Jetson Gadgets For Real Life: Interactive Kiosks

Do you remember when George, Jane, or Elroy would press a few buttons on the Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle and out would pop whatever meal they wished? The Jetsons were certainly on to something with their futuristic inventions, and today’s interactive kiosks can certainly be described as “Jetson-esque.” Let’s take a look at a few real life kiosk applications. While you might not encounter a Food-a-Rac-a-Cycle, you’re likely to have contact in the near future with an interactive kiosk.

Bill Payment and Financial Kiosks:

Self-service bill payment kiosks are one of the fastest growing segments within the kiosk industry. Many companies are leveraging the power of the kiosk to accept payment for all sorts of services including utilities, insurance, wire transfers, and memberships. Soon, bill payment and financial kiosks may be found in bank lobbies, convenience stores, and retailers.

Information Kiosks:

We live in an increasingly fast paced society. With that fast pace comes the desire to easily access information at any given time or location. One of the best ways to distribute information is via an information kiosk. Information kiosks can be found in many different environments such retail stores, hospitals, airports, arenas, universities just to name a few. Information kiosks can provide valuable intelligence on many varied topics in addition to key business benefits. Here is a sampling of different applications found on information kiosks: wayfinding (malls, hospitals, large office complexes), advertising/marketing, human resources/job application, financial services, or purchases of products and services.

Ticket Kiosks and Check-In Kiosks

Ticket kiosks offer you a convenient alternative to standing in line at the ticket counter. You can find tickets at the movie theatre, amusement parks, airports, and stadiums just to name a few. Many airlines and airports are looking to Check-in Kiosks to help lower their costs. Individual airlines can utilize Check in kiosks to let their customers check in for flights on custom branded kiosks. Airports can install kiosks to ease congestion in airports by increasing efficiency. Other transportation industries can benefit from Check-in Kiosks too. Train Terminals, Bus Terminals, and Cruise lines can all use Self Check-in Kiosks to allow their riders check in fast and efficiently.

Giving or Donation Kiosks

Giving Kiosks or Self-Service donation kiosks are becoming more commonplace. With the popularity of debit cards more people are not carrying cash. Donations kiosks make it possible for Churches, non-profits, and other groups to collect donations from patrons via Debit card.

Retail Kiosks

When you take a snapshot of the self-service landscape, retail kiosks are easily one of the largest and most noticeable segments. The applications deployed on retail kiosks are numerous, but at the end of the day, retail kiosks provide retailers the agility to effectively serve both internal and external customers.

Properly placed retail kiosks put convenient solutions at your fingertips with applications including: gift registry, customer loyalty programs, employment /job applications, ordering out of stock items, or providing store and product information

Stew Leonard’s grocery store in Yonkers, NY, recently installed kiosks that enable customers to self-order the full range of items available at the service deli, including meats, cheeses, party trays, and sandwiches, reducing or completely eliminating the time customers have to spend waiting in line. Tom Arthur, president of Stew Leonard’s Yonkers store commented, “Since we have never met a customer who liked to wait in line, the deli kiosk is a great option for customers to use.”

While none of the kiosks mentioned here are as grandiose as the gadgets found on the Jetsons, they are indeed the wave of the future. You can’t press a button on an interactive kiosk and have a banana split pop out, but eliminating the need to stand in line may be an equally sweet treat. Enjoy all of the wonderful innovations interactive kiosks have to offer, and be sure to look for kiosks in your part of the galaxy.

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