Several Industries Are Transitioning To Self Service

Online, March 21, 2011 (Newswire.com) - AVT's customers have noticed that consumers have become increasingly impatient with inexperienced salespeople, long waiting lines, or closed stores when they want to conduct business. As a result, AVT customers and prospects are requesting quick efficient low cost solutions that AVT can uniquely provided.

Looking at the overall market, an increasing number of industries are choosing to provide self-service technology options for their customers. Self-check-out at retail stores and supermarkets, pay-at-the-pump gas stations, self-check-ins at airports and hotels, online banking and stock trading, self-order entry at restaurants, and an array of dedicated devices (photo kiosks, DVD rentals, ticket machines, etc.) are becoming commonplace.

In most businesses, the transition from customer service to self service is an undeniable trend. As Web-based searches and touchscreen kiosks become more user-friendly and thereby capable of handling more complicated tasks, health care providers, fast-food chains and other businesses are trading face-to-face encounters for face-to-monitor transactions. It is expected to improve speed, accuracy, and operational efficiencies in unattended sales.

For example, in banking, the phrase "full service" used to refer to a teller capable of handling transactions affecting checking and savings accounts as well as safety deposit box access, and the processing of mortgage and loan applications. Now, full service means that the bank provides a wide range of services that avoid contact with the bank's tellers almost entirely.

An effective self-service technology -- provided for example by AVT -- has to either make a process faster, cheaper, or better for customers to perceive it as worthwhile.

Source: http://www.vendingmarketwatch.com/print/Automatic-Merchandiser/Self-service-Retail-Formats-Evolve--Impacting-Vending/1$20178