Customized Shopping

      That scenario is quietly unfolding at Boscov's Department Stores, the privately held regional chain from Reading, PA, which reports encouraging results from a two-year project that resulted in the installation of bridal/gift registry kiosks in all 37 of its stores.

      At the tail end of the 20th century, Boscov's set out to raise the profile of its then manually driven gift registry processes and give customers the option of serving themselves. "It's all about giving choices, customizing shopping experiences, and ensuring that we don't miss any sales opportunities," explains Ken Lakin, Boscov's chairman and chief executive officer. Served up on a Windows NT-based network, each kiosk includes a 7401 terminal from NCR, MarCole software, and a thermal printer. All registry SKUs interface to the chain's IBM DB2 databases, so inventories are updated as soon as someone chooses a gift and purchases it at the point-of-sale (POS).

      The kiosks sport traditional registry features such as name searches, gift price ranges, product pictures, and complete list management functions. Usage has already exceeded expectations, according to corporate bridal director Lorraine Hudak, who cites a recent week of chain-wide kiosk usage as having generated 1,600 unique sessions.

Driving Sales

      Boscov's kiosk investment was significant: per store hardware cost about $10,000, and total server and licensing costs neared $350,000. But Boscov's expects to recoup that investment within the next year or two. "We've saved on some labor hours, so there's been some direct ROI involved in that-but there's more of an emphasis on driving sales," says Lakin.

      Retail kiosks can be effective sales adjuncts, and retailers are likely to prioritize in-store systems like kiosks, particularly given the ongoing "dot-gone" fallout that has seen many either scale back or pull the plug on Internet retail operations. A potential pitfall can occur when kiosks actually compete against staffers, especially since bridal registries are commissioned sales areas in many department stores. But Boscov's scoffed at that notion. "Everyone realizes that the kiosks are sales enhancers, and we've taken the necessary steps to position them as such," Lakin adds.

Recession Proof

      Retailers have learned to make gift registry kiosks really profitable endeavors. But they must do more than pick the ideal locations for kiosks and train in-store staffers to encourage trial and repeat usage. Experts note that retailers have to analyze the total costs of kiosk ownership-especially when it comes to maintenance and upkeep-and to buy with future technology enhancements in mind.

The biggest benefit of the kiosks has been driving sales.

      For example, more gift registry kiosks will accept credit cards and make registrant information available to gift-givers via the Internet. As Jupiter Media Matrix analyst Rob Leathern emphasizes, Internet access has two-way potential: "Multichannel retailers looking to boost online registry usage must give consumers the ability to access registries in a physical location as well as online." An increasing number of registry kiosks also allow for a two-way interface with customers' handheld devices by the uploading of data to corporate systems via an IRDA interface and the downloading of registry data to customers' handhelds. Many retailers are already implementing such visions.

      Boscov's is considering adding magnetic stripe readers (MSRs) to their kiosks to make them fully-fledged point-of-sale terminals, according to senior vice president and CIO Harry Roberts. "It's just a matter of putting in MSRs. We could process orders, have them gift-wrapped, and even ship them for customers. There are many ways we could add value to the kiosks, but we want to think about it a bit more," he says.

      Last year the Bloomingdale's division of Federated Department Stores installed MSR-equipped bridal registry kiosks in 12 of its 23 stores. "We're pleased with the program. Even though the economy is tough, the bridal business is somewhat recession proof. Many people put off their wedding plans last fall, but those plans are back on track," says Pamela Tooke, Bloomingdale's corporate bridal director.

Limitless Opportunities

      Meanwhile, the Boscov's kiosks have been built with the future in mind, as they sport RF antennas for wireless LAN connectivity. "PDAs and cell phones are becoming one. It's not on the top of our priority list, but it's something we are looking at," Roberts says. The chain also expects to link the gift registry to its Web site and to interface the kiosks with customer relationship management applications.

      Lakin praises the long-term financial impact that the gift registry kiosks can make: "We've laid the foundation to build sales and widen our customer base, but with the potential for Internet connectivity and loyalty programs, the opportunities from these devices become limitless."

• IBM
• MarCole
• NCR