Category Archives: Self-Service News

One Customer Experience Tool That Will Get Significant Attention in 2016 | CustomerThink

Sometimes I get the feeling that people believe that everything in the future will happen online and all transactions will be automated without any or with very little human interaction. Success stories with self service solutions such as Taco Bell who recently in an Bloomberg articleannounced that orders made via their new digital app are 20% pricier than those taken by human cashiers or Chili’s, after installing self-service tablets, reported a similar increase in dessert orders, further influence this perception.

Source: customerthink.com

Excerpt: Drawbacks with automation

According to a recent article in Harvard Business Review technology lacks flexibility. When we’re interacting with a person and we’re having trouble understanding something, the person can adjust to us. If we’re having a misunderstanding, they can help clarify it. Technology really can’t do either of these things. A person has the ability to delight us or disappoint us. It’s really hard for a technology to ever delight, however, because it’s standardized and is built on a set of rules. But it is possible for technologies to disappoint us.

Dennis Campbell, Frances Frei, and Gretchen Gavett have done research looking at self-service technologies, in banks in particular. In one case customers’ overall satisfaction with the bank fell as the proportion of their total interactions shifted away from face-to-face channels and toward using automated solutions. Cambell and Francis also some years ago looked at banks that introduced online banking and found an interesting pattern; customer who switched to the online channel came into the branch more, and they started using the call center more, which was actually more expensive. So the tradeoff wasn’t all a favorable one from an efficiency/cost point of view.

So, automation of service transactions is apparently not always good. But is there something that can bring the best of the two worlds together? Yes, integrated mobile apps for employees in the physical location has the opportunity to change the game.

Try it Out Tuesday: Coinstar Exchange for gift cards

Inside a Randalls grocery store, you might see an unfamiliar yellow kiosk near the cash registers

Source: www.khou.com

We go in with a wallet full of cards from a coworker, and our first try is a card from Fleming’s Steakhouse.

The card has a balance of $37.03. Coinstar Exchange offers us $22.96.

It’s not an even trade, but it might be worth a swipe if the card has been sitting in your wallet or you don’t plan to use it.

Coinstar tells KHOU 11 News it offers up to 85 percent of the value, and it varies according to each retailer.

Bill Allaz walked in with a $50 gift card to Best Buy. He accepted the offer of $32.50 from Coinstar.

“I wanted to get a little extra money today,” he said.

The kiosk accepts about 130 cards, but didn’t offer Ayo Codrington enough for hers. She had a $25 Bath and Body Works card. The machine offered her $15.

“I was hoping that it would be closer to $25,” she said.

There are more than 70 kiosks in Texas and 23 in the Greater Houston area.

Tap/click here to find the nearest Coinstar Exchange kiosk.

Return To Sender: UPS Wraps Up Holiday Shipping Season With Easier Returns

National Returns Day is Jan. 6, 2016, when consumers are expected to ship more than a million packages back to retailers on that single day. By the end of the first week of January, UPS expects to deliver more than 5 million returns packages – 500,000 more than last year,.

Source: money.cnn.com

According to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™ study, 45% of consumers have returned an item by shipping it back to a retailer – 42% of those said they made a new online purchase during the process.  

“As online shopping volumes grow globally, so do returns volumes,” said Teresa Finley, UPS senior vice president of global marketing. “Online shoppers tell us they want free, fast and easy returns. We help our customers provide flexible options that create revenue and attract potential buyers.”  

Returns now play an important role in purchasing decisions as 67% of consumers said they look at a retailer’s return policy before they complete an order. Consumers also want a hassle-free returns experience: 66% want free returns shipping and 47% want an easy-to-print return label.

Additional UPS research reveals an appealing returns policy has the power to attract customers and many retailers need improvement. Only 32% of retailers offered free returns and less than half specified a merchandise exchange timeline on their website, which is a key component of the return policy that is viewed by 88% of online shoppers.

