Future trends and innovations in the vending machine industry

With the advancement of technology, the vending machine industry is constantly expanding, and we are constantly seeing companies use new innovations to break through boundaries. So, what trends and innovations will appear in the vending machine industry in the future? Reverse vending In March 2018, the British government proposed a 'Bottle Recycling Return' (DRS) plan to reduce the amount of plastic waste. According to Veolia's estimates, about 40% of the plastic bottles in the UK cannot be recycled because they are placed in the wrong trash cans, which ultimately results in about 240,000 plastic bottles being landfilled every year. More and more consumers' concerns about disposable plastic products have led to an important industry trend-'reverse sales', that is, storing beverage containers and returning money or shopping vouchers to consumers. British supermarkets Iceland, Tesco and Co-Op have all launched anti-selling pilots in the past year. Similarly, at the international level, the Coca-Cola Company launched the'vencystick' in China in October last year, which is a vending machine that allows consumers to return used packaging and adds facial recognition technology and a voice interaction system. Reverse selling is a major action in industries that support the circular economy. It provides consumers with a simple way to reduce plastic waste. Due to the DRS plan proposed by the British government, there will be more places where reverse sales will appear in 2019. It will be interesting to see how reverse sales will develop. Cashless payment In recent years, consumer behavior has changed, and the days of carrying cash with you are slowly disappearing. Research by the European Central Bank shows that in 2017, non-cash payments in Europe increased by 7.9% year-on-year to 134 million euros. Cashless payment solutions in the vending machine industry are not new, but we will see an important trend in 2019, and that is the industry’s response to the recent growth in mobile payments. According to Munster's data, there are more than 252 million Apple Pay users worldwide, and this number continues to grow. Many vending machines can now accept mobile payments and can also connect to customers' online accounts through apps. Earlier this year, Nayax completely integrated Visa's sensory branding technology into its Monyx wallet application to meet the payment needs of mobile vending machines. Recently, companies such as Reis u0026 Irvy chose Australia's Nayax as the exclusive cashless payment provider for their automated Froyo robotic ice cream kiosk. The vending machine industry is clearly taking conscious actions to help cater to the cashless world. With the increasing popularity of mobile payments, this trend is expanding to a world where cash and credit cards are not available to adapt to changes in consumer behavior. Automated retail Automated retail goes further than ordinary vending machines. From unattended kiosks to unattended shops, we have seen many innovations in this industry. As early as January 2018, Amazon opened the first checkout-free supermarket, using the'just walk out' technology that automatically tracks virtual shopping carts. We have also seen companies like Starbucks join the ranks of automated retail, providing instant self-service solutions through the automated vending service provider Selecta. Last year, Kroger Corporation partnered with automaker Nuro to trial an automated grocery delivery service in the United States. In 2019, Pepsi-Cola became the first major food and beverage brand to use a snack delivery robot at the University of the Pacific. Through an app, students can order food and drinks, and then automated robots will deliver these food and drinks to more than 50 locations on campus. Only this week, Amazon was allowed to start testing commercial drone deliveries in Australia. Automated retail (now automated delivery) provides consumers with a simple and more independent retail experience. Continuous innovation and technological development have provided the industry with more modern and instant solutions to match the changes in consumer behavior.