Automated Retail Whats All The Buzz About?

Automated Retail Definition / Map

So what is automated retail?

Well if you google it, it seems ZoomSystems have coined the phrase and got the ranking to go with it.
However

The term vending is synonymous with your typical, box in the corner, dispensing little more than chocolate bars and soft drinks for a £1 a go. But take a step back for just one moment. Stick a 12-20" touch screen and increase the size of the channel and you've pretty much got the basis of an automated retail unit.

Most importantly Automated Retail is updating the image of vending. No more do you have to be infuriated by a pack jam, rather you will be offered a full refund,

The typical sequence of events are:

Attraction: The consumer is attracted to the store by advertising
Browsing: The consumer can browse through product finding out more about products in question, using a product selector and a touchscreen interface similar to any online shopping experience.
Payment: The consumer pays for their selected product using chip and pin technology, contact less payment, or a typical cash / note reader.
Dispensing: The unit dispensing the product via a method which ensures delivery or in the case of failure a full refund given and the operator alerted to the machines status.

The Origins Of The Humble Kiosk

Touch Vending Offer Consumers Memory Cards And Mobile Accessories Via Vending Machines At London Victoria

Barclaycard launch contactless payment method wavepay

O2 experiment with sim card and mobile phone vending machines at Manchester Airport

Traveling throughout Manchester airport you may notice several vending machines that are literally head and shoulders above the rest. It seems O2 are having a go at targeting the massive travel market through a series of O2 branded vending machines selling pre loaded Pay as you Go sim cards and several basic handsets to suit.

The price points are travel friendly for the cash laden holiday goers £10-15 range and the machines are chip & pin ready. Some seem to accept cash too, whilst others remain strictly card only.

All machines come with a massive 40” display unit running the latest television add campaign. The one featuring the ducks.

Digital signage around the airport tells customers that you can pickup O2 sim cards around the airport. But it doesn't say where.

As for their impact... Time will tell.


find out more about sim card vending here

find out more about mobile phone vending here

Cigarette vending goes stealth

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Whilst checking out some of London's best known clubs & bars. Its worth dropping by the Supperclub. Poised at the end of a long corridor bathed under black light. Is a machine like no other. It seems Marlboro have been trying to up their image with a custom built Cigarette vending machine. Anybody wanting a breath of fresh air will have to head past the halo lit and slickly designed facade. I almost dare you to walk past and not want to play with it.

Manchester Airport Sim Card and Mobile Phone Vending

The best example of the future of vending and kiosk manufacture was spotted by a colleague at Manchester Airport.

At several site locations across the airport O2 have branded a number of machines and emblazoned them with a digital top box running the latest media from there international talk time campaign.

A possible flaw with the machines is that they only accept credit card, which rules out alot of cash carrying customers.

Sites include baggage carousels, airside walkways & waiting areas.

The origins of the kiosk

One of the most familiar sites across england is the iconic telephone kiosk. The ones we are probably most familiar with, the K2 and K6 were designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Who incidentally was the architect behind Bankside power station, which we now know as the Tate Modern London. This is the earliest example of a public kiosk that I can think of.

http://heritage.elettra.co.uk/phonebox/