allows you to do something better and more quickly?". I agree with him, it surely is. NeoProducts has piloted food-ordering kiosks with MacDonald's in Australia.

17 Million Brits Have Never Been Online!

We in the IT industry sometimes act as if everyone uses the web as much as we do. But the truth is that 17 million Britons have never been online. That is the challenge facing Martha Lane-Fox, co-founder of Lastminute.com and freshly appointed by the UK government as their Digital Champion.

Have those 17 million people chosen not to go on-line? Do they see it as irrelevant to their lives, too expensive or simply too daunting? I suspect that the last two of these are nearer the mark. In fact I think many of them feel left out and at a disadvantage because they do not use the web.

Ms Lane-Fox has hosted the first meeting of a task force to target the six million poorest Britons. There is a close correlation between social and digital exclusion. The poorest sectors of society make up a large part of the 17 million.

She has a tough job. Professor Bill Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute thinks she is trying to convert those who have no desire to be converted: "The big question is how do you get people to experience a technology that they are predisposed not to be interested in,". I disagree. Who would not want access to cheaper car or household insurance? Who would not like to be able to find a job using the power of on-line searching technology? Who would not like to be able to correspond by emails with distant friends and relatives?

The UK government definitely wants to do far more business on-line. Currently 80% of its transactions are done with the bottom 25% of society, and moving these services on-line offers great cost savings. The Department for Work and Pensions (Jobcentre Plus) jobs website already has a pretty impressive one million searches per day.

And local government is following this lead. For example, Coventry City Council has put applications and bidding for social housing exclusively on-line. The scheme has driven more people to the Foleshill UK Online centre, one of 6,000 centres around the UK designed to get more people computer literate and using the web. "It is an internet-based service and unless you are computer literate it is not easy. It is a way of us helping people to help themselves," said Chrissie Morris, an advice officer at the centre.

By the way, both Jobcentre Plus and Coventry City Council use kiosks from NeoProducts to extend the reach of their on-line services. They recognise that one cannot migrate services to the web without catering for those without access. And the most cost-effective way of doing that is with kiosks. With a simplified touchscreen user interface; context-sensitive help, and good design, they make using the web easy.

One way to include those 17 million people in the digital revolution is to make the most popular and useful on-line services available on lots of conveniently-placed public access kiosks.

e-Choupal Shows the Way

e-Choupal has been created by ITC Limited to enable rural farmers in India to buy and sell agricultural produce like soya beans, wheat, and coffee. It does this by allowing them directly to negotiate the sale of their produce via a network of PCs and kiosks in 6,500 centres spread across 100 districts in 10 states. Previously, the farmers had to go through numerous and sometime corrupt intermediaries.

What a great idea and what a fantastic use of kiosks! Allowing shared public access to interactive technology is what kiosks are all about. And this is only the beginning.

Several rural job portals have recently been launched in India. They are expected to grow rapidly and play a vital role in the Indian government’s vision for inclusive growth in India. e-Choupal has already been identified as a platform to deliver these portals to rural populations. That make’s perfect sense. The infrastructure is there and the system has gained public acceptance.

Of course, NeoProducts can rightly claim to be the world-leader in developing kiosks for job broking. We have delivered national systems on a big scale (in the UK and Australia) and on a small scale in countries as diverse as Ireland, Malta and the Czech Republic. We hope soon to be working with partners in the developing world on systems like e-Choupal.

We will be explaining the benefits of using custom-designed touchscreen kiosks with very rugged components and casings - machines that will continue to deliver reliable service whatever conditions they are placed in and however much use (and misuse) they get.

Border Control Kiosks Meet Traveller Demand

The fourth annual SITA Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey has found a 20% growth in adoption of self-service check-in options over the last year. It also concludes that passengers are demanding improvements in security procedures and airport dwell times as they check-in less baggage.

In partnership with Sagem, NeoProducts is responding to this demand by applying leading edge technology to improve Australian Border Security: SmartGates. As well as improving security, this system reduces the pressure on immigration staff and makes life easier for the weary traveller.

The SITA survey found that passengers are ready to give confidential data in order to get through the airport faster. There is 57.8% positive attitude towards registering with automated border control and security programmes compared to 48.7% in 2007. 62% of passengers would like to see shorter queues and security screening was the most chosen option when asked which step of the journey passengers would most like to change.

The expansion in the number of international travellers, coupled with the need for ever more sophisticated screening processes has meant that border security must innovate to manage higher throughput in a challenging environment.

