Convenience stores may complete part of their historical missions, unmanned vending machines quietly

In order to cater to the short, flat and fast pace of life, a product called a convenience store was fermented. Convenience stores have folded half of the world's nightlife. I don't know when we can no longer leave the convenience store in our lives. We are used to convenience stores, just like we are used to air. There are you and me in the convenience store, and everyone. It is to bring a kind of bottom-up existence to your life, a stable and practical. In March 2019, some media reported that some of the 7-11 convenience store in Nanjing changed their business hours earlier, changing the original 24-hour business to 16-hour business, and the business hours are from 7 am to 10 pm. In Japan, where convenience stores are the most developed, news has also been reported that some convenience stores have shortened their business hours due to shortage of staff. The 24-hour convenience store seems to be slowly undergoing some changes. The unique advantages of vending machines. After Mr. Ma Yun proposed the'new retail' in 2016, the retail industry has stirred up waves. The concepts and terms such as technology and economy, scene revolution, big data, artificial intelligence and so on have all come to the forefront. Let'no one' walk into the public eye completely. Regardless of whether traditional supermarkets and large-scale stores are willing to accept this fact, the domestic retail format is undergoing tremendous changes. Its outstanding performance is the emergence of new retail formats such as chain convenience stores, unmanned convenience stores, and vending machines, which have been favored by capital. In fact, compared to unmanned supermarkets, on the contrary, vending machines are more popular with consumers. Automatic receipt of goods is not only convenient, but also simple to operate. It is completely intelligent. Not only that, but the products on the vending machines are clear at a glance. To a large extent, the difficulty of consumer choice is eliminated, and the time for careful selection is also reduced. Among the many innovative services and products, vending machines are among the businesses that have relatively dazzling performance and are closely related to convenience stores. 24-hour operation, easy and deployment, low labor cost, high SKU support, efficient supply chain extension...The vending machine is regarded as one of the best solutions for convenience store 24-hour service. The world's first modern unmanned vending machine was born in the United Kingdom in the early 1880s. Its main function is to issue postcards. Dating back to the past, the first vending machine in time was invented by ancient Egypt in 215 BC, which shows that its history has a long history. After World War II, unmanned vending machines began to develop in Europe, and they truly entered their heyday after being introduced to Japan. Japan has a small country, a large population, and an aging society. The labor cost and space cost are very high. Unmanned vending machines are booming soon after entering Japan. Their convenient and fast features are very popular. The technology of the human vending machine has passed the factory, the performance of the machine is guaranteed, and the coin-operated consumption habits are also very suitable for the consumption situation of Japanese nationals. There are vending machines in almost every street in the city. According to data released by the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association, the current number of vending machines in Japan has exceeded 5 million, with annual sales exceeding 60 billion U.S. dollars. Counting down, about every 23 Japanese own a vending machine. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 93% of the population living in cities. High-density population has given birth to high housing prices. In Tokyo, where the land is so rich, retailers have almost no space to store consumer goods. So many companies would rather put a vending machine on the street than open a store. Japanese merchants put almost everything that can be loaded into the vending machine. In addition to the common beverage and snack vending machines in China, Japanese vending machines also include cigarettes, tea, candy, beer, hot food and even amulets. For now, the ratio of vending machines to convenience stores in the United States is about 30:1. In 2017, there were 106,000 convenience stores in China. If calculated at 30:1, the number of vending machines in China should be 3.18 million. But in fact, the number of vending machines in the Chinese market in 2017 was only 460,000, which shows that the market is far from being saturated.