UPS offers a wide variety of returns solutions for merchants. Some retailers provide return labels within outbound shipments, while others have technology that allows them to offer a consumer credit or refund as soon as the item is scanned into the UPS network.

Consumers can drop off their pre-paid and pre-labeled return packages at any of the 8,000 UPS Access Point™ locations around the country. They can also visit any of the 4,800 The UPS Store® locations or give the packages to a UPS driver.  

Smart Safe Case Study

Smart Safe Case Study – The idea most people begin within they think they need to get a safe is to protect against external theft.
Increasingly the threat is actually also internal theft.

Amazon Promotes Package Pickup Lockers in UK

Amazon is running a contest to promote its delivery lockers in the UK, and it’s giving away some choice goodies as part of the Santa’s Locker campaign which runs through Christmas Eve.

Source: www.ecommercebytes.com

Amazon kicked off the Santa’s Locker contest in the UK on December 11 and it runs through Christmas Eve. Each day, Amazon puts between two and five gifts inside different lockers, and then provides clues to help participants find the lockers and codes so they can open them to win the gifts.

Are Delivery Lockers a Better Fit for Wal-Mart Than for Amazon.com?

Wal-Mart already has lots of places to put lockers.

Source: www.fool.com

The lockers are but one component of this, though they aren’t really a new idea. Wal-Mart began testing them two years ago and has been slowly rolling them out into more markets. Amazon also has experimented with them, starting back in 2011, along the way installing lockers in retailers like Staples and RadioShack until the retailers realized they were giving the e-tailer the rope with which to hang them. Amazon still uses them at its campus bookstores, and has partnered with convenience stores like 7-Eleven to have its Click & Collect lockers installed. Amazon says it has hundreds of locker locations nationally and is adding more every day.

Wal-Mart’s advantage is its vast network of brick-and-mortar stores that can serve as distribution hubs for the goods it sells online. There are 4,600 Walmarts in the U.S.  Because Amazon has to rely upon the kindness of strangers to install lockers, it can’t be as integral a component in the universe of shipping options for it as it can be for Wal-Mart.

A locker ultimately is a low-cost way to stay competitive with a tough rival.

Kiosk Remote Monitoring

Kiosk Remote monitoring software comes in many configurations. Alerts, remote access, PC diags, activity, reports customized or not. Very strong systems. Considerations include: Heartbeat (is it up or down?)Statistics on usageCustom reportsConfiguration of behaviourReconfigurationRemote access clientPatch managementBatch updatesBatch enrollments3G or 4G redundancyBackups (now you need security)Remote power cyclePhysical access to machine internallyCash or currency involved?

Five technologies that are revolutionizing the retail experience

To contend with the rise of online shopping, brick and mortar stores have been using digital technology to create greater in-store experiences.

Source: www.examiner.com

Excerpt: Augmented reality allows the customer to virtually try on clothes: Many retailers have unlocked the potential of augmented reality in recent years. The technology overlays virtual information onto the real world using smartphones or tablets. It has the ability to bring an image, label or display to life meaning customers can engage with stock on an entirely new level.

For example, Topshop have created augmented reality fitting rooms to enhance the shopping experience by allowing shoppers to try on clothes virtually without having to undress. The built-in camera tracks a person’s body and superimposes a 3D model of the garment on the customer.

From the retailers side, exhibition stand providers Skyline Whitespace have pointed out that augmented reality can also be used to analyse consumer behaviour. Any device that encourages customer engagement has the potential to gain valuable data. This data in turn can be used in future marketing campaigns and to refine advertising.

Interactive OOH advertising engages the senses: Out Of Home (OOH) advertising refers to ads that reach consumers while they are, unsurprisingly, outside the home such as posters and billboards. OOH is often regarded as the most effective method of marketing. Research from the Outdoor Media Centre found that 88% of shoppers notice outdoor ads and 72% can be tempted into buying the product or service advertised.

