Simplify the process of purchasing items in your space with NexKiosk

In your coworking or flexible workspace, you provide your members with the facilities they need to carry out their work and be productive. A good desk, strong Wi-Fi connection, access to a wider community of companies and individuals on the same wavelength, but more often than not, your members need more. Whether it be for a coffee, additional day passes, access time or just about anything else, operators spend a lot of their day processing additional purchases for members.

Sometimes, these are one-off purchases. Other times, needs arise quite regularly. With this in mind, we knew that members would benefit from an extension of our software that would help to streamline the purchasing process for members as they roam around your space, seeing as sometimes, buying can be more difficult than you would think.

In order for you to provide a more tailored experience to your community, the majority of a member’s interaction with your space is recorded in Nexudus. It’s only right that we do the same with the purchases your members are making.

To help keep your workspace running smoothly, we have recently developed our newest addition to the Nexudus portfolio. Cue NexKiosk – the application responsible for catering to the needs of your members when they are inside your space. Let our automation software do the legwork for you.

What is NexKiosk?

To put it simply, NexKiosk is an app that can be used to sell products to your members. From coffee to catering, day passes to phone chargers – regardless of what you offer in your space, you can sell it through NexKiosk. The difference between a regular kiosk and our point of sale-style automation app is that not only are you able to use it to sell any of the products that you offer, but you are also able to do so in a quick and efficient way.

It is designed for iOS and Android tablets, and it allows members to make purchases in your space either with or without the assistance of an Administrator.

Different Modes Available

Two different modes are available within the NexKiosk app, and both sides have varying functions.

These are:

Epos

Epos is only available to Nexudus Administrators and will require the same Administrator’s email address and password that is used to access the Nexudus platform. As a result, this side of the app is widely used by Space Managers and Operators. In this mode, the tablet that the software is running on becomes the checkout, and the Operator will essentially become the cashier.

As it is an extension of your Admin Panel, from where you also have the ability to sell products and process customer payments and invoices, all payments made are linked to your Nexudus account and are available to view at any time.

To process a sale for a member, Administrators will have to make sure that they are in Epos mode, and then tap on the member’s name from the customer list – we have included a search functionality to make this easier.

Select each of the products that the customer would like added to their cart, before tapping on Checkout.

To help them make their decision on how they would like to pay, before the customer is instructed to make the payment, they will be able to see all of their unpaid invoices (if they have any!) on the checkout screen, along with any credit that they have available in their account. At this point, you are also able to add either a discount, by tapping on Discount and entering a valid discount code, or a transaction note, by selecting Add Note.

Here, members are presented with two options – if they choose to Pay Later, you can select this option and the items will be added to their next invoice, or if they would like to settle the payment there and then, you can tap on Charge, which will give the member the option to use their credit or debit card to process the payment.

With this new capability, it will no longer be a problem if your members have no cash to hand, or even if they have left their cards at home. As the time it takes to buy whatever it is you need will be much shorter, operators will notice that long waiting times and congested areas will become a thing of the past.

Kiosk

Any customer who can access your Members’ Portal will also be able to access Kiosk mode. It differs from the Epos side of the app in that it is designed for members to make autonomous purchases as they would in an ‘honesty bar’ kind of environment.

From this mode, your members have the liberty to select which products they would like to purchase themselves  – whether that be food, drinks or the much-needed cup of coffee, passes for extended entry, or amenities available in the building such as lockers.

Once a member has logged in either by using Passport by Nexudus or with their email address and the PIN code provided in their welcome email, they can make a decision on what they would like to purchase by scrolling through the product categories available.

Similar to the Epos side, a member is presented with two options – whether they would like to pay with their card, in which case they can simply tap their card on the reader, or by adding the bill to their Nexudus account. The billed item will instantly be available to see in your Nexudus account, in the Sales tab.

Any item that you have not paid by card for will be automatically added to your next invoice, along with any other items that are listed as unpaid in your account.

If you would like to go back and check any of the purchases you have made in the space, you are free to do so. Simply select the Invoices tab.

As Kiosk mode is customer-facing, members are able to make purchases without even having to speak to anybody, which may come in handy, if it’s one of those days… Whilst coworkers love interacting, in the context of the pandemic, not coming into contact with anyone in order to make a purchase can be seen as highly beneficial. As the software eliminates the need for interaction, you can think of it as an interactive vending machine, except that it gives you so much more than just snacks!

With less time spent waiting in line to be served, coworkers will avoid eating into their productivity. By setting up a trust-based system of this type, you will place trust in your members, which will lead to your members experiencing a greater feeling of belonging to a part of a community. How very coworking!

How to Pay

Within both sides of the NexKiosk app, customers have the option to pay in two different ways – either at the time with their card or as a part of their next invoice.

NexKiosk’s default payment option is to charge customers in Nexudus and have them pay for their purchases on their next invoice, as we have found this to be the more practical and straightforward way for customers to manage all of their payments. Products purchased this way will appear on invoices as any other product would, and if your team has enabled merged invoicing, the purchases will show up on the invoice of the paying customer.

However, we know that instant payments are often preferred, and that is why we have also made this option available. One thing to bear in mind here is that for in-person payments to work, you need to have connected NexKiosk to either Square (only available in the US) or iZettle beforehand. We provide further detail on how to do this here.

Learn More

For more information on how NexKiosk can simplify purchases made in your space, take a look at our detailed guide in our knowledge base.

You can see a full list of our companion apps here.