Kiosks as a business model.

Here at Palmer Retail Solutions, we make a lot of kiosks. For more than 20 years, we’ve designed them, built them, partnered with our clients to meet all their space and leasing requirements, and helped launch lots of successful small businesses.

We hear from a lot of clients early in their research process, wondering “is a kiosk the right business model for my retail idea?” Often, the answer is yes! After all, kiosks are a flexible, customizable, relatively low-cost way to launch and run a great business.

Less Risk

Retail space can be expensive. Many entrepreneurs feel that they have a valuable product or service that they are ready to get on the market, but the barrier of entry or the level of risk may be too high for their particular business. A kiosk can put many of these concerns to rest by providing an option with a lower cost of entry, shorter lease term, and the option to own your own kiosk while renting space from a mall.

Products or services

The beauty of the kiosk industry is that they work for a nearly limitless amount of products and services. From clothing to hermit crabs and everything in between, we have created mobile retail solutions for businesses selling haircuts, beading, teeth whitening, watch repair, cell phones, jewelry, language software, food, toys, and countless other things.

Single location or satellite

Some kiosk owners are small, start-up businesses--but not all. Larger companies often use kiosks as supplementary retail locations. While the flagship store may be 20,000 square feet of merchandise, a kiosk can provide consumers with live demonstrations or information about their products. In this sense, a kiosk can be used as a marketing tool to guide potential customers to the business’s main locations.

Year around or seasonal

Most malls feature both year-around kiosks as well as seasonal ones that show up around the holiday season. While there are exceptions, most seasonal kiosks—unique toys, meats & cheeses, wreaths, or calendars—are owned by the malls themselves and rented out to business owners, while year around businesses design and build their kiosks to best suit their product or service.

Small is good

While kiosks are an ideal solution for many businesses, there are a few products that they simply don’t work for. Because mall rental spaces are typically 10x15 at the largest, any products that require a large amount of display space are difficult for kiosk sales. For instance, beanbag chairs, mattresses, and motorcycles are all poor kiosk candidates, unless the kiosk is being used as a supplementary information location for a larger retail store.

If you have additional questions about the interactive kiosk as a retail solution, download our eBook outlining important aspects to know before opening a retail kiosk. Keep current with industry discussions and product information on Twitter: @PalmerPRS. Palmer derives great satisfaction from designing unique interactive kiosks that incorporate maximum functionality, ergonomics and offer long-lasting service. To connect with us you can visit our website at www.palmerretailsolutions.com.

Palmer Retail Solutions strives to offer our clients the absolute best combination of innovation, quality, service, and value for our diversified custom store fixtures and merchandising displays. For more information about our designs, retail fixtures, cash wraps, kiosks, or point of purchase displays, visit our website at http://www.palmerretailsolutions.com.