Editor Note: If you are a "deployer" looking for kiosks you can request a free copy of the complete Excel file (700+ companies). We also provide some legitimate kiosk market research at the end of this article.
We will preface this post with the statement "the kiosk industry is full of nuance". Someone like Kodak might say "We do more kiosks than them". Maybe true but then unless you are a major retailer you can never buy one. They may have "built" over 400,000 kiosks but currently only 400 in the field. Which number is more relevant?
This post includes kiosk enclosures, kiosk software, kiosk devices and kiosk services. We then break it down into categories. We also have a list of over 700 companies of all types involved in kiosks. We also cover digital signage companies, automated retail and thin client technology (aka Cloud). The source for this data is threefold:
manufacturers that Craig adds as he sees them. He has been in the kiosk industry for 30+ years.
We also note the manufacturers who are resellers, OEMs or OOB or out of business.
Definition of a kiosk manufacturer for us:
They design and manufacture kiosks, standard and custom
Generally, they will offer multiple models across multiple verticals
Their primary business is usually kiosks
They don't "resell" kiosks
They don't buy kiosks from China or Mexico
For purposes of SLED, "Made in America" is critical and that includes where the steel comes from. "Assembled in the US" is step down. Also NOT using steel but processed plastic (vacuum molded e.g.) is one way to beat the U.S. steel requirement. Problem is you usually end up with a "one trick pony" so to speak. It can't be modified.
Injection molding is generally reserved for special high-volume projects
Often in datamart research you will see Toshiba, NCR or Diebold -- bear in mind that supermarket self-checkouts are NOT kiosks in our mind. And while ATMs could be considered kiosks, they prefer to be only identified and counted as ATMs
Questions and Nuances
Ask how many full-time employees
Ask how large is their facility? Zivelo started out as 100x100 corner of a large metal fabrication company. Saying "our facility" is 200,000 square feet is a conditional truth at best.
How many kiosks have they built in the last 24 months? Built may not be necessarily deployed. They might still be in a warehouse.
Get a list of customers in the last 24 months. Make sure it is current/recent customers.
What is the average value of their kiosks? Maybe $5500? or are they cheap Chinese units being resold that are less than $1000.
What is their minimum "size of deal"? You can buy a completely outfitted Samsung with sofware for $3500 and that is quantity 1
Remember that sales VPs are trained to tell you what you want to hear (no offense intended).
How many kiosks are currently on their monitoring system? Can you see?
What is their "Burst Capacity" per month aka what size production runs can they ramp up to? Usually by hiring lots of temps.
Check out their facility on Google Maps -- No matter which company you consider look them up on Google Maps and take a look. Some of them are a bit scary. Before signing on with any kiosk company you should visit their facility. Don't fall for the data mart research out of India. Companies that have been out of business for 10 years are still listed. Send an email to info@kioskindustry.org and we offer free and objective advice. We have 30+ years of experience.
Kiosk and Self-Service Trends
Probably the biggest impetus right now is related to AI. Several members of Kiosk Industry have deployed AI advisor solutions including 22Miles, Sitekiosk, Verneek and SapientX.
Along with that has come a new emphasis on voice order and voice navigation.
ADA related -- we're all waiting to see in December what the U.S. Access Board issues as their new guidelines for self-service. Meanwhile screenreaders like JAWS by Vispero or SuperNova by Dolphin are flourishing. Storm Interface and its assistive technology has probably had its best year ever. Later this month the EV guidelines are due too.
Evoke – UK-based — one of four McD kiosk suppliers
Flextronics – volume manufacturer (redbox e.g.)
Frank Mayer – Kiosks + Retail Merchandising Displays
Friendlyway – kiosks + digital signage Germany
Gable – boutique digital signage kiosks
Gibco Kiosks – sticks to government (SSA eg)
GRUBBRR – reseller
PARTTEAM – Portugal
Harbor – retail fixtures + kiosks
Howard
I&E Kiosks – reseller
Ideum – boutique table kiosks – nice stuff
IKE (aka Orange Barrel Media) – smart city and they buy enclosures from Colorado company
Intersection – same as IKE
Lilitab – iPad kiosks (Paneras e.g.)
Meridian – many types of kiosks
MinuteKey – turnkey “key” kiosks
NCR – now resells Samsung via GRUBBRR
Oracle – Opera kiosks in hospitality
Palmer Digital – little bit of everything
PanOston – based in Europe with US offices
Rosendahl – based in Denmark. Longtime participant
TSITouch – carries and resells the Samsung kiosks
Touchsource – directory kiosks
Verifone – bought Zivelo and McDonalds contract
Calculating the number of kiosks manufactured
One big reason for industry counts being a very wide range is Indian data marts simply scrape data and never interview. You end up double-counting, triple-counting and sometime by factor of four. Here is simplistic example:
The restaurant purchases 50 kiosks from 111
222 actually provides the kiosks to 111
US assembly partner (333) for 444 provides the kiosks to 222
444 tallies its numbers and sales
50 kiosks just turned into 200 or 250.
AI Isn’t Much Help
We have a ChatGPT 3.5.1 account so we asked. Bear in mind ChatGPT data only covers up to 2021. They managed to score 3 out of 10 or 4. You can ask 5 different ways and get five different results. Not reliable given its age or sources. Mostly a regurgitation of $5995 India datamart reports which come out every 6 months. You’ll see Zivelo, NCR, Diebold, Glory, and other out-of-business or fractional participants. Certainly, there are situations like Aloha which NCR owns is going to buy kiosks from NCR. The distinction is NCR doesn’t manufacture them. We asked 5 different ways and get 5 different answers, none of them more than 60% accurate.
It’s tough getting a good report on kiosks. We like the reports from IHL. Example page from 54 page report on Hospitality POS
Hospitality POS research from IHL
Almost all of the other reports that Google mistakenly highlights (or deliberately highights if skeptical like us) are junk reports.
Example Self-Order Kiosk report we got last week
The following related companies are covered. Not sure how they come to list an equity firm, or currency/coin acceptor manufacturers. They seem to be triggered on vending machines :
NCR Diebold Fuji Electric Hitachi Crane GRG Banking SandenVendo Lone Star Funds Sielaff Azkoyen Group Bianchi Vending
Here is what they are asking for that junk
Global Restaurant Self-order Kiosk Market Insights, Forecast to 2029
2023-08-24 | Pages: 111 | Tables: 138
USD 4900.00 (Single)
USD 7350.00 (Multi)
USD 9800.00 (Enterprise)
The global Restaurant Self-order Kiosk market is projected to grow from US$ million in 2023 to US$ million by 2029, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of % during the forecast period. The US & Canada market for Restaurant Self-order Kiosk is est…
BOTTOM LINE — only buy data reports from qualified reputable people. And even then remember that the kiosk and self-service industries are not like grocery store POS systems that are easily counted. It’s a learning curve for all the analysts. We helped/assisted Frost & Sullivan which historically has done their due diligence. Here is report from 2018
Business Development Manager at KeeTouch 18+years professional manufacturer|Touch Screen Monitors for Kiosks|Gaming Machine|Slot Machine|Smart Lockers|Interactive Totems|Vending Machine
Business Development Manager at KeeTouch 18+years professional manufacturer|Touch Screen Monitors for Kiosks|Gaming Machine|Slot Machine|Smart Lockers|Interactive Totems|Vending Machine
12mo👍 you are doing a great job, thank you
| EV Payment System | ePayments | Cashless
1yGary Steele kinda missed you out here - rigged clearly ☺️