< PreviousThe behavioural changes introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic create a valuable opportunity for us to rethink the retail purchase experience. By Peter Alcock, Head of Product Marketing, NMI in-store transformation 30 KIOSK solutions unattended kiosk 30 KIOSK solutionsWhen we emerge from our collective quarantine, we’ll never again take for granted something as simple as going to the grocery store to pick up a carton of milk. But once authorities determine it’s safe to resume day-to-day activities, we’ll probably rethink many of our daily interactions — from high-fiving colleagues for a job well done to collecting change from the £10 note we hand the cashier at the convenience store. The behavioural changes introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic create a valuable opportunity for us to rethink the retail purchase experience. As businesses of all sizes, from boutique retailers to chain stores, navigate the changing preferences around in-person interactions and transactions, unattended technology solutions are emerging as a potentially universal solution for all sectors moving forward. In-store shopping after social distancing Despite social distancing orders, consumers are still permitted to shop at essential businesses (think supermarkets, pharmacies and hardware stores). To maintain operations, many of these businesses eliminate infection points by offering pick-up or delivery options. Given the current state of social distancing, consumers are also going online to shop for necessities and other items — e-commerce spending in the U.K. was up by 12.5% in March compared to 2019 and reached a record high of 22.3% for all retail during the month. But what will happen when social distancing orders subside and non- essential businesses open their doors again? Shoppers will return, but it’s likely their long-term shopping and spending habits will be forever changed. With consumers reducing social interaction, will they crave face-to-face service in stores or will convenience and cleanliness win them over and make consumers gravitate toward a zero-touch purchasing process? These are important questions that will reshape the retail landscape in the months ahead. To stay ahead of the curve, non-essential businesses need to start planning now for the return of in- store shoppers by finding ways to reduce physical touchpoints and creating a safe shopping experience through the use of unattended solutions, like kiosks and vending machines. The shift toward unattended retail payments A recent survey found 87% of U.S. shoppers would prefer to shop in stores with contactless options, or at least more self-checkout features. And in the U.K., The rise and rise of the unattended kiosk unattended kiosk KIOSK solutions 31KIOSK solutions 31 About the Author Peter Alcock has over 25 years experience in technology marketing, joining Creditcall (acquired by NMI), in 2000 from a Swiss telecoms company. A versatile marketer, he has held several management positions within the company and is responsible for product marketing and content creation. He has particularly broad knowledge of unattended payment solutions in parking, vending and kiosks. where contactless adoption is ahead of the U.S., cash usage halved within days as shops and banks agreed to raise the limit for contactless payments. Vending machines and kiosks offer a unique opportunity because they allow consumers to pay by card while avoiding interaction with a sales assistant — taking an additional physical touchpoint out of the purchase experience. Unattended service stations also offer a contactless payment option. The difference is that they improve safety by eliminating physical contact with a touchscreen and allow shoppers to quickly tap their card or even smartphones to complete a transaction. Although the standard usage instructions are "tap to pay," in reality, consumers can bring their device close to the pay station without actually making contact. It’s important to note that opportunities for contactless payment experiences aren’t limited to large retailers — 27% of U.S. small businesses have already seen an increase in customers using contactless payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay. As consumers return to regular in-store shopping routines, they will embrace kiosks and vending machines, especially those offering contactless payment options to eliminate the exchange of physical money or cards and human interaction — common retail activities that contribute to the spread of the virus and other contaminants during transactions. Whether in a shopping centre, at a grocery store or even at the airport, these vending machines and kiosks give consumers the convenience and cleanliness required post-pandemic. A safe and speedy experience The push for faster and more convenient retail purchase experiences isn’t new. Prior to the coronavirus, e-commerce led many consumers to trade face-to-face interactions with sales associates for the speed and convenience of shopping online or shopping on their mobile devices. In a post-pandemic economy, kiosks, especially those in bricks-and-mortar stores and supermarkets, allow shoppers to retain the experience of exploring items in-person, while reducing the number of physical touchpoints, and improving the speed and convenience of the purchase process. So, how can your business integrate contactless payment options into your operation ahead of an eventual surge of in-store shopping? Thanks to IoT technology, it’s not as hard as it may seem. While the IoT doesn’t necessarily enable new processes, it makes the things we do easier, payments included. For example, kiosks and vending machines equipped with IoT technology improving safety by eliminating physical contact with a touchscreen unattended kiosk 32 KIOSK solutions32 KIOSK solutionsallow both remote management of the unit — so the operator can monitor parameters like stock levels and temperature — as well as the online authorisation required for card payments. Some card readers now incorporate a SIM so transaction data can be passed directly to the payment gateway via the internet, for authorisation by the bank. Self-service checkout kiosks situated throughout traditional stores or even in completely cashierless stores could allow consumers to scan items, tap their card or phone, and leave the store without being in close proximity to a sales assistant. Similarly, QR codes enable shoppers to scan items on their