Long derided as the tacky underbelly of the mall shopping experience, carts and kiosks are now rapidly spreading and dominating sales writes John Grossmann:

• In an evolution from the early days, malls have adapted to better serve kiosks by installing electrical outlets and better lighting in the middle of mall walkways.
• The kiosks have also used technology to boost sales. Tablets are used to showcase merchandise and send commands to a warehouse to ship products directly to a customer’s home.
• Kiosks have some natural advantages over standard retail stores. By being in the very center of the mall they don’t have to draw customers in – instead customers flow by and the open nature of the kiosks means that customers are exposed to all of the products available.
• Kiosks also pay lower rent, cost less to construct, and employ fewer people thus lowering labour costs.
• Experts believe that some kiosk chains do over $100 million in business every year.

Read more about the rise of kiosks, stories from those who have run successful chains, and some myths about kiosk stores over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution