Why touchless now drives self service| Self-Service Innovation Summit 2020 | Vending Times

(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article ran on Digital Signage Today, a Vending Times sister publication.)

Touchscreens in the past have been a dominant technology, but COVID-19 has significantly dented the public’s demand and trust in touchscreens. Customers are naturally less disposed to interact with something that everyone has touched during a pandemic.

As a result, companies and customers alike have demanded more touchless options when it comes to vending and kiosks. Technology providers have stepped up to the plate in a significant way to address this demand.

Elliot Maras, editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times, moderated a panel during the recent Self-Service Innovation Summit titled. “State-Of-The-Art Touchless Options for Kiosks and Vending,” that addressed this very topic.

The panelists, which included Woody Kassin, CEO, Capital Provisions, a convenience services operation; Lawrence Lerner, head of product, Avanti Markets, a micro market provider; Jim Kruper, president and co-founder, KioWare Kiosk System Software, a software provider; and Saurabh Gupta, director of product, OOH, Ultraleap, a technology provider, addressed a variety of new touchless technologies that are helping self-service equipment alleviate customer fears.

Touchless has been a major player for a while now, according to Kruper, simply because it offers a good customer experience and it is the way of the future, but sanitation practices have pushed it ahead.

“Eighty-two percent indicated in a survey that they found touchscreens unhygienic and would find touchless more hygenic,” Gupta agreed.

“Touchless has always been important, but in this current environment, more important than normal,” Kassin concurred.

Maras brought up that this trend gained momentum in 2018, when McDonald’s touchscreens in the U.K. were found to be unhygienic.

Different touchless approaches

In response, technology providers are addressing touchless in different ways. KioWare, for example, has launched its KioTouch, which provides QR code displayed on screen, which once scanned, opens a browser mouse pad so users can control it touchlessly. After the transaction, the platform then guides customers to any landing website.

UltraLeap, on the other hand, has launched TouchFree, a code free solution, where users simply plug in a USB camera, which provides gesture control and transforms the customer’s gestures into a cursor.

One big issue with these sorts of touchless solutions is that it can be difficult to get customers to download a mobile app.

Kassin said that in more transient environments, such as airports, people are less likely to use touchless options, but in less transient places such as workplaces, the adoption rate is higher.

In addition, Kassin said that obviously younger audiences are more likely to adopt these technologies than other generations.

Adoption will take time

Lerner observed that it may simply be a matter of time for customers to get used to it. For example, ATMs used to seem strange, but now, “Most bank branches left are coffee shops,” he said.

Ultimately, the panelists agreed that this touchless trend will continue past COVID-19, and providers will learn to deliver solutions that overcome traditional pain points, such as unwillingness to download apps.

“We will evolve solutions to solve pain points,” Gupta said.

Once this happens, touchless will not just be by itself; it will become part of a larger ecosystem of solutions, such as voice, contactless, cryptocurrency and many others.

“The key as an industry is how we as an industry come together and stick these things together,” Gupta said.

At the same time, certain technologies may have more trouble gaining traction, such as facial recognition.

“I think facial recognition is a no fly zone,” Lerner said. “We are five years out from having government standards.”

In the meantime, Maras said that as long as facial recognition providers give customers a way to opt in to giving data, problems will be avoided.

Because these trends are still developing, Kassin said the panel should reconvene next year to see where we are at as an industry.

KioWare Kiosk System Software sponsored the session.

For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the convenience services industry, click here.