Retail Customer Experience: Pennsylvania's New Wine Kiosks Get Panned
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from Retail Customer Experience, a daily news portal devoted to helping retailers differentiate the shopping experience.
In December, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) announced it would test self-service wine-dispensing kiosks in a select number of grocery stores, and the first two just opened for business at a Wegmans and a Giant Food.
Designed in roughly the same shape as a Zoom Shop but longer, the kiosk's touchscreen guides the shopper through the wine selection process and offers food pairing tips. The kiosks could carry up to 500 bottles of as many as 50 wines at varying prices.
On checkout, the user is asked to scan his driver's license and credit or debit card, then must breathe into a breathalyzer unit to check for intoxication. A live agent at the PLCB looks at the shopper through a two-way video connection to personally ensure that the buyer is the person on the driver's license. The shopper then walks to the appropriate door on the unit, where a single bottle of the chosen vino awaits, while the rest of the bottles in the machine remain behind security gates. The entire purchasing process is estimated to take less than 20 seconds.
"The self-service kiosks are an exciting new opportunity for consumers to pick up their groceries and a bottle of their favorite wine to compliment their dinner all in one stop," PLCB Board Chairman Patrick J. 'PJ' Stapleton said in a statement. "While our PLCB stores continue to provide excellent customer service and a wider variety of products, the kiosks are a way to give our customers an added level of convenience in today's busy society."
Pennsylvania is known for having some of the tightest alcohol control laws in the United States. The distribution system is owned and operated by the state government, which issues licenses to retailers under a quota system. Retailers in the state have a number of hoops to jump through if they want alcohol on their shelves, including a restricted list of brands that they are allowed to carry.
According to a PLCB press release, the breathalyzer is set to the state's "zero tolerance" level of .02 blood alcohol -- so if a shopper has had a beer with dinner, he would not be allowed to complete the purchase.
To say the wine enthusiast community's reaction has been negative would be an understatement. The biggest complaint appeared to be not being able to hold the bottle and read the labels before committing to the purchase. Others included the restriction over only being able to pay by credit card, limited information on each wine, and sanitary concerns over the breathalyzer.
At the blog The Wine Culture Project, the kiosk has been singled out as the "Worst wine idea of the year." Writer John Kafarski laments that the use of the kiosks turns wine buying into "nothing more than soda in a vending machine."
The press release also said that if the program is well received, it will launch another 100 of the machines, "as part of the PLCB's multi-faceted effort to enhance customer convenience."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of wine kiosks as a selling tool? Can you suggest improvements to the kiosk being introduced by the PLCB? What do you think of kiosks' ability to prevent liquor sales to minors?