Kiosk mode turns a tablet, touchscreen, or any browser-based device into a self-service survey station. Multiple people answer the survey one after another on the same device, and the survey resets automatically between respondents so each person starts fresh.
This is the right approach when you want to collect feedback at a physical location rather than sending surveys by email or SMS.
When to Use Kiosk Mode
Any situation where a shared device sits in a fixed location, and people approach it to leave feedback:
Retail stores: Customers rate their experience at checkout or at an exit kiosk.
Hotel or restaurant reception: Guests leave feedback before leaving.
Healthcare clinics: Patients rate their visit in the waiting room or at checkout.
Events and conferences: Attendees share feedback at the end of a session or at the exit.
Offices and coworking spaces: Members rate a service, a meeting room, or a facility.
Bank and service branches: Clients rate their interaction after being served.
In all of these cases, the device stays put, people walk up to it, answer in under a minute, and walk away. Kiosk mode handles the reset so the next person always sees a clean survey.
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Which Campaign Type to Use
Kiosk mode is available on both regular and anonymous link survey campaigns. Which one you choose depends on whether you need to identify the respondent.
Anonymous link campaign
Responses are not linked to any person or contact record.
No personal data appears on screen at any point, which matters on a shared device in a public space.
No follow-up is possible after the survey is submitted.
Regular link campaign
Respondents can enter their email address on the device, or you can pre-fill it in the survey URL.
Responses are matched to a contact in Retently, enabling follow-up.
Use this when your process involves identifying the specific respondent at the point of survey, for example, when a staff member hands the device to a named customer or when a QR code pre-fills the customer's email from your system.
Setting Up the Campaign
Step 1: Create a link survey campaign
Go to Campaigns and create a new campaign. Select your metric (NPS, CSAT, CES, or another supported type), choose Link as the channel, and select either Anonymous or Regular as the campaign type based on your needs above.
Step 2: Configure the survey template
Assign a survey template to the campaign. Keep the survey short. On a physical kiosk, respondents are standing or in a hurry. A one-question NPS or CSAT survey with an optional comment field is the most common format.
If you chose an anonymous campaign, remove any merge fields from the template. Merge fields reference respondent data that does not exist in anonymous surveys and will show as unresolved placeholders.
Step 3: Enable Kiosk Mode
In the campaign editor, open the Link tab and toggle the Kiosk Mode ON. Three settings appear:
Kiosk Mode Settings
Reset survey if idle for X [seconds / minutes]
This is the core setting. If a respondent starts the survey but stops interacting before finishing, the survey automatically resets after the time you set. The next person who approaches the device sees the survey from the beginning.
Set this to a duration that matches how long a respondent might realistically pause on a single question, for example, anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds.
This timer only triggers on an unfinished session. A respondent who completes the survey is handled by the Thank You page settings below.
Show Thank You countdown
When enabled, the thank you page displays a countdown showing how many seconds remain before the survey resets for the next person. This signals to the current respondent that the session is ending and the device will be available shortly.
Custom Thank You page duration
By default, the thank you page stays visible for the same amount of time as the idle reset timer. This setting lets you override that with a different duration, for example, showing the thank you message for 5 seconds before resetting, even if your idle timeout is set to 30 seconds.
Activating the Campaign
Toggle the campaign switch to ON before placing the device. The survey URL will not accept responses while the campaign is inactive.
Open the survey URL on the device, set the browser to full-screen mode, and the kiosk is ready.