Pro-Touch

Author: Tom Pryor

Growing Appetite for Self Service in Restaurants

Posted on by Tom Pryor

In the fast paced, ever changing world of technology, it's vital to keep your finger firmly on the digital pulse in order to keep up with the latest trends and consumer demands. While our familiarity and reliance on tablet devices and digital screens grows, so does our desire for more digital touch points in the areas where we live, work, shop, travel and socialise. Restaurants, in-particular, are now seeing the benefits of using tablet devices to maximise micro-convenience and customer experience, with tablets wrapping up everything that we're used to in a traditional sense; offering virtual concierge, digital menus, bookings, social media engagement, special offers and so on.

Digital Signage

Digital menus allow restaurants to entice and seduce customers through high-definition, interactive images; as opposed to traditionally print images, which are flat and lifeless. Digital images give restaurants far more flexibility and creativity to display eye catching and mouthwatering images.

When places in high-traffic areas, digital signs are excellent ways in which to capture the customer's attention as they walk past or queue up for service. This provides an excellent opportunity to upsell items, make recommendations and offer incentives. All of which can increase sales and improve ROI.

Self-serve kiosks

In 2012 it was predicted that a total of 44% of consumers would opt to use a self-service terminal, and 40% would choose to use a Smartphone application to place a food order. To reflect this many restaurants are now catching up with touch screen technologies, as they explore innovative ways to go above and beyond the standard level of service.

So far, 2013 has seen 28% of restaurant owners showing strong interest in having a mobile app, and there is a growing appetite for the technology amongst consumers too; with 67% now interested in booking their tables through an app (source).

With freestanding tablet kiosks and easy touchscreen interactions, customers are able to place orders easily, pay for their food quickly and efficiently, and access nutritional information at the touch of a screen. All of these simple tasks put the customer in control, freeing up staff for other jobs and improving the overall dining experience for the customer.

Other benefits include;

Nutritional/Allergy information
Ordering
Loyalty schemes
Payment terminals
Social media engagement
Reservations
Advertising
Reduce staff

Restaurants kiosks provide a wealth of benefits, not only to the customer, but to the company too. At a relatively low to deploy it’s worth considering how a touch screen kiosk can help your business by improving overall customer satisfaction, as well as ROI. Contact Protouch today and find out how you can start reaping the benefits of a restaurant kiosk.

Choosing An Information Kiosk

Posted on by Tom Pryor

We live in a world of information – a world where global knowledge fits into the palm of our hand. In short, people want to have the information they need and they want it to be as easily accessible as possible.

Of course, providing this information can be made a lot easier with an information kiosk, that’s been specifically set up to meet the demands, needs and requirements of the customer or individual.

Information kiosks are all about providing just that – information. This needs to be done in a practical and easily accessed manner and can really add a lot to a business, experience or retail setting. However, though most of us understand that people want information that can be easily accessed via kiosks and similar means, understanding how to choose a kiosk can often perplex them. So, what should you look for in an info kiosk?

Function over Design

Aesthetics are extremely important, however function is number one. In the world of information kiosks this means that provision of a kiosk that offers the relevant information is the first priority.

In essence, a kiosk is only as good as the software on it and that should be the focus first and foremost when choosing an info kiosk. Deciding on whether you should choose an already developed or a bespoke software development solution is an important decision that could determine the success of the kiosk. 

Other additions such as being able to lock down the website viewing, blocking access to certain sites and being able to track the kiosk usage are also all important here and provide you with plenty of information for analysis.

You want your kiosk to offer the exact information required in a manner that’s intuitive, easily understood and accessible. Our PKM platform offers you the opportunity to have a number of different applications developed to fit in with your needs – something we see as essential.

Information Input

Interactive information kiosks need some form of input device, so deciding on whether you want to use a touch screen input or keyboard form of input is the next decision that needs to be made.

Each kiosk is different and often the input is determined by the software and the function of the device. In many cases the best way of determining the most apt input is to discuss it with us beforehand as we’ll be able to give you an idea from experience.
 

Kiosk Style

You want a kiosk style that reflects your brand, your business and the feel it should deliver. This is why it’s nice to have a wide selection of kiosk styles to choose from.

We offer kiosks in a variety of footprints, allowing you to decide on the best style and shape to reflect your brand and suit the positioning of the kiosk. 

