Gokis Kiosk Self-Service

Custom Self-Service Kiosks Help Avanti Markets Offer Lunchtime Alternatives

Hickory, N.C.-based Avanti Markets uses a revolutionary self-checkout kiosk designed specifically for use in business and industry convenience stores. Customers simply pick out the items that they would like to purchase, scan the UPC symbol at the kiosk and pay for them using cash, credit cards or the Avanti Market keytag, a stored-value card.

state employee self service | Human Resources Software

Slabb, based in Las Vegas, is a leading manufacturer of custom kiosk hardware for all types of applications, including kiosks and digital signage to the global marketplace. Since 2001, Slabb has been designing and manufacturing custom kiosk hardware and developing kiosk software for many of the biggest companies in the world. Slabb’s client list includes representation from more than 22 sectors and 6 of the 7 continents.

Hickory, N.C.-based Avanti Markets uses a revolutionary self-checkout kiosk designed specifically for use in business and industry convenience stores. Customers simply pick out the items that they would like to purchase, scan the UPC symbol at the kiosk and pay for them using cash, credit cards or the Avanti Market keytag, a stored-value card.

The challenge
For many companies, lunchtime consists of one of three choices: brown-bagging a sandwich from home, choosing one of 16 varieties of chips from a vending machine or taking a drive to the nearest fast-food restaurant and hoping to get back to work in time.

Of course, none of these options does much for either the morale or the health of employees. Bring lunch from home tends to get monotonous, while a steady diet of chips and soft drinks or burgers and fries isn’t the choice most cardiologists would recommend.

In addition, having staff leave the premises in the middle of the workday is a recipe for lost productivity as hour-long lunch breaks stretch into an hour and 30 minutes or more.

Vending company operator Aaron Speagle saw the opportunity to address those issues by developing a self-service market that could offer an array of healthy items such as salads, sandwiches and yogurt. The concept, which would become what is now Avanti Markets, offers a number of advantages compared with typical lunchtime offerings, including keeping employees on-site for meals, eliminating refund and change hassles and being more energy-efficient than a bank of vending machines.
To make it work, however, Avanti Markets needed a dependable self-checkout system.

The solution
“We were looking for someone who could put together an attractive-looking unit that represented the Avanti Market look and feel, with our emphasis on green, energy efficiency and progressiveness,” said Avanti Markets representative Peter Bostwick. “That was very important to us.”

After considering a number of other kiosk manufactures, Avanti Markets turned to Slabb and the company’s X6 freestanding kiosk. The 54-inch tall kiosk requires less than two feet of floor space, a 110-volt power supply and an Internet connection.

When a new Avanti Market is slated to open, Slabb ships the kiosk by FedEx to the location. The market operator simply connects the kiosk to the Internet and a power source. Avanti installs the self-checkout application and the kiosk is up and running the same day.

In addition to cash and credit cards, the kiosks accept the stored-value Avanti keytag for payment. Employers or employers can load cash onto the keytag at the kiosk itself.

“We have a number of customers show put money on their employees’ cards each month to encourage them to hang around and eat healthier, or give out pre-load keytags on birthdays and so forth,” Bostwick said. “It’s really a great incentive”

The results
Since installing its first self-checkout market in July 2009, Avanti markets has opened more than 150 markets around the country, from Washington D.C. to Florida to California to New York.

“The great thing about this is it works great for both white-collar and blue-collar locations,” Bostwick said. “We’ve got law firms that use it and we’ve got automotive parts manufacturers who use it.”

A video security system keeps theft to an absolute minimum, and local vendors keep the markets stocked with fresh product. Avanti Markets handles tasks such as credit-card processing and equipment maintenance, leaving employers free to focus on their core businesses.

In addition to offering checkout instructions in English and Spanish, the company is adding French as an option in anticipation of a deployment in Montreal.

Since the concept was first deployed, Avanti Markets has drawn rave reviews from customers. The company considers Slabb an integral part of its success, Bostwick said.

“They are an international company and they are available 24/7, which is great because we operate around the country,” he said. They are very responsive and very professional.”

About the sponsor:
Slabb is a leading manufacturer of custom kiosk hardware for all types of applications. The company’s client list has representation from more than 22 sectors and six of the seven continents. Slabb’s focus is on innovation and affordability, offering state-of-the-art products, support and service. The company’s software, services and custom divisions work together to bring its customers a solution for every step involved in a project.

state employee self service | Human Resources Software

Posted by keefner at February 6, 2011 09:01 PM