The Australian Customs Service has embraced this challenge and is now a world leader in automating border security.

Australian Smart Passport holders can now self check through customs and immigration by scanning their passport and interactively answer entry questions at one of the 80 Smartgate kiosks. The traveller then proceeds to one of the automated gates where a biometric recognition system verifies their status and allows them entry.

The Smartgate kiosks were designed by Neo for Sagem, who deliver the complete system. So now one of the first things that a traveller entering Australia sees is a kiosk from NeoProducts.

Why Kiosk Design Should be Left to the Experts

I love the technology behind Intel’s latest foray into retail self-service. Their grocery checkout terminal concept allows shoppers to send grocery lists to their mobile phone and retrieve and scan electronic coupons. The touchscreen interface also provides customers with useful information, like a recipe look-ups. The kiosk provides effective cross-selling opportunities for the grocer and reduces transaction time by giving the consumer the choice of self-checkout.

So far so good. But the kiosk they have designed is far from ideal in my opinion. It breaks lots of rules of ergonomics and would be very difficult for some customers to use - particularly those in wheelchairs.

As a company specialising in self-service systems, NeoProducts has years of experience designing easy to use and very accessible kiosks. Its Affinity model set a new standard for this back in 2001. Its side-mounted screen, with plenty of leg-room underneath, is perfectly pitched for both standing and seated users, and can be reached comfortably without stretching. Thousands of these kiosks have been in heavy daily use since then without any usability issues emerging.

But the lessons of this seem not to have been learned by newcomers to the world of kiosks. Intel!...we should talk.

HMV Rollout Kiosks from Neo

HMV, the UK and Ireland’s leading specialist retailer of music, DVD/video, computer games and related products, has introduced self-service kiosks into its stores to improve the overall customer experience in a deal with YESpay, a global payments services company, and its partner NeoProducts.

Customers will be able to use the kiosks to locate stock, view sample clips as well as ordering content for home delivery. They can also download MP3 tracks for immediate take away on a media or a storage device. YESpay’s EMBOSS Chip & PIN payment service integrates with the self-service kiosks, enabling faster, easier and more secure payments.

Following a successful trial, the retailer will rollout transactional kiosks throughout its entire store network.

Dave Elston, Ecommerce Manager at HMV, said: "The technology accepts all UK credit and debit cards, allowing prompt payment and delivery of goods securely. With customer demands increasing and people wanting to buy music in new ways it’s important to ensure that with new shopping methods, payments are met securely."

"This technology will allow us to offer customers a means of ordering and paying for products that were either not available in store or by offering easy payment for audio downloads. Eventually the aim is to roll-out further to all stores, gradually increasing the quantity of kiosks in any given store. We saw over 27,000 product searches conducted over the Christmas period, which we believe have contributed towards physical product sales in stores."

Stuart Kitching, Account Manager at YESpay International, commented: "Our work with HMV is a perfect example of how electronic payments can be exploited to interact and engage with customers in new ways. These kiosks are also an innovative way of allowing customers to listen to music before they choose to make a purchase."

Carey Liddy, Project Manager at NeoProducts, added: "Self-service kiosks present an opportunity for retailers to engage with potential and existing customers differently in a way that can ultimately improve a retailer’s long term performance."

e-wrap Launched in the Championship

Hot on the heels of its Premier League debut at Aston Villa, e-wrap makes its first appearance in the Coca-Cola Championship.

West Bromwich Albion became the second football club in Europe to launch e-wrap. Fans of the Baggies are now able to personalise their mobile phones, Nintendo DSs and iPods with some great designs.

To help Baggies fans stand out from the crowd, e-wrap has designed exclusive and unique West Brom wraps, one of which is shown here on an iPhone held by Albion centre-half Leon Barnett. There are 18 other designs to choose from.

e-wrap is the latest electronic device decoration and protection technology - high-quality vinyl skins in a wide range of designs for most mobile phones and other hand-held devices. The customer selects their preferred design and device using a NeoProducts touchscreen kiosk. An e-wrap in their chosen design is then cut to fit their device.

e-wrap Launched in the Premier League

NeoProducts launched its exciting new product e-wrap for Aston Villa at their home game with Fulham in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday 30 August.

e-wrap is the latest electronic device decoration and protection technology - high-quality vinyl skins in a wide range of designs for most mobile phones and other hand-held devices. The customer selects their preferred design and device using a NeoProducts touchscreen kiosk. An e-wrap in their chosen design is then cut to fit their device.

