4 Ways Self-Service Kiosks Help Small Businesses Succeed

This is the first part of “The Benefits of Self-Service Kiosks,” a three-part blog series about the many ways self-service kiosk technology is improving businesses, communities, the customer experience, and more.

Operating a small business can be tough. In a world where online and big box retailers permeate the market, small businesses need to work even harder to differentiate themselves, stay profitable, and create a customer experience that has shoppers coming back for more.

Designated holidays like National Small Business Week and Small Business Saturday certainly help small businesses stand out, but how can business owners make a lasting impression on a daily basis? The answer lies at the customer’s fingertips: self-service kiosks!

Self-service kiosks are attractive, highly visible, and user-friendly. But on top of that, they can help small businesses boost profits, optimize efficiency, and more. Let’s take a dive into the many ways self-service kiosks help small businesses not just survive, but thrive.

1. Kiosks Make Money

Let’s be real: when it comes to staying afloat in the world of small business, money is key. Implementing a self-service kiosk (or two, or three) can cause small businesses to reap big rewards: when ordering through kiosks, consumers spend 30% more!  One big reason for this is that it’s easier for customers to customize their orders using a kiosk, and it’s also an intuitive, private way for them to browse other products. Long story short, kiosks are proven to drive increased revenue per transaction which can make or break a small business.

2. Kiosks Boost Efficiency

Shoppers expect businesses to run like a well-oiled machine, and if they don’t, they are likely to choose a different place to spend their money next time. Kiosks can help you avoid this pitfall by boosting the efficiency of every order. By providing a flexible way to maximize throughput, kiosks shift the bottleneck from the front-of the house (i.e. how fast to get orders into the system) to the back of the house (i.e. how much food can be made). Hello, line-busting!

3. Kiosks Enhance Loyalty Program Onboarding

Simply put, customers love loyalty programs – and small businesses should, too. In fact, it’s estimated that loyalty program members spend 12-18% more per year than non-loyalty members. Small businesses can have their self-service kiosk ask customers at the time of purchase to sign up for a loyalty program, and may feel more comfortable providing personal information on a kiosk versus out loud to another person. Additionally, if the loyalty program lives in a mobile wallet application, customers may be able to seamlessly provide sign-up information by transferring it from their smart device to the kiosk.

And why not promote that loyalty program on the receipt that prints out of the kiosk? With Star Micronics PromoPRNT, small businesses can create custom promotions from templates that are delivered in the most valuable place: on the receipt, in the customer’s hand.

4. Kiosks Optimize Operations

On top of making money, kiosks also help you save it by positively impacting operational costs. It’s expensive to run a small business: in the restaurant world alone, labor costs can reach 30-40%. Self-service kiosks can help soften this expense by providing an easy way for business owners to efficiently manage headcount costs and reduce unnecessary operational costs.

In a Nutshell: Kiosks Increase Return on Investment

At the end of the day, return on investment (ROI) is the most important factor when it comes to self-service kiosks. Due to upside from increased revenue, throughput, and reduced costs, ROI on self-service kiosk implementation is unmatched. And the proof is in the numbers: when shopping for a kiosk solution, many providers are able to deliver examples from businesses similar to yours that show the dramatic ROI impact kiosks can make.