Retailing by Kiosk

One byproduct of the Web gift registry is the in-store kiosk. A mini-interface, the kiosk lets shoppers pull up a bride’s gift list in the store. The buyer can either print out the list and go shopping, or select an item at the kiosk and buy it right there by swiping a credit card. Steve Stockett, senior vice president of systems development for Federated Systems Group, a division of Federated Department Stores, says this has turned out to be faster for the customer than going to a sales associate. In fact, Federated, which owns Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Burdines, has found the kiosk functionality so efficient that their sales associates use it at the cash register. Instead of customers wandering the store, they can approach a sales clerk, have the clerk look up the item, then hand over a credit card for payment.