By Michael Arndt
Believe it or not, self-service technology has been around since the 1800's. The first technology that was considered to be self-service is the vending machine. The first vending machines were introduced in London, only dispensing postcards, envelopes, and paper. A little over 50 years later, the United States introduced them into train platforms where they sold chewing gum. Throughout the next 50 years, vending machines evolved to selling all sorts of items like food, drinks, and a variety of household supplies.
The next big step in this evolution was in 1964. This is when the self-serve gas station first began. Almost 30 years later, the first self checkout was created for grocery stores. It didn't become heavily popular until the early 2000's, but this technology is so prevalent in our lives today. Almost every single grocery store you go to will have a few self checkout kiosks. It has been so successful within stores, that it has even spread to other industries. Self-service kiosks have become extremely popular in the travel industry as of recent. Almost all major airlines have a self-service section full of kiosks where customers can check their bags, change their seats, and print their tickets. Even some rental car companies at airports will have kiosks where you can reserve a car yourself. This technology allows customers to work at their own convenience. It also allows employees to utilize their time and help the customers who really need it. That way the length of lines will decrease as well as wait times. Demand for these kiosks and this technology will only increase as convenience plays a bigger part in consumers' every day life.
Another huge breakthrough has been the internet. In 1995, Amazon and eBay kicked off this whole era of self-service technology on the internet. Amazon started as a website where you could buy books and eBay was a place for people to buy and sell goods, all while enjoying the convenience of staying in their own home and working on their time. The internet has obviously grown the self-service industry immensely since then and new ideas keep popping up everyday. This technology saves companies a ton of money as well. It is assumed that the average cost of an internet interaction with a customer costs about $1.15, and in person would cost about $6-$12 per interaction. Not only is this technology great for consumer convenience, but also for business costs.
Self-service technology will only continue to grow. An example of the future is Amazon opening up a grocery store that has no cashier. It is the beginning of frictionless service.
Discussion Questions:
What do you think self-service technology will go from here? What is the next technology?
What industry do you think will be most effected by self-service technology in the next 20 years?
Sources:
https://advancedkiosks.com/the-evolution-of-self-service-technology/
https://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=43354
https://www.qikserve.com/self-service-tech-a-history/
Great article! As someone growing up in the technology age, it's hard for me to realize how much it's developed. Kiosks seem like such a normal business function at this point that sometime's its easy to forget how new that technology is. Also I can't image my life now without Amazon. Anything I could need, I order off amazon as it saves me time and helps save money by price comparing.
ReplyDeleteI think self- service technology will expand in the direction similar to Siri or Amazon's Alexa. These assistant applications are multifaceted in their functions, making them a well rounded product. These "assistants" allow users to multitask which is a demanded concept. I see artificial intelligence expand to be higher functioning. In the further distance, I do see it being able to perform more physical tasks, as it's in experimentation now. Perfecting the physical assistance portions will take time.
I can completely relate to growing up in this technology age! I feel like so much changes so quickly within the technology industry and how it effects the rest of the business and retail world. I agree with you that the convenience of ordering from an Amazon Alexa or Google Home are becoming more popular, but I think many people will still prefer to actually pick out all of their groceries instead of just asking these assistants to order a few things at a time. This is where I think the demand for a "checkout-less" grocery store or even regular retail stores can come into play. This allows consumers to utilize quicker technology without having to give up their old habits and completely change.
DeleteLike Oliva said, it is hard to forget that this has been around for a long time having grown up with it. I also think that the use of AI will take self service to a new level. Google Duplex is a virtual assistant that can do many tasks for you. It can book hair appointments, make reservations at restaurants among many other tasks. Seeing where it goes from there will be something to keep an eye on.
ReplyDeleteI think the retail industry will be the most effected by this technology. With self-serve kiosks employees are no longer required so this may take away jobs. The use of a sales person is becoming less relevant now, especially with online shopping.
I completely agree. AI is taking everything to a whole new level that we as consumers have never experienced before. I actually wrote a separate blog post a few years ago about AI and how they are taking over so many jobs. What I learned from reading about it is that the key to keeping your job or any job for that matter is continuing to have an entrepreneurial mindset. AI is extremely smart but they don't quite have the type of creative thinking that we have as of now.
DeleteSelf-service technologies are expected to continue evolving to serve the future needs of customers. The next technologies that are likely to transform this area include artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies. While AI will continue improving due to machine learning applications, blockchain is the next big thing in customer service. The main benefit of the technology is that it allows a ledger of client transactions to be shared across a network of participants. When the network generates a new digital transaction, the ledger is updated once across all the participants. One of the self-service areas where blockchain will be applied is payment for and receipt of products. Constant updating of the transaction status in the blockchain system will enable customers to complete their activities without contacting a company.
ReplyDeleteThe industry that is expected to be affected most by the self-service technology is the banking industry. It is expected to facilitate enforcement of smart contracts among transacting entities. The system will execute and enforce contract terms and payments automatically. It means that a customer will be able to complete a transaction without direct involvement from any other entity. The process will make payments easier and reduce the amount of time that banking staff spend on handling issues. A smart contract code within the blockchain will facilitate, verify, and enforce agreements. Customers can automatically complete purchase transaction and receive the required product without contacting their bank or seller. This will be a radical shift from the traditional clearance mechanisms.
I appreciate how you addressed blockchain technology and the banking industry. Not many people think about that, they typically go straight to the retail consumer industry. Banking has so much potential as well, but my only concern is privacy. I think technology such as blockchain and AI have the potential to be so beneficial for consumers. Everyone loves it when tech can make activities easier for them. However, as we have most recently seen with Facebook, not everybody is comfortable with giving up a ton of information and privacy for these luxuries. I believe this will cause the cyber security industry to be more important and more active than ever before. There will be a huge need to decrease security threats.
DeleteThe answer to: what is the future of self-service technologies?, is all of the above. There is no limit to self serving technologies, but rather just a matter of time and available systems that operate to get the jobs done. I believe that with the extinction of customer service, humans will become less needed, and technology will be in demand, to work at the pace and speed of the human mind. I read an article that shed some interesting light on the future of artificial intelligence (link pasted below). The article made it clear that although self serviced technologies will drive businesses out, they will also drive new ones in. Businesses like malls and actual stores, will be overtaken by online shopping and online websites, but businesses such as third-party self-service technology complaint companies will become of need and use. Service and AirHelp are apps already in use, when people need to complain about their experience using a company's kiosk. These third-party providers will take care of complaints and bring it back to the original company; taking away the hassle customers go through when waiting for a representative on the phone. This being said, in summary, when i think of the future i think of speed and efficiency. The pace of an actual human, is not accepted anymore, and that is why automated technologies are in high demand. I believe there will be consequences of this, not in relation to technology or MIS, but in relation to human interaction. However, I find it interesting that new businesses coming into play all have to do with the growth of businesses or, in this case, the needless businesses going "out of style".
ReplyDeletearticle mentioned: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikhailnaumov/2018/04/23/5-predictions-on-the-future-of-customer-service/#5e178ad4ecb9
Thank you for including this article! I like what you had to say about AI and the difference in jobs that humans will have in the next few weeks. We have talked a lot in my operations management class about how the U.S. is transitioning from a manufacturing industry to a service industry. Most of our manufacturing jobs are either outsourced to another country or is being taken by machines. This has led us to focus more on services and create new jobs in that arena. I'm sure more and more service jobs will be taken by new technology, but there will always be new jobs which require human interaction. The biggest change will be the required education for each of those positions.
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