2026 Market Research Numbers

By | February 17, 2026
Slide example

How Big Is The Self-Service Market?

In 2025 December we looked at Self-Service market as a whole. Here is summary of that —

TIG Core Market Report.jpg

TIG Core Market Report.jpg

Grand Total — Global Self-Service Technology Market (2024)

  • 180 Billion – $235 Billion per year]
  • Hardware + software + services + warranty + AI
  • This is the correct “full stack” number for TIG/KMA positioning.

It’s 2026, lets take another look, in another way. One of our supporters asked TIG about it and its a good time to issue 2026.

Kiosks (global revenue market)

These sources are broadly consistent that kiosks are already a ~$30B+ market and grow to ~$45B–$63B by ~2030, depending on definition (interactive kiosks vs self-service kiosks, what’s included in services/software, etc.).

  • Interactive kiosk market: $34.79B (2024)$52.74B (2030) (CAGR ~7.2%).

  • Self-service kiosk market: $34.36B (2024)$62.46B (2030) (CAGR ~10.9%).

  • Another widely cited forecast band: $21.85B (2025)$35.65B (2030) (CAGR ~10.3%).

  • 2026→2031 view (helpful if you want a near-term “5-year plan” slide): $16.24B (2026)$28.41B (2031) (CAGR ~11.84%).

Touchscreens / interactive displays (the commercial side)

This is where some numbers often go off the rails because some “touchscreen display market” numbers include phones/tablets (not what we muan). For our use case, we want commercial touch displays / interactive displays (retail, hospitality, healthcare, kiosks, education, etc.).

  • Commercial touch display market: around $6.9B (2025)$16.3B (2035) (CAGR ~9%).

  • Another “commercial touch display” estimate shows $6.42B (2025)$12.57B (2033) (CAGR ~8.75%).

  • Interactive display market (broader than just touch panels; often includes solutions): $48.70B (2024)$90.68B (2032).

  • Cautionary example (too broad for your deck unless you explicitly say it includes consumer devices): Touch Screen Display market $76.36B (2023)$194.44B (2032).

Global installed base (already deployed): defensible range

Anchor (2024–2026 timeframe)

Multiple major market trackers put the self-service/interactive kiosk revenue market in the ~$34B neighborhood for 2024.

Convert revenue → implied installed base (triangulation)

A kiosk “in the field” carries an annualized cost stack (capex amortization + software + support):

  • Capex amortized: (typical $10k–$30k all-in kiosk system) / (5–7 years)

  • Plus annual: software/licenses + connectivity + support/service

A conservative, investor-friendly all-in annualized spend per deployed kiosk is:

  • Low spend case: $4k / kiosk-year (cheaper hardware, light support)

  • High spend case: $10k / kiosk-year (payments, printers, managed services, higher uptime SLAs)

So implied installed base:

  • Low base (fewer kiosks, higher spend): $34B / $10k ≈ 3.4M kiosks

  • High base (more kiosks, lower spend): $34B / $4k ≈ 8.6M kiosks

Defensible installed base range (global): ~3–9 million deployed kiosks
A good “base case” midpoint for a pitch deck: ~5.5M.

This range is defensible because it’s constrained by a public revenue anchor (kiosk market size) and uses transparent unit economics rather than unverifiable “we think there are X kiosks” claims.

Bottom-up “sanity check” by vertical (ranges, not precision theater)

These are ranges we show as a banded bar chart (low/base/high). They’re designed to sum to the 3–9M triangulated envelope.

Suggested vertical split of deployed kiosks (global, already deployed)

QSR / Fast Casual ordering & pickup: 0.9M – 2.5M

  • High site counts + multi-lane drive-thru + dining room ordering drives volume.

Retail (self-checkout + assisted checkout + loyalty/returns kiosks): 0.8M – 2.0M

  • Retail has huge footprint; endpoints can be “kiosk-like” lanes and interactive counters.

Healthcare (patient check-in/registration/wayfinding): 0.25M – 0.80M

  • Global hospital count is ~216k projected by 2026 (Statista via Newsweek); US hospitals ~6,100 (AHA) supports the magnitude.