Other considerations that reflect your choice of information kiosk are whether it’s placed indoors or outdoors – for which you have to take a number of considerations into account.

Information kiosks can provide a lot of benefits and positives to a business, providing information instantaneously, quickly and attractively to those who require it.

5 Technologies We May See In Kiosks Of The Future

Posted on by Tom Pryor

Kiosks are always on the cusp of technology and we believe that if a new form of equipment provides value to the user experience, then it could be well worthwhile adding it to one of our kiosks.

Of course, it’s hard to look into the future and say what will certainly be included in the technology of the future, but we can make guided guesses from what we believe. So, we’ve compiled a list of five technologies that we may see in the kiosks of the future.

Quality Food and Drink Kiosks

Although there are plenty of food vending machines and kiosks in existence, most if not all offer a substandard experience to that of a fine barista or mixologist. Though that currently may be the case now, it most likely will not be forever. Rumours have it that Starbucks is working on kiosks that offer a quality coffee experience of the standard of a barista and if you want to see something similar in reality, Google showcased a cocktail mixing robot called ‘Makr Shakr’ at its recent I/O conference. In time, who’s to say similar technology could not fit into a vending machine?

Contactless and Print Scanner

The contactless payment option has been included on a number of our machines and it’s set for further roll out in the future. We’ve also heard tales of an Apple iPhone 5S with contactless option via NFC technology and fingerprint scanner – so, who’s to say that this technology will not be rolled out widely in time to come – not us anyhow.

Eye Control

Then again, using your hands is so tedious. The current generation of smart phones is toying with the idea of eye control and who’s to say kiosks and other devices with screens won’t soon.
Samsung’s SIV uses eye control to aid reading of webpages, watching of movies and viewing of images and who’s to say we soon won’t see something similar on our TVs and PC screens and also our kiosks?

OLED

The OLED screen is also a quite realistic tech next and may replace our plasma and LED displays within the next few years. OLEDs allow for slimmer screens, which can also be flexed and curved. This new generation of displays is brighter than current screens, don’t require backlighting and are far easier to produce in larger sizes. They’re also greener, more efficient and have larger fields of view than the current crop of screens.

3D Printing Kiosks

Anyone who keeps up to date with technology will have heard of 3D printing. Essentially, this tech layers material on top of each other to create all sorts of items and it’s becoming increasingly complex. Reports suggest by 2050 we’ll all be using the machines to print everything from electronics to clothes in our living rooms. All we’ll do is purchase the design for our home 3D printer and let it manufacture the rest. So, before then, expect 3D printer kiosks in a shop near you, allowing you to create all your needs from one amazing kiosk.

We can’t say for sure what the future of kiosks will be, however we do know it’s going to be exciting.

Top Tips For Developing Kiosk Software

Posted on by Tom Pryor

7 Top Tips to create a better user experience when developing your kiosk software.
 

1. Keep the customer as the focal point

Considering the user before making any decisions is the key to creating a positive self-service experience. This is dependent on the ease of use and simplicity. Your software should be easy to browse, easy to understand and easy to operate by the average Joe.

2. Offer multi-lingual options

Providing multi-language support in your kiosk software widens the profile of users and enhances the user experience. Especially for deployment in high traffic locations where there will be varied types of users or where clear communication is imperative.

3. Minimise the need for manual intervention

The success of your software process will be determined by how well it works from beginning to end without extra assistance. Your automated system aims to make repeated processes efficient and painless.

4. Review the metrics

Measuring the costs and controlling the quality of your software will lead to success. Strive for perfection and aim to constantly improve performance to meet both the business and user needs.

5. Create a visual hierarchy

It is compulsory the process is made simple for the user, knowing which buttons to press when. The screen should display a visual order for example; the important indicators must draw the users attention before other on screen elements. Icons can gain importance through the use of differential size, colour and placement.

 

 

6. Choose a well-designed user interface

There is no point investing in top of the range kiosk software if the interface isn’t sufficient for the required function. A well-considered interface will determine the success of your application’s software. Consistency is key.

7. Collect data/listen to feedback

Reviewing the data can give valuable feedback of the kiosk usage and help to improve aspects of the software if required. Analyse the data to gain a greater understanding of your user to maximise the potential of your application.