There’s not much argument against self-checkout systems as a means of improving the customer experience. But at least a temporary blowback to the technology has begun, some of which has landed the issue in court and some of which has led Walmart and other retailers...
We all have certain moods and comfort zones when shopping. For some purchases – costly designer fashion and jewelry, luxury cars and major household goods, for example – most of us prefer to have a product expert to guide us (and maybe even upsell us)....
Consumers’ interest in unattended commerce goes far beyond candy and soda vending machines. There are 48.6 million consumers in the U.S. who would like to buy a wide variety of products and services through unattended retail channels, such as vending machines, self-service kiosks and even...
Self-service retail is, of course, a fancy term that replaces the traditional vending machine moniker (though kiosks and other digital- and mobile-anchored technologies are rapidly entering the mix, offering self-service options). For so long – and even now – vending machines and unattended retail have...
Evolution is the hallmark of everything that survives over a long period of time — and so it should come as no surprise that unattended retail has evolved, too, over more than a century since the first coin-operated vending machines made their debut in the...
To boost the bottom line and get consumers interested, actively engaged and ready to spend, retailers have increasingly been turning to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to fine-tune businesses — in real time. That’s especially true with unattended retail, where...
Cashless payments firm USA Technologies (USAT) is expanding its partnership with amusement kiosk operator National Entertainment Network (NEN) to bring expanded cashless payment options to more vending machines and devices, the companies announced in a press release on Friday (Nov. 15). NEN will utilize USAT’s...
The rise of unattended retail – from yesterday’s vending machines full of candy and soda to today’s upscale self-service conduits where one can get kiosk champagne at a hotel (it’s true!) – all started with digital payments. In an interview with Karen Webster, Maeve McKenna...
Automated retail might conjure up images of robot cashiers, but beyond a few convenience stores in Japan and Korea, that sci-fi development hasn’t yet become reality for the wider world. Robotics might take over delivery jobs before they make cashiers redundant in the U.S., though....