Aston Villa have commissioned their own e-wrap design. This will allow their fans to be the first in the Premier League to show their elegance on their mobile phone.

It is possible to e-wrap almost any electronic device from phones through to games consoles and digital cameras in lots of exciting designs. But custom designs (like Villa's) can be added to the range with ease.

For more information and to become part of a genuine world first retail revolution, please contact:
Jurgen Strack
+44 (0)121 486 4302
+44 (0)7855 430662
Press release on prlog.org

We are very pleased to announce that Fujifilm have entered a new three-year deal with NeoProducts to supply digital photo kiosks in the UK. NeoProducts have been supplying digital photo kiosks to Fujifilm in the UK since 2006. Over 3,000 units have been purchased by Fujifilm, to supply their massive retail customer base.

The kiosks range from desktop units designed to take customers orders for prints and photo gifts through to fully functioning instant print kiosks. With a constantly evolving digital photo marketplace, Fujifilm and NeoProducts work closely together, to ensure that Fujifilm maintains its lead with the latest and greatest services for their customers. NeoProducts also supplies kiosks to Fujifilm in Australia, Canada and Ireland.

David Honey - Fujifilm Strategic Business Group Manager - said:
"NeoProducts has a long track record and proven expertise in the design and development of kiosks, and has delivered good service to us, so it was logical to appoint them for a further 3 year period."

Now That IS Cool!

This week at Australia's Photo Marketing Association 2009 Exhibition, held in Sydney, Fujifilm launched a range of new products that are keeping them at the forefront of digital retail technology. It’s no longer just photo, with Fujifilm showcasing “Lifeware” downloadable application software and funky e-wrap vinyl “skins”, which turn mobile phones, iPods, PDAs and laptops into individual fashion statements.

Fujifilm also showcased self service music downloads which brings to the customer a “virtual” digital music store with around 1 million tracks. Customers can sample tracks and load their own compilation album to a range of personal digital devices.

All of these offerings are presented to the user through a range of kiosks designed and manufactured for Fujifilm by NeoProducts.



The newest of these kiosks is the multi-application NXT. The NXT kiosk is now offered with an optional back-lit face, which changes colour depending on the application that is being accessed. This has prompted more than one reaction along the lines: "Now that IS cool!

Securing Australia's Borders

Launching today, Sydney International Airport joins other Australian Airports in applying leading edge self service technology to improve Australian Border Security: SmartGates. As well as improving security, this system reduces the pressure on immigration staff and makes life easier for the weary traveller.

Increasingly, the expansion in the number of international travellers, coupled with the need for ever more sophisticated screening processes has meant that border security must innovate to manage higher throughput in a challenging environment.

The Australian Customs Service has embraced this challenge and is now a world leader in automating border security.

Australian Smart Passport holders can now self check through customs and immigration by scanning their passport and interactively answer entry questions at one of the 80 Smartgate kiosks. The traveller then proceeds to one of the automated gates where a biometric recognition system verifies their status and allows them entry.

The Smartgate kiosks were designed by Neo for Sagem, who deliver the complete system. So now one of the first things that a traveller entering Australia sees is a kiosk from NeoProducts.

E-Book Kiosks: The Next Stage in the Retail Digital Revolution?

The release of two new e-readers (the Cool-er and the BeBook) is another sign that, in spite of some author’s opposition, e-books are gaining ground on printed books.

Most readers will, I'm sure, still buy hardback and paperback books. It’s nice to collect your favourite author’s titles, or to browse the stunning pictures in many large format books. And it’s true that the books on your shelves say something about you. But it’s also easy to see the advantages of an e-book. For example, an e-reader is great to take on holiday or on trains and planes. And think of all those trees you’d be saving!

So, how should book retailers react to e-books? They could ignore them and run the risk of going the way of many music retailers, who have been swamped by the digital music revolution. Or they could follow the example of Australian bookseller Dymocks. They have installed kiosks from NeoProducts.

Initially, the kiosks will be used to market Dymocks’ on-line digital catalogue. However, in the near future, customers will be able to use the kiosks to download over 120,000 e-book titles and more than 30,000 audio-book titles, to a wide variety of digital devices.

For retailers, the technology brims with new opportunities. It means that out-of-stock or previously non-commercial titles can now be sold, and the pressures on floor-space alleviated. Even more traditional consumers will find they’ve not been forgotten. In future, it will be possible for titles to be ordered via the kiosks and printed-off in-store - either in whole, or in part.