How customer behaviour towards self-service technology has changed

Since the P word that shall not be named, there’s no denying the world we live in has changed in more ways than one. Technological advancements were accelerated by a society that had to adapt to lockdowns, contactless interactions, and the limited ability to support bricks and mortar businesses. Consumers compensated for this new contactless society and engaged with businesses in new ways. This study found there was an increased adoption of online shopping, contactless payment methods, telehealth, online learning, remote work and online entertainment.

Since then, consumers have become more comfortable and accustomed to transacting with businesses online and self-serving in-stores. So exactly how has the customer experience changed with self-service technology, and what parallels can be drawn for the fitness industry?

Self-service technology: then and now

When we think of self-servicing technology, there’s a few things that can fall under that umbrella. One is SaaS, or software as a service, where customers can use a solution without interacting with a person. Others are mobile-led technology, like customer portals and apps. And another is a physical self-service kiosk, often adopted by bricks and mortar businesses, where the customer has control of their own transaction without human interaction. Let’s focus on the underdog that is self-service kiosks, which are secretly the key to improving your gym members in centre customer experience.

The increase of self-service kiosks has been growing in the last decade and becoming more commonplace across industries. A study performed back in 2015 in the US, researched the usage of self-service kiosks in grocery stores among 1000 women and men across diverse ages and backgrounds. The study found that 85% had used a self-service kiosk before. 91% of millennials had used a self-service kiosk before, who were the up-and-coming consumer generation when this study was conducted.

The main reasons they found for consumers using these kiosks? 55% said there was no line to wait in, 13% wanted to keep their transactions and financial information private, and 12% said they don’t like interacting with cashiers. Among millennials, “I don’t like interacting with cashiers” was eight percentage points higher than the average at 20%. Keep in mind, this study was conducted in 2015, and Gen Z, who were raised on technology, are now the up-and-coming generation of consumers.

Looking at this study with a modern-day post-pandemic lens, consumers are even more time poor than before and their expectation for seamless technology and contactless interactions are higher. They look for on-demand business interactions that are free from social stigma – something that technology facilitates.

Looking closer at how consumers have used self-service kiosks across industries, it was found in the quick service restaurant industry found that there was a consistent trend in an increased average order value through self-service kiosks. McDonalds saw a 30% increase in their average order value, Taco Bell saw 20%. Similarly, financial service providers found that mobile wallet transactions had a 40% increase. Essentially, customers were buying more through self-service kiosks and technology than over-the-counter via a human cashier.

Why are consumers upping their transaction value, you ask? Well, the main difference that was found is quite frankly – humans are human. We make mistakes and can be inconsistent with our approach. In the service space, cashiers are trained to upsell and cross sell complementary products and services at specific points in a transaction with a customer. Faced with specifically curated sales pitch and a split-second decision, often customers impulsively agree to the upsell and convert.

But like we said… humans are human. If the cashier doesn’t upsell at this point or make an error in their upsell pitch, they lose the extra value for the sale. But self-service kiosks? They can’t forget. They upsell at the same crucial point every time and can even make personalised recommendations based on a customers purchase history, making the upsell even more compelling.

What do these findings mean for the modern-day gym member?

While these findings are based on research on self-service kiosks in the quick restaurant and grocery industries, the consumer behaviours are the same and can be applied to the leisure and fitness space.

What this means for fitness businesses is the new wave of consumers don’t want to wait in line to speak to your receptionist for the little things, like purchasing a new gym towel. They don’t want to interact with a salesperson to upgrade their membership or purchase class passes. They don’t want to feel the implied judgement of social stigma to book one type of class over another.

Using self-service technology gives your members the freedom to interact with your business in a way that suits them.

What does this mean for your business?

Now, you’re faced with a changing audience that wants to self-service more, skip the queue, avoid social stigma from interactions with staff, and is more likely to increase their spending with your business if they use self-service means that handle the upselling process for you.

Integrating more self-service technology into your fitness business is going to help you provide a better, more seamless customer experience to your members and complement the way they want to make purchases.

For the leisure and fitness industry, there’s some crucial way self-service technology can improve your member’s experience, and all which Envibe’s leisure centre software can help you with.

Through an online portal, your members can sign-up, manage and view information about their membership online when and where they like from their mobile device or browser. They have the flexibility and power to view the activation status and end date of their membership, their next debit payment date, their debit payment frequency, and their next debit payment amount. Likewise, they can enroll in courses, manage their enrolment and view payment information through the portal. Lastly, they can book and reserve different venues and facilities within your centre, and manage that booking. All of this means that your leisure centre team are freed up to focus on the members in your centre and deal with more specific concerns and needs, rather than ad-hoc admin. Click here to read more about the revamp Envibe’s online customer portal has recently had and the possibilities for your centre.

In terms of self-service kiosks in your centre, you can capture an entirely different audience, such as the day-pass and casual members. Envibe has a physical kiosk you can place inside the gym so your members can skip the queue and tag into their class, meaning they don’t have to wait in unnecessary lines. They can also purchase casual class passes, and process payments for them.

There is so much opportunity within the leisure and fitness industry to better serve members with a self-service experience. To learn more about how Envibe can help your business and members to become more mobile, agile, and self-servicing, click here.