A self-service kiosk that shoppers ignore is worse than no kiosk at all, according to a whitepaper from German digital signage company Eyefactive.

It ties up budget, frustrates staff and leaves a visible reminder on the shop floor that something didn’t go to plan.

Most underperforming kiosk deployments aren’t a hardware problem, says the whitepaper. The screen, terminal or placement are rarely the source of the problem. It almost always comes down to the interactive software and, more specifically, to a software decision that was made too quickly, with too little information.

The guide advises retailers to know their use case before evaluating any kiosk software. It says they should prioritise multi-touch performance, content management, hardware compatibility, cloud monitoring and analytics. They should also start with a pilot deployment, not a full rollout.

However, it says interactive kiosks are no longer optional for retailers.

“Retail is under pressure from several directions at once,” it says. “Staff are harder to find and more expensive to keep. Online competitors offer instant product information and personalised recommendations that physical stores struggle to match. And customers, having grown accustomed to the speed and convenience, are bringing those same expectations through the door.”

The global self-service kiosk market is estimated to reach $28bn this year, growing to $37.8bn by 2030.

Interactive kiosks are increasingly how retailers bridge the gap between what customers expect and what a physical store, without the right technology in place, can actually deliver. The question for most retailers is no longer whether to invest in interactive kiosk technology, it is how to do it in a way that actually holds up in practice. That starts with the software.

“You need to establish your kiosk requirements before starting software platform evaluations,” says the whitepaper. “Most retailers fail to complete this obvious step, which causes them to select software that only partially meets their needs instead of choosing a system that was specifically designed for their requirements.”

The whitepaper, written by Matthias Woggon, CEO of Eyefactive, is available at cdn.eyefactive.com/live/web/downloads/whitepaper/en/whitepaper-kiosk-software-shoppers-guide-by-eyefactive.pdf.