Kiosks may change retail biz soon

In the country's fast changing retail landscape, companies have started thinking small to drive growth. Mall mania has seen the advent of  booth like structures or kiosks, generally positioned within the common area, selling anything from  jewellery and watches to shaving kits, coffee, pop corn, juice and laptops.

Kiosks are a manifestation of what shape organized retail can give to the neighbourhood pan shop, the chatwallah or the juicewallah.

Hundreds of these open window structures are mushrooming every day. An attractive Mr Orange to meet your need for fresh orange juice untouched by the human hand, Corn Man for piping hot corn when you gather in the mall atrium after a hectic shopping spree or a Basking Robbins ice cream to cool your excitement. They are all there under one roof, pulling your heart to make that impulse purchase.

Kiosks and carts are important in any shopping centre or malls as they add variety and value. Besides, they are movable, replaceable and easy to install.

They are used for not only inexpensive consumables such as confectionaries, juices, liquor and beverages, snacks, toys, books and publications, gifts, music, fashion accessories, stationery and boutique items, tobacco, photo booths  but also for banking (ATMs), country, state, city, cultural, travel and tourism promotions. 

"Kiosks are best business for impulse related purchases. Buying apparel is a planned purchase, hence that sought of product may not do well in a small format store which typically relies on high traffic especially in mall atriums.

People usually converge at the lower levels such as atriums and it therefore makes sense to have these kiosks at high traffic locations. The Kiosk format is best suited for products which do not need full fledged stores," says Pavas Bhatia of KSA Technopak.

The kind of categories that benefit from kiosks are defined by the format itself. They are the kind of products (or even services) that people would probably not undertake specific trips for, they should have instant and uncomplicated appeal, the transaction process must be quick and easy (and preferably not too expensive), customers  decision-making must be uncomplicated (smaller variety of products, displayed or communicated very visibly with few price points), etc.

If your product or service meets these criteria, you would be well advised to consider small footprint kiosks, says Jayant Kochar of Go Fish Retail Solutions.

Kiosks are an integral part of organised retail. The underlying principle of this format is that when large numbers of consumers gather, there is always a great opportunity for impulse purchase, since a visit to a mall is often recreational, and not based on a pre-planned, directed purchase intention.

Kiosks can also be used for companies whose product is seasonal. The company can set up a kiosk at a time when the product will sell, it's a makeshift arrangement and hence there would be no annual expenditure, points out Bhatia.

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