Researched and improved methods of marketing have lead to increased competition and business productivity. Business houses, firms and multinational conglomerates have plotted new marketing techniques to put forward a better image in the consumer market. Large advertising campaigns and smaller methods like personal selling and demo presentation have influenced marketing procedures all over the world. An effective way of marketing is through the use of kiosks. A kiosk is a small and independent structure that stands out and is used for selling merchandise and marketing a particular service. Kiosks usually exist at retail areas or in common areas such as shopping malls and railway terminals. Internet kiosks also exist and can be used effectively for surfing the Internet from any location.

Primarily, kiosks are found inside shopping mall hallways and are small, booth-like structures partaking in the sale of specialty products. These kiosks employ about two to three workers who operate the kiosk and answer customer questions. In recent times, kiosk machines and mall-operated kiosks have grown in popularity because they provide a sort of small retail store without the need for heavy capital investment or high rental charges. Retail stores and large stores have set up self-service kiosks at places such as drug stores. Kiosks are a great way to test the demand for a product in a new area where the product is unknown and in situations where the supplier cannot afford to invest on rental, advertising and employment costs.

Kiosks exist in many forms these days. ATM kiosks, Internet kiosks and kiosk video rentals are some common examples of special purpose kiosks. These types of kiosks are expensive to set up and require high initial investment of funds, time and labor. However, they are used extensively after they are set up and the initial installation costs are easily recovered.

Kiosks have become extremely popular these days. They can be used for a large number of applications such as gaming, billing, credit card payments, Internet access, sales and advertising.