Self-service technologies are gradually revolutionizing the process of customer interaction to create optimum service results. The global self-service market is technology driven and involves the use of automated teller machines (ATM), self-service vending machines and interactive kiosks. Self-service technologies are technological interfaces that enable customers to purchase a product or avail a service independent of direct involvement of a sales or service executive. The prominent factors impacting the self-service technology market include, the rising adoption of self-service machines by consumer goods and service sector industries such as banking, healthcare, retail, and food & beverage. The demand from these industries is primarily driven by the need to provide more fulfilling and convenient services to the customers, at the same time optimizing the cost of such services. These automated machines provide a more cost effective solution by reducing the manual task, which eventually minimizes the human errors, and provide a faster and seamless performance. Additionally, the ongoing technological advancements such as wireless communication, remote management would also facilitate the market growth.
Vending machine segment accounted for around 58% of the global self-service technology market, generating the maximum revenue in 2014. ATM was the second highest revenue generating technology in 2014, anticipated to witness a decent growth of 8.29% during the forecast period. Kiosk machines, which presently account for the smallest share, is forecasted to be the fastest growing segment during the analysis period.
North America is the biggest market for self–service technology, followed Europe and APAC, each of the regions, having comparable market shares. Stringent government regulations regarding health & safety, and tracking of users, are limiting the growth of the market in some regions. For instance, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released new Smart...