Vending Machines, Empowering The Consumer
The mall, I'm sorry "THE MALL" is, to me at least, a modern American nightmare. The lines and scattered merchandise reminding me of a military rationing camp. Price tags mangled and piles mismatched unorganized merchandise strewn around like so much debris. Making order in The Mall is not easy or fun, it is troubling and hard for me to stomach. Maybe it is more organized than I really give it credit for but for my money shopping there just feels like an endless chore. We live in a mostly automated society already. Why is it that the shopping experience, the cornerstone of capitalism and American life, remains so archaic and ill managed?
When I have expressed these anxieties to people they have often touted the internet as the new ideal, it's ease and efficiency and the user's ability to manage and create the ideal shopping experience as they see fit. Sure the internet is great, it has revolutionized the way we do everything. Sometimes, however when I need socks I need them right then and there. The internet is not great for instant consumption gratification. So when I make these complaints they are in favor of a more tried and true way of consuming and that is the vending machine.
Vending machines of course have been effectively serving us snacks and sodas for decades. More recently a vending machine manufacturer or two have tried their hands at building machines that vend trading cards, DVDs, small electronics, books and magazines. This increasingly diversified part of the retail market is perfect for almost any sort of retail experience. Certainly our collective ease with snack vending machines and soda vending machines could eventually expand out to our point of purchase sales of thousands of other products. So many strides have been made towards automation, from self check out at the supermarket to automatic teller machines replacing bank transactions that to move into the larger retail experience with vending machines would be strikingly intuitive to most consumers.
As we move into a future of self defined retail experiences the "shopping around" process is happening more and more outside of the realm of the store. We read up on line, do research on our phones even as we shop. Every part of the retail experience has been empowering the consumer for so long now. We are, thankfully, getting further away from The Mall. I for one could not be happier about it.
About the Author
At http://www.uselectit.com you can find traditional or non-traditional snack vending machines, food, drink vending machines, or coffee vending. USI works with you to develop innovative equipment solutions, financing programs that meet your needs, management systems leading the industry with vending programs to maximize profits for any size location. Check out our blog at http://www.uselectitblog.com/
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