OOH advertising is becoming increasingly interactive as more focus is placed on customer engagement. 44% of UK adults think that digital poster screens that allow them to “click and collect purchase” would be useful to retailers. This has led some to wonder whether we could see fast food drive-through windows replaced by interactive posters and Amazon order screens on the high street.

Food manufacturer McCain installed bus shelter posters that featured 3-D fibreglass baked potatoes. The potatoes heated up and emitted the scent of cooking potatoes with the press of a button. Having grabbed the attention of those waiting at the bus shelter, the posters dispensed coupons to buy the product at discount price.

Outdoor marketing is also moving away from the traditional poster. Creative production agency REWIND created an interactive vending machine after being asked by Holiday Autos to capture the essence of summer. The vending machine was re-coded and filled with bottles of summer-related scents. A credit-based payment system was developed which allowed consumers to tweet the machine to gain usable currency.

Beacons alert customers to promotional offers: Beacons work by sending small packets of data to smartphones via Bluetooth. They can be used to trigger things like push messages, app actions, and prompts. Originally used to alert customers to discounts within a store, beacons are becoming more versatile in the ways they can enrich customer experience. Take for example a new customer who is unfamiliar with the layout of a store. Shoppers can download the shop’s app, enable beacons and discover where to find particular items via beacon information sent to their mobile device.

Fashion magazine Elle is at the forefront of retail beacon technology. It displays a selection of their “top picks” as selected by their editors on mobile apps. A consumer who uses the app gets a push notification if they are within distance of a store that stocks one of the top picks. If the customer opens the notification and goes to the store, they receive another notification with a promotional offer.

Smart shelves prevent stock from running out: Finding that a product is sold out is one of the most frustrating occurrences for both the consumer and retailer. Out-of-stock shelves cost retailers 4% of their annual revenue. This is why many stores, particularly supermarkets, are turning to smart shelf technology.

With smart shelves retailers can monitor inventory in real time using embedded sensors. Employees are alerted when stock is running low or when a theft has been detected. Product prices also change according to promotions, ensuring accurate pricing for customers and saving time for employees who are no longer required to reprice various items.

European Vending Association Elects Officers At AGM, Hails Response To First-Ever EVEX

MALAGA, Spain — The European Vending Association reports that the first staging of its EVEX event achieved its objectives of highlighting the value of the vending industry to the public and the European authorities.

Source: www.vendingtimes.com

Elected as a representative of the machine manufacturer segment is Paolo Ghidotti, N&W Global Vending. Jeff Alsop of Crane Payment Innovations is chosen as a representative of the Payment Systems and Vending Solutions segment, and Lavazza’s Sergio Telesco is elected from the Ingredient Suppliers category. 

Companies banding together to help stop package theft

ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – According to UPS Monday is the busiest shipping day of the year. Which means those packages will soon be arriving at your doorstep. Twenty-three million Americans have had packages stolen, according to a new report by Princeton Survey Research Association.

Source: fox2now.com

Access Points allow customers to pick up packages at 8,000 locations nationwide.  UPS officials predict the busiest deliver day of the year will be December 22nd.  They are scheduled to deliver about 36 million packages, which is one million more than last year.

BBP Releases RFP for Pier 1 Food Kiosk Concession – Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) today released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a food concessionaire in the kiosk at the entrance of Pier 1. BBP is seeking inventive and creative proposals from quality operators with solid backgrounds in the food service industry. BBP’s intention is for the concession to complement the ambience and aesthetic of the park and surrounding area while providing a convenient service to the public

Source: www.brooklynbridgepark.org

Through this RFP process, BBP hopes to capture the diversity and originality of local fare by featuring a fresh and original concession at Pier 1. The site is noteworthy for its past success in a neighborhood defined by robust culinary offerings. With nearby restaurants including longtime favorites, respected institutions, and groundbreaking newcomers, concessions at Brooklyn Bridge Park have distinguished it as a prominent contributor to the area’s food culture.