Travel (airports, rail/metro ticketing, rental car, hotels): 0.25M – 0.70M

  • Airports/transport hubs are kiosk-dense even when venue counts are smaller.

Entertainment & venues (cinema ticketing, stadium/arena ordering, attractions): 0.15M – 0.45M

  • Global cinema screens are commonly estimated around ~40k screens; multiplex footprints imply meaningful kiosk deployments at venues. (Use as directional only.)

Government / civic (DMV, benefits, courts, libraries, municipal payments): 0.10M – 0.35M

  • Slower rollouts but large installed base across jurisdictions.

Total (low/base/high): ~2.45M / 5.50M / 8.85M
(Aligns tightly with the revenue-implied 3–9M envelope.)

Scenarios

We are big on evolving modalities coming into play in self-service (touchscreens are the mainstay),

What about Conversational AI?

SLIDE 1

Global Installed Base of Deployed Kiosks (2024–2026)

Headline

3 – 9 Million Self-Service Kiosks Deployed Globally
Base Case: ~5.5 Million


How This Was Derived

Revenue Anchor:
Global self-service / interactive kiosk market ≈ $34B (2024)

Annualized kiosk-year economics:

  • Low case: ~$4,000 per deployed kiosk per year

  • High case: ~$10,000 per deployed kiosk per year

Implied installed base:

  • $34B ÷ $10K ≈ 3.4M

  • $34B ÷ $4K ≈ 8.6M

Rounded defensible envelope:

3M – 9M deployed kiosks worldwide

market research

market research

SLIDE 2

Serviceable Installed Base for AI Connect Bar

AI Connect Bar targets conversational ordering and AI interaction across:

• Drive-thru voice ordering
• In-store kiosk ordering
• Wayfinding / concierge
• Service counters


Attachable Installed Base

We exclude:

  • Pure bill pay kiosks

  • ATMs

  • Simple ticket dispensers

  • Non-interactive digital signage

We include:

  • QSR ordering kiosks

  • Drive-thru ordering lanes

  • Foodservice kiosks in retail

  • Hospital registration / concierge

  • Venue ordering kiosks

  • Airport F&B kiosks


AI-Relevant Installed Base

Category Base Estimate
QSR In-Store Ordering ~1.6M
Drive-Thru Lanes ~0.6M
Retail Foodservice & C-Store ~0.4M
Healthcare Registration / Concierge ~0.45M
Travel / Airport / Hospitality ~0.45M
Venues / Entertainment ~0.25M

Total AI-Relevant Installed Base:

~3.0M (Base Case)
Range: ~1.8M – 4.8M


Investor Slide

Global Installed Base (All Kiosks)

  • Low: 3M

  • Base: 5.5M

  • High: 9M


AI Connect Bar Serviceable Installed Base

  • Low: 1.8M

  • Base: 3.0M

  • High: 4.8M


Annual Deployment Velocity (Replacement + New Growth)

Assuming 5–7 year lifecycle:

  • ~15–20% of installed base refreshes annually

  • Base case refresh market:
    5.5M × 15% ≈ 825,000 units/year

That is your annual recurring opportunity floor, before expansion growth.


Strategic Takeaway Slide

• The installed base is already massive
• ~3M endpoints today can support conversational AI overlays
• ~800K+ endpoints refresh annually
• AI does not require new hardware in most cases
• Attach rate drives exponential upside


Next we  might:

  • Convert this into a clean visual bar-chart slide layout

  • Add CAGR forward projection to 2030

  • Create a TAM / SAM / SOM version

  • Or pressure test this against QSR chain counts specifically

Kiosk and Touchscreen Market ai connect bar

Author: Staff Writer

With over 40 years in the industry, Craig is considered to be one of the top experts in the field. Kiosk projects include Verizon Bill Pay kiosk and thousands of others. Craig was co-founder of kioskmarketplace and formed the KMA. Note the point of view here is not necessarily the stance of the Kiosk Association or kma.global -- Currently he manages The Industry Group