Consumer acceptance of self-service has reached a level where technology providers are confident about introducing even more time-saving innovations. In addition, the more consumers use self service technology, the more providers expand on existing technologies to further improve the customer experience.

The bottom line is that 2023 promises to be a year with more innovation, according to the "Thought Leader Roundtable: Executive Predictions" panel during the Self-Service Innovation Summitin Hollywood, Florida.

(The Summit is one of several industry events organized by Networld Media Group, the parent company of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. The media company's next event is the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summitbeing held March 20-23, 2023, in Coral Gables, Florida.)

Paresh Patel

Positive user trends

"You see some of the stuff that's going on out there right now that you realize there is just so much more driving self service today," said panelist Paresh Patel, founder and CEO at PayRange, a technology provider that enables mobile commerce for unattended retail, adding that it boils down to convenience and meeting customers where they are with the items they need.

The average PayRange mobile app user currently uses the app 150 times a year, Patel said. "We expect that to get to 300 or 400 times a year as they start doing more and more self service," he said. In addition, "Things that you might need a clerk for today, you might be able to do on your own."

Panelist Bryan Hebert, executive vice president of sales at Nayax Ltd., a provider of unattended retail commerce, agreed more innovation is on the way as contactless payment made great strides in the U.S. during COVID. Getting contactless capability into more wallets in the U.S. will allow tech players like Nayax to add even more technologies.

Bryan Hebert

"The numbers (for contactless use) were in the single digits pre-COVID and now they're close to 40%," Hebert said.

Moving forward, Nayax will offer a solution to allow customers to use loyalty points across different venues.

The next 'big thing?'

Panelist Steve Byrne, vice president of concepts and standards at Areas USA, a provider of hospitality services in airports, sees pickup lockers as the next evolution for his company.

"Lockers are going to be the next thing," Byrne said. "It's about making it easy for people to do business with you."

Steve Byrne

Areas USA currently offers customers three convenient methods of payment: a QR code that allows the customer to order and pay at the table, self-order-and-checkout kiosks for picking up orders at the counter, and order and pickup using a mobile phone.

"The guest feels more comfortable with it (the table QR code) than a tablet because they can do it themselves," he said. So much so that the tips are higher using QR codes than regular table service.

For fast food, kiosks work great. The challenge with kiosks is where to place them to make the guest most comfortable.

Travel is already back to pre-COVID levels in some markets and the speed of growth will continue, Byrne said. His company recently introduced the Cake Boss vending machinewhich he said has been a "fabulous success."

Challenges to consider

With growth, however, comes challenges.

When half the people at a restaurant are using kiosks, the orders come into the kitchen much faster than ever, Byrne said.

"You have to be sure you're able to perform at that level, because the guest is expecting something much quicker when they use the kiosk than if they go to the counter," he said.

And as digital activity expands, the panelists agreed that data security becomes a bigger concern.

Alex Willis

Panelist Alex Willis, vice president of sales engineering at Blackberry, a provider of endpoint security and encryption and embedded systems, said data channels must be secured at both the device and application levels to protect against ransomware attacks.

"We do everything at the application level or the device level as well to make sure that people aren't able to use that tablet for other purposes," said Willis.

In the case of the widely reported 2013 Target Corp. data breach, the cyber criminals didn't penetrate Target defenses; they infiltrated a Target partner that had access to Target data. "They went through a side door," Willis explained.

Better security considerations

"Everyone is paying a lot more (attention) to our supply chain and then inspecting other security plans and programs at our partner sites to make sure that we're fully covered and not just the stuff that we control," he said.

Smart coffee makers with a Wi-Fi module can be protected with good data encryption on the machine, Willis said, but an insecure Wi-Fi can bring a conduit to an outside party to enter the network.

"The bad guys continue to do their research too," he said. "Now everything is BYOD (bring your own device)." He also said it's also important to monitor the network for customers' behavioral anomalies.

Bill Stutzman

"If you don't have that security built in there, it's become a hacking point to get into whatever networks it's attached to," agreed moderator Bill Stutzman, vice president of strategic initiatives at Ventus Wireless LLC, a managed service provider for Internet connectivity and the sponsor for this session.

Long-term expectations positive

Long term, 5G technology will enable cable-free connectivity for almost everything, Stutzman said. "Wires will become a thing of the past for a lot of stuff," he said.

At the same time, while the consumer is inundated with information about 5G, it's not going to be available for commercial use for two or three years.

"Don't let that (5G) inundation from the carriers drive you crazy with 'Oh, I can't put any 4G routers in my machines,'" Stutzman said.

Patel envisions the mobile phone emerging as a holder of identity and preferences so users shouldn't have to "reinvent the wheel" at every machine they use.

"It's not just the online world that gets customized, but the physical world starts getting customized for who you are and the preferences you bring with you," Patel said.

Hebert said personal electronics will be smarter. "Data is going to be mined in a way that we're not even thinking about today," he said. A big question is whether or not consumers allow data to be shared to use AI to enhance the experience.

Byrne wants to see voice command technology come to self service.

He also thinks there needs to be more education about self service technology. A lot of consumers are still hesitant about using self service since they are concerned about security and don't want to use their credit cards. In addition, new technology is still difficult for many consumers to use.

"We need to make things easier for the guest," Bryne said. "That will increase people's comfort level to use these things more and more comfortably."

Hebert said one of the biggest challenges is achieving the balance between being reactive and proactive with technology. There is a need to be reactive to changes in consumer behavior but there is also a need for forward thinking and introducing new products.

"We're a hospitality company at the end of the day," Byrne said.

Head shots provided by panelists.

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