Responses to the RFP will be evaluated on the basis of their fee offer, operating experience, proposed capital investment and design, planned operations and financial capability. BBP will look favorably upon responses that include environmentally friendly practices and an awareness of the role of the concession as an integral part of the surrounding community.

There will be an informational session and site tour at 11:00am on December 18, 2015. Responses to the RFP must be submitted to BBP by 3:00pm on January 5, 2016. For more information, please visit our Business Opportunities page.

Outsmart package thieves this holiday season

Twenty-three million Americans have had packages stolen, according to a new report by Princeton Survey Research Association. Just this week, police in southwest suburban Riverside issued an alert about package thefts. How can you outsmart the thieves?

Source: abc7chicago.com

All types of mobile apps. An app called Doorman is also available in Chicago. There are some free options, too, such as the Amazon lock boxes popping up at area 7-Elevens and other stores. You can also get your packages delivered directly to FedEx or UPS stores.

UPS also just launched another, new free service: UPS Access Point. Customers can pick up packages at 8,000 locations nationwide.

“It is really convenient that I can personally pick it up and not risk anyone stealing it,” Allison Poteet said.

Daffodils flower shop in Bucktown is one of those locations.

Avanti Markets Announces Lifetime Kiosk Warranty

Avanti Markets held its fourth annual Operator Meeting in San Antonio, TX on December 1st through the 3rd. This year’s meeting achieved new attendance records from the previous year with over 230 attendees throughout the two-day conference. 

Source: www.vendingmarketwatch.com

The big news was Avanti announced a new program that offers a Lifetime Guarantee for all kiosks. Jim Brinton, CEO stated “I have always said that as Avanti reaches some scale we would be giving back to those Operators that have helped us reach those milestones.  I feel that one of the biggest concerns for Operators has been not knowing the lifespan of a Kiosk since this equipment is new to them, and what those unknown costs would be to maintain or replace that Kiosk.  A lifetime warrantee just removed that question and certainly will let our Operator family sleep better at night,” 


The meeting ended with a raffle of equipment sponsored by vendors of Avanti Markets. One of the most exciting items was an Executive Kiosk that was sponsored by Slabb Kiosks, Inc. Other vendors that donated items for the raffle were MEI Group, Genesis Décor, Minus Forty Technologies, Mobile Merchandiser, and Premier Wireless. Each year the meeting concludes with awards handed out to operators to recognize individuals for specific categories. The Awards and honorary winners are as follows Coffee Spotlight Recognition awarded to PGI Services/Specialized Markets; Micro Market Legislative Advocate awarded to both Advantage Food & Beverage and Continental Vending; New 2015 Operator Spotlight awarded to Jackson Brothers of the South; Operator of the Year awarded to Continental Services; Growth Performer of the Year awarded to Monumental Vending; Customer Appreciation awarded to Canteen of Coastal California.  “We want to thank all of our operators and suppliers for their continued support in making our annual meeting a success to all that attended,” said Brinton. 

Forced authorisation chip and PIN scam hitting high-end retailers

Chip and PIN was designed to prevent fraud, but it also created a new opportunity for criminals that is taking retailers by surprise. Known as “forced authorisation”, committing the fraud requires no special equipment and when it works, it works big: in one transaction a jewellers store lost £20,500. 

Source: www.benthamsgaze.org

This type of fraud is already a problem in the UK, and now that US retailers have made it through the first Black Friday since the Chip and PIN deadline, criminals there will be looking into what new fraud techniques are available.

Package Pickup Locations Offer Safe Alternative To Doorstep Delivery

Companies like UPS and Amazon are looking to ensure more convenient and potentially easier shipping by designating specific pick-up locations for your packages.

Source: newyork.cbslocal.com

The lockers live in more than 30 7-Elevens throughout the city. For Regional Manager Lazaro Rodriguez, having the units is a matter of convenience for guests.

“Guests can come in at lunch time, they can come here after work, they can come here 24 hours a day and pick up a package,” Rodriguez said.

Amazon Lockers can also be found in some grocery stores and pharmacies throughout New York City.