CX Innovators Podcast

How one retail veteran achieves customer satisfaction with self service in today’s omnichannel marketplace

As omnichannel shopping has expanded for nearly all product categories, how does a brand ensure the same level of customer satisfaction in self-service touchpoints as in attended environments?

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February 12, 2024

Sassan Rahimzadeh (Photo: LinkedIn

As omnichannel shopping has expanded for nearly all product categories, how can a brand ensure a consistent level of customer satisfaction in self-service touchpoints as in attended environments?

The question was put to Sassan Rahimzadeh, president of Arya Cleaners in Chula Vista, California, during a podcast interview with Elliot Maras, editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times.

Rahimzadeh became interested in self service after seeing it emerge in other retail environments.

The company opened its first unattended store 20 years ago, becoming the first dry cleaning business to offer such an option, and has since added two more unattended locations. The locations offer a drop-off machine and a pickup machine.

The company has fine tuned the process over the years. Establishing unified software has been the biggest challenge.

Rahimzadeh prefers the term "24/7 express store" to the term "self-serve kiosk" due to the latter term's connotation.

The automation has removed the need for an attended cash register but the need for employees has not lessened. The staff has to be more trained on the back end now.

Self-Service