Troubleshooting Slow Adoption to Your Kiosk Pilot

After you’ve invested time and money into planning your initial kiosk deployment, sluggish customer adoption can be a major frustration. But before scrapping your entire roll out, it’s worth examining whether the pilot conditions are set up for success.

Luckily, this early phase is the best time for adjustments. Course-correcting now helps ensure stronger kiosk adoption when the program scales.

Here, we cover common missteps that affect kiosk engagement and how to troubleshoot them.

Kiosk Placement

Where you place your kiosks directly affects how much engagement they get. Is the current location visible to patrons upon entry? Does it require effort to find them?

Before installation, observe foot traffic patterns to identify natural flow paths and common pause points. Areas where customers naturally stop can indicate where kiosks may be most successful.

In addition, A/B test different locations to determine which ones drive the most usage.

If your kiosks are out of sight or crowded into a high-traffic zone, consider reassessing their placement and testing for optimal placement.

UI and UX Performance

The user experience plays a critical role in kiosk adoption by influencing the amount of friction a customer encounters during the ordering process. Looking closely at the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) data can identify bottlenecks.

In a 2022 survey by Raydiant, more than 25 percent of respondents indicated they avoid self-checkout because of a poor past experience. Because of this, it’s important to isolate and address problems quickly, before they turn customers away.

One area to track is the average order time at the kiosk versus with a cashier. If kiosk order times are significantly longer, that could suggest a poorly designed user experience with too many steps, unclear options, or difficult navigation and customization features. Kiosks that feel slow undermine the promise of efficiency, sending people past the self-service options and straight to the counter.

Additionally, running data on where transactions are being canceled can also be helpful.

If a customer abandons the order early in the process, it could indicate confusing navigation, too many steps, or the customer is overwhelmed.

However, abandoning at the checkout stage might tell you there is surprise friction in loyalty prompts or upsell pushes, unclear payment options, or even price shock.

Navigation Simplicity

If you identified navigation as an issue during your UX evaluation, there are steps you can take to rectify different concerns.

First, is the interface design intuitive for customers? If not, many users feel intimidated or believe the process will be cumbersome. Make sure you use icon-first navigation to eliminate confusion. Aim for 80 percent icons and only 20 percent text when planning your interface.

Second, limit the number of steps needed from beginning to end. Employing too many stages in the ordering process compromises your ability to deliver a fast, seamless customer experience.

Third, ensure key actions are easy to find. Don’t make users search for the checkout, navigation buttons, or customization choices. Instead, place them in prominent areas and prioritize most-used actions or menu options.

Lastly, consider utilizing a progress bar to reassure customers about the estimated time remaining. Often, just knowing where they are in the process can reduce user uncertainty and prevent drop-off.

Streamline Ordering

Don’t deter customers from completing their order with disruptive prompts at the end of their journey. Limit the use of cross-selling pop-ups or consider suspending loyalty and reward signups until after the transaction.

This can look like QR codes on printed receipts or links sent via email and keeps the focus on finishing the order, making for an easy progression from start to finish.

Whether it’s during the navigation or later in the customer’s journey, identifying and solving any clunky UI or UX issues early in the pilot stage can improve kiosk engagement and set up a better outcome for your full deployment.

Customer Education and Kiosk Promotion

Don’t underestimate the power of educating your patrons on how to use the kiosks as well as the advantages of self-service technology.

Train your staff to proactively guide customers when they use the kiosk. Doing this for an extended period during the pilot phase will ensure returning customers feel comfortable and can accelerate behavior change. Helping guests prevents bad first impressions while also giving the kiosks a perception of priority. When customers see staff promoting the technology, it signals it’s worth trying.

Additionally, having staff assist and observe customers also generates real-time feedback on where users may be getting confused or stuck.

Along with customer education, brands should also actively promote on-site kiosks. This can be achieved through store signage, email campaigns, push notifications, and of course, incentives.

Advocating for kiosk adoption goes beyond just showing customers how to use them. It’s about clearly communicating the benefits. Lean in to marketing that reinforces how kiosks make ordering faster, easier, and more efficient.

Exclusivity Offers

Installing kiosks will please your tech-savvy guests, but how do you encourage reluctant customers to engage with them?

In addition to education and promotion, running exclusive offers for kiosk users may be just enough to encourage patrons to try them.

Consider exclusive incentives like discounted add-ons at the kiosk, a loyalty points multiplier, kiosk-only menu items, and gamified surprise offers.

A dedicated pickup line for kiosk orders can also nudge customers to try the machines, reinforcing the speed and priority of self-ordering.

Rewarding early use with exclusive offers makes it easier for hesitant guests to attempt a kiosk order for the first time. And once they experience the benefits, they’re far more likely to use the technology on their next visit.

Avoid Assumptions

When rolling out your kiosk pilot program, there should be corporate wide emphasis on the changes kiosks will bring to the in-store experience. It’s wrong to assume that adopting the technology will yield the same results as other brands.

Each brand’s success with a kiosk pilot and full-scale deployment depends heavily on how well the rollout is planned, communicated, and supported internally. Staff, leadership, and marketing teams all need to understand not just the technology, but the specific role it’s meant to play in transforming your customer experience. Without that clarity, even the best program can fall flat.

It’s also important to avoid the presumption of performance at the selected pilot stores. Lower usage at high volume stores could be the result of better store management and associate presence.

Make sure you’re piloting the program across a range of stores with varying demographics and store set ups. The bonus is this insight will also help you determine what makes certain stores more naturally successful with kiosks and help you replicate that model elsewhere.

Encouraging Kiosk Program Success

Supporting kiosk adoption relies on proactive troubleshooting during your pilot phase. By closely monitoring placement, optimizing the user experience, and investing in customer education and promotions, your kiosks can become an integral part of the CX journey rather than a frustrating hurdle. Leveraging these pilot program insights will lead to a much more successful full-scale deployment when the time comes.

We’re uniquely positioned to support large brands with their kiosk pilots and rollouts. Learn more about our experience in the kiosk industry.