When Is Self-Service The Best Service?

On July 15 (this Thursday) at noon eastern, I'll convene a panel of experts who will address this very question here: http://bit.ly/cIhRkV

I just hung up with the panelists, and if our preparation calls are any indication, this is going to be a great discussion. Lee Holman brings the deep industry intelligence that's synonymous with IHL — no other entity has as complete a picture of the retail technology landscape, and the juxtaposition of self-service and mobility have been his bailiwick of late. Before joining Motorola, Ed Weiser led operations for many retailers including Jewel/Osco and Shopko. And Bill Phelps is the guy in charge of kiosk development at Zebra. These three guys come at self-service from different perspectives and each with strong, and valid opinions. This makes for some intense, educational, and often entertaining conversation. I encourage you to join us.

One of the topics we'll discuss is the future of self-service in light of the mobile revolution. As consumer and associate mobile devices get more powerful, what's the future for comparatively large-footprint kiosks and SCO (self-checkout) units? In the short term, I think our panelists agree that there's synergy between mobile devices and interactive kiosks. Many retail applications for kiosks can be enhanced via integration with smart phones. Consider order management in grocery — place your deli or bakery order at the kiosk and get a text when it's ready for pickup. Consider the value-add applications that are so popular now, especially among upscale grocers, such as recipe suggestions and wine pairings. Take the information home with you on your phone, no (human) memory or printouts necessary. And how about loyalty programs? If the kiosk can recognize your customer by his or her phone, you're one-step closer to real-time, in-store personalized promotion nirvana.

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