phones, complete transactions and have items delivered directly to their homes without physically interacting with products on the shelf. Unattended kiosks go beyond in-store shopping While the introduction of kiosks and vending machines into in-store shopping experiences is a priority for traditional retailers, grocery stores and other businesses should also consider the consumer experience beyond the physical store. For example, many multi-storey car parks require drivers to interact with a ticket barrier when they enter, keep hold of the ticket for the duration of their stay and then interact with a paystation or exit barrier to leave — the driver inserts the ticket and pays with cash or card. But like the kiosks available for in-store payments, parking pay stations can also provide drivers with the option to simply tap a card or smartphone at entry to initiate the parking payment and then tap it again at exit to complete the transaction. As contactless or Near-Field Communication (NFC) advances, we may soon see the introduction of car parks that do not require any exchange of payment. Instead, number plate recognition and RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags on vehicles will allow drivers to simply drive in and out of cark parks, similar to the Amazon Go experience. Taking unattended payments a step further, kiosks can even create opportunities for increased charitable giving. “Tap-and-go” donation kiosks that accept contactless payments create a frictionless experience for people who want to make charitable donations in shopping centres, restaurants, street corners or other locations. In fact, when Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital charity, implemented unattended contactless donation points around Bristol during a fundraising event, it saw a 309% increase in donations. At the end of the day, consumers crave seamless and unique experiences, from their first brand engagement to their final transaction. As we slowly resume normal buying routines, a new layer of sanitary awareness will become part and parcel of day-to-day activities like shopping in stores, parking our cars and giving back to our communities. Although much of our new normal is out of our control, we can control the amount of contact it takes to perform these common, everyday activities — and the businesses that will succeed are the ones that are able to reduce the number of touchpoints between locating an item on the shelf and walking out the door with it. n a new layer of sanitary awareness will become part of day-today activities unattended kiosk KIOSK solutions 33KIOSK solutions 33New Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) legislation, which came into effect across the UK and Europe on March 14, 2020, means that anyone making a fifth transaction – or when a cumulative spending amount of £150 on their credit or debit card, or £100 within 24 hours, whichever comes sooner – will not be able to simply ‘tap and go’ with a contactless terminal. Instead, they will have to provide another means of identification, normally the PIN for the card. Although some sectors such as travel, parking, electric- vehicle charging and charitable donations are excluded from this legislation, the majority of vending machines and kiosk businesses are to be affected. Why is it important to act now? The importance of acting now cannot be overstated. Business owners must ensure vending machines and kiosks have been upgraded to allow the contactless payment to fall forward to chip and pin to allow customers to complete the transaction. The AVA confirmed that as of 2018, there were 412m unattended machines in the UK, from traditional vending machines to hot drink machines. Any of these that have a Vending operators are facing some major changes to the way they operate thanks to new legislation which came into effect in March and could result in a loss of revenue if vending and kiosk businesses don’t act. By Paul Weston, Head of Merchant Payment Acceptance, Worldline UK & I Strong Customer Authentication – what does this mean for vending machines and kiosk businesses strong customer authentication 34 KIOSK solutions34 KIOSK solutionscontactless only payment terminal will need to be upgraded to ensure two- factor authentication is possible. The aim of the new rules is to reduce the amount of card fraud across Europe, which in the UK alone in 2018 reached £671.4m, 19% higher than the previous year according to data from UK Finance. What are the risks of not complying? The beauty of contactless payments is that they present a quick, easy and frictionless means of retailers and customers interacting. But the SCA rules purposely introduce an element of friction designed to prevent fraud. While payment services companies are working towards enabling these payments to be made with the minimum of friction possible, the requirement for another form of ID and the ability to fall forward to chip and pin cannot be avoided. The specific problem for vending machine and kiosk businesses is that without upgrading to allow these additional methods of identification, there is a chance you will see complaints to the sites where they are located. The buyer may assume your machine or kiosk doesn’t work, resulting in it being considered ‘out of order’. For the business, this would mean no longer generating revenue and potentially creating additional costs by unnecessarily sending out an engineer. How is this affecting the market? Around 3.6 billion products are vended each year at an annual market turnover of around £1.46 billion, so even a small drop off in the number of transactions because of payment friction could be costly. Moreover, operators also see an increase in transaction spend of 30% when using cards, representing 23% uplift vs cash. In fact, we are already seeing significant moves towards vending from luxury brands and even big high-street names as they increasingly see the benefits of dealing with their customers through vending experiences and kiosks over person-to-person interaction. Using vending as a medium for sales means many luxury brands and designers for example, can cut out the middle-man and be more prescriptive about the customer experience they deliver. The luxury brands are keen to operate in areas with high footfall such as airports, with vending reducing overall costs including staffing and retail space. This allows them to control the entire process from the way the items are presented, through the