Web-enabled kiosks make BP gas stations more sticky
The web gives shoppers a new way to reach retail merchants -– and in-store kiosks are giving shoppers new ways to reach the web. Retailers’ Internet presence is expanding into gas stations as London-based BP begins to roll out web-enabled kiosks in convenience stores attached to its U.S. service stations. College Station, TX-based NetNearU is providing software, the user interface, and the remote back-end management system for the kiosks, which have grown to 126 in number worldwide in the past six months. Initially tested in the United Kingdom, the kiosks are just now being deployed by BP in the U.S.
At the kiosks, BP customers can shop online, get local information, maps, and even check e-mail. “Just about any web site you can go to at home, you can go to at the kiosks, though there are some filtering devices," says Cody Catalena, chief technology officer of NetNearU. Besides giving shoppers access to online merchants, the kiosks aim to make BP’s gas station convenience stores “sticky,” as customers who walk into the store to use the kiosks may decide to purchase magazines, sunglasses or potato chips on the spot once inside. “The kiosks get the stores more foot traffic and make for more satisfied customers,” says Catalena. “The average person who walks into a convenience store spends a certain amount of money. If you can bring that number of people up, you have a higher chance of selling more product.”
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