UK manufacturer Lazenby Group in partnership with tech company SAL Systems has launched a “self-sanitizing kiosk” that promises to boost retailers’ in-store hygiene levels in a more efficient and sustainable way.
The Safe Touch product is described as “the world’s first commercial self-sanitizing kiosk”, and the companies bringing it to market promise “impeccable hygiene, even in the busiest of environments”.
Whether deploying the full technology offering or retrofitting part of it to existing kiosks and in-store devices such as touchscreens and point of sale (PoS) equipment, retailers implementing the Safe Touch product have the opportunity to reduce their reliance on manual processes and potentially damage-inducing cleaning chemicals.
Jonathan O’Connell, founder of SAL Systems, said: ”The components constituting the Safe Touch solution produce minimal carbon footprint in manufacturing based on our innovative engineering methods.
“These methods make our solutions easily integrated into different retail technology systems and hardware while maintaining reduced waste and no necessity for special treatment in recycling.”
Safe Touch’s patented design offers what the manufacturers described as “a controlled ultraviolet C (UVC) treatment” which can decontaminate surface areas and help eliminate viruses and bacteria on various surfaces such as self-service kiosks or PoS technology which is increasingly triggered by consumer touch.
Neil Sewell, managing director & owner of Lazenby Group, a Hull-based original equipment manufacturer of self-service kiosks which has recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, commented: “The emergence of Safe Touch comes in the wake of the Covid crisis, when retailers followed strict hygiene practices to maintain high levels of cleanliness and reassure consumers they were doing all they could to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
“Such stringent cleaning has not been followed since the end of the pandemic, presenting more risks of diseases being spread.”
O’Connell added: “The busier a retail store is, the higher the risk of infections being spread by regularly touched points such as self-service machines, or PoS keypads.
“Maintaining good hygiene at these points becomes harder as the frequency of use increases. By utilising the controlled UVC light of Safe Touch, retailers can ensure the complete sanitisation of each device after every transaction while also reducing the chance of cleaning liquids damaging their valuable in-store tech.”
Research group Mintel reported in April 2021, as the Covid crisis began to subside, that supermarkets and other retail outlets “should maintain visible signs of hygiene as a way of assuring consumers’ safety”.
“They should go a step further by implementing long-term enhancements to store infrastructure and “shared food” departments,” it suggested, adding that hygiene issues will persist as a key part of the customer’s decision-making process when selecting stores to shop in.
Lazenby Group and SAL Systems’ group of experts are currently providing personalised demonstrations of the Safe Touch product, highlighting to retailers its potential as a more hygienic, cost-effective, and sustainable solution for cleaning in-store tech.
[Image credits: Lazenby Group/SAL Systems]
