Ajay Kapoor, CEO In an era when shoppers are primed to make informed decisions and expect quality shopping experiences, digital kiosks have become the perfect channels to complement retail environments. Once restricted to ATMs and information booths at shopping malls, these interactive digital kiosks are now utilized everywhere—from local government centers and healthcare enterprises to retail outlets and business shop fronts. Most CIOs of modern-day businesses are on a pursuit to upgrade their digital kiosks for pushing relevant information and improving the retail experience for consumers. However, maintaining and delivering high standards of experience across their kiosks, buildings, websites, and “all things digital” is no mere cakewalk. In response to this hurdle, Colorado-based TouchSource, a smart display technology leader, presents a turnkey digital kiosk solution that helps retail and shopping centers accelerate their transformation.
TouchSource’s solution takes care of all aspects of content and support, even driving revenue with optional third-party advertising. They leverage their expertise in digital directories and signage to deliver a smart and “fully aware” digital kiosk that utilizes data to drive smart interactions. These kiosks engage users and prospects along with the environment to grasp and accumulate demographic information, and cater to users based on findings. Its flexible design goes beyond the scope of Wayfinding and digital directories to solve a plethora of prominent predicaments such as people counting, lighting, security, marketing, communication, and sponsorship.
The company’s smart digital kiosk solution enables retailers and operators to proactively present relevant data through a simple, yet interactive operating environment for optimal user experience (UX). “The consumers in a shopping center can find the required information without being pestered by off-topic deals, offers or events, all within 15 seconds,” states Ajay Kapoor, CEO of TouchSource. The integration of TouchSource’s smart kiosk solution with a client’s digital website via their retail hub allows marketing managers to be automatically updated about retailers changing brands, offers, images, and portfolios.
The consumers in a shopping center can find the required information without being pestered by off-topic deals, offers or events, all within 15 seconds
For the TouchSource team, “smart” translates into four different aspects: user experience, integration, awareness, and active monitoring. The smart interactive interface focuses on speed and deep engagement while maintaining simplicity and intuitiveness. Smart integration and awareness include cameras, beacons, and sensors connected to the kiosk to understand its surroundings and create a holistic environment map with the data received from these devices. Finally, TouchSource’s team monitors the availability of the kiosks, their displays, and the computers to engage the clients with appropriate content proactively. “From a customer’s standpoint, our methodology is designed around a very light touch; we focus on turnkey execution so that they can focus on their business, and not on managing technology,” adds Kapoor.
TouchSource recently helped one of its clients, a national shopping center operator, whose local marketing and brand team was overloaded, with digitizing sponsorships. The problem: they did not have a consistent and integrated brand and communication strategy across their centers. Despite having deployed a digital kiosk, coping with the scaling user base and hardware proved too tall a task for the client’s marketing and branding teams. Upon interaction, TouchSource’s design team integrated powerful digital content into their kiosks that highlighted their brand. As Kapoor recalls, “We eliminated the complexities related to operation and management. The client was surprised when we dispatched a technician to resolve a faulty display issue even before they learned of it.”
Moving forward, TouchSource aims to provide innovative and interactive content options to its clients, be it sponsored advertisements or iterative localized content. In addition to leveraging a combination of Google Analytics and Microsoft Power BI analytics capabilities, the company plans to expand its software integration across multiple websites’ document management systems (DMS). “All the innovations on our roadmap are enabled by the transition to Microsoft Azure’s, highly secure and scalable cloud environment,” concludes Kapoor.