experience of interacting with their brand in situ and how customers are then able to access the items once they have made their choice. The need to use technology that allows the SCA regulations to be complied with and ensure no loss of sales is even more vital for higher- value sales. If you lose a customer on a low-value sale it is annoying but not necessarily so damaging. But for a high- value vendor it is much more costly in a number of ways. What do businesses need to do? Businesses in all the affected vending and kiosk sectors need to act to ensure they don’t fall foul of the rules or lose sales because customers cannot provide additional SCA details on purely contactless terminals. There are solutions in the market that allow for the simple changing and upgrading of the payment points from just contactless to ones that prompt for additional information to be compliant with SCA. So, your business really cannot afford not to upgrade. Once you know the overall cost to your business to make the necessary changes to payment terminals, you can make the decision to move forward and avoid potentially costly fines and loss of revenue. n strong customer authentication KIOSK solutions 35KIOSK solutions 35touchscreen hygiene 36 KIOSK solutions Touchscreens are increasingly becoming a huge part of our daily lives in the modern age, with many public services such as banks and public transport using them as a key part of their operations. The advantages of touchscreens in public spaces are clear: they help us save time by performing tasks more efficiently and are highly flexible in their application. With touchscreens such an important part of our lives, the question becomes: how can we ensure touchscreens are safe for use during this time and moving forward into the future? Our changing perspective Even before the current Coronavirus pandemic, there has been growing concern over the hygiene of public touchscreens. A report by Metro, that gained widespread coverage some months before the pandemic, showed that touchscreens used on some self-service kiosks in fast-food restaurants tested positive for faecal matter and E. coli bacteria. This report rightfully shocked many and brought into question the hygiene of publicly used touchscreens. Another report of public surfaces in three major US airports showed that the average self-check-in screen contained 253,857 colony- forming units, more than 10 times the number found on the average household kitchen sink according to data from an NSF International Household Germ Study. With the current coronavirus situation, it is becoming clearer than ever that more must be done to ensure the use of touchscreens does not cause the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses. How touchscreens can create a smarter future for hygiene Whilst these reports would suggest that public touchscreens are furthering the spread As the Coronavirus pandemic continues, there is understandably a huge concern about spreading the virus through shared public areas and items, from petrol pumps to ATM keypads to touchscreens. Ian Crosby Sales and Marketing Director at Zytronic Growing hygiene concernstouchscreen hygiene KIOSK solutions 37KIOSK solutions 37 of bacteria and infection, there are also many positive aspects of touchscreens which can vastly reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses. For a start, using a touchscreen can eliminate the need for face-to-face interaction with customers, helping maintain proper social distancing and helping contain Coronavirus and other infections. Touchscreens are also much more easily cleanable than physical buttons because they provide a smooth and continuous surface. The nooks and crannies created by physical buttons, for example on ATM keypads, can harbour harmful bacteria and infection for long periods because they are difficult to clean thoroughly. On the other hand, touchscreens are simple and easy to clean properly; with regular cleaning, touchscreens can provide a much more hygienic alternative to conventional input methods on publicly used machines. What can be done to make touch screens safe for use? Despite the advantages touchscreens offer, it is clear that changes must be made to the way we approach public touch screen usage in order to provide the safest possible solution. There are several key steps we recommend which can be taken to promote safety and hygiene in public touchscreens. Installing flush edge-to-edge interfaces will make cleaning and disinfection far easier, as bacteria are often harboured in the nooks and gaps of public machines and touchscreens. Regular cleaning and disinfection of publicly used touchscreens is essential to maintain proper hygiene. Many touchscreen technologies, such as projected capacitive touch, can respond to the touch of a gloved hand or stylus. This means users can safely interact with touchscreens whilst minimising the chance of catching a virus or infection or spreading it themselves. Specialist coatings for touchscreens are now available which can slow the spread of bacteria or even kill bacteria. Whilst these do address general hygiene concerns over touchscreens, these will not have any effect on COVID-19. In situations where fixed function keys are necessary, solutions can be implemented, where the keys are part of a single, uninterrupted glass surface allowing for easy cleaning. Where tactility is needed, for example for those with severe impairments to their vision, touchscreens are now available which implement machined features such as dimples, grooves and dials into the display. With these options, the glass remains unbroken and proves superior to moving buttons in terms of ease of cleaning. Thinking ahead This recent pandemic has highlighted the importance of good hygiene practice and strict implementation of health and safety procedures in our everyday lives. We currently have the opportunity to begin taking measures which can prevent or greatly lessen the impact of any such future pandemic, with a key consideration being the public spaces we use on a day-to-day basis. Touchscreens, when smartly implemented and with regular cleaning, can be a great asset to helping maintain social distancing and can be a more hygienic alternative to traditional buttons. Now is the time to reflect on our current safety measures and begin planning the implementation of improved hygiene and safety protocol in areas used by the public to help prevent a situation like this one again. n 2 3 4 5 6 1Next >