Read the text about self‑service kiosks and why they are helpful. Then, do the exercises below.

Ewelina Ramotowska Everyday Shopping Easier and Faster

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Shopping, going to the bank, to the post office or to the airport are all inseparable parts of our lives – whether we like it or not, we are obliged to buy food and cleaning products, pay bills, send a parcel from time to time or check in at the airport. Everyone has their own, personalised experiencepersonalised experiencepersonalised experience with such tasks but for the majority it is nothing but a boring, nasty chorenasty chorenasty chore. Long queuequeuequeue, edgyedgyedgy, impatient customers, people with crying children – sounds familiar? There is a way to avoid it, though. Self‑service kiosksself‑service kioskSelf‑service kiosks will save you and help you leave a supermarket, any office or station as soon as possible.

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Self‑service kiosks are the best friends of people who don’t enjoy walking along shopping aislesaisles [aisle]aisles and don’t browse for pleasure but rather buy whatever they need and leave the store quickly. The devicesdevices [device]devices were designed for those who simply go crazy at the post office when after waiting for 25 minutes, they find out that their packagepackagepackage will not be sent today. These are the helpers for all those counting‑every‑single‑minute, hurried clients of travel agencies, tax officestax offices [tax office]tax offices or banks. It is very useful when you need to check in really fast as your plane leaves in 30 minutes.

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It is the time to explain what a self‑service kiosk actually is. It is an interactive terminalinteractive terminalinteractive terminal for automated customer servicecustomer servicecustomer service available in almost every kind of commercial premisescommercial premisescommercial premises. The customer can ask self‑service kiosks any question related to interestinterest interest rates in a bank, delivery optionsdelivery options [delivery option]delivery options at the post office or the permitted luggage size at the airport. With this touchscreen computertouchscreen computertouchscreen computer, a customer has access to information about prices, products or special offers in shops. Everything can be done without interaction with another person and without wasting time. Kiosks are definitely time‑efficienttime‑efficienttime‑efficient inventions as they answer your questions straight away.

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The positive aspect of self‑service kiosks is the fact that they are human error freehuman error freehuman error free. These machines know exactly how many bottles of pineapple juice are left in stockin stockin stock, if there are any bargainsbargains [bargain]bargains at the moment, from which terminal your plane departs or what the lowest interest rate on a loanloanloan is. A regular shop or bank assistant might make a mistake and give the wrong information, very often unintentionallyunintentionallyunintentionally. This system definitely boosts customer satisfactionboosts customer satisfaction [boost customer satisfaction]boosts customer satisfaction as they always tell the truth. What is more, they work almost for free, the employeremployeremployer doesn’t have to give them a salarysalarysalary. Therefore, they are cost‑efficientcost‑efficientcost‑efficient.

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On the other hand, this full automationautomationautomation of customer service may make the client feel fully responsible for making their choicechoicechoice. Undoubtedly, self‑ordering servicesself‑ordering services [self‑ordering service]self‑ordering services provide you with flexibilityflexibilityflexibility and can personalisepersonalise personalise your needs. At the same time, you become the only person in charge ofin charge ofin charge of your purchase, orders or bank decisions, which are safely made as kiosks simply reduce human errorreduce human error reduce human error. Thus, self‑service kiosks seem to be perfect devices on condition that you really don’t need contact with other people.

1 Źródło: Ewelina Ramotowska, dostępny w internecie: Self Service Kiosks 101, https://www.kioskgroup.com/pages/self-service-kiosks-101 [dostęp 1.03.2022], What is a self‑service kiosks?, https://www.hexnode.com/blogs/what-is-a-self-service-kiosk/ [dostęp 1.03.2022], Will Self‑service Kiosks Make Cashiers Obsolete?, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2021/08/16/will-self-service-kiosks-make-cashiers-obsolete/ [dostęp 1.03.2022], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.