Reasons for the outbreak of the unmanned vending machine industry

Unmanned vending machines first appeared in the United States in the 1960s. As a new way of retailing goods, due to its wide range of sales, it soon developed into the mainstream way of retailing in some developed countries. In Japan, 70% of canned drinks are sold through unmanned vending machines, and each person spends more than US$400 on unmanned vending machines every year for shopping. Coca-Cola has thousands of unmanned vending machines around the world. In 1993, China began to import vending machines from Japan, South Korea and other countries and put them on the Chinese market. In 1995, the first domestic unmanned vending machine was born. In 1999, it was mass-produced and put on the market in batches. In the next ten years, limited by the cost of equipment, people's consumption concepts, business environment and other conditions, my country's unmanned vending machine sales industry developed slowly. According to a survey conducted by the Japan Unmanned Vending Machine Industry Association in 2016, as of June 2018, China had only 55,000 unmanned vending machines, while Japan and the United States had 5.8 million and 6.91 million units, far exceeding China. In 2017, as the trend of'new retail' swept across the country, unmanned vending machines'revolved from time to time', ushered in a bright moment. In just two years, from no one to the cusp of the storm, the unmanned vending machine has become the'sweet rice cake' that many players are vying for. Corporate players have surged from less than 50 a few years ago to more than 260, and the number of unmanned vending machines in public areas has increased by an average of 25% annually. According to the historical experience of developed countries, when the per capita GDP exceeds 10,000 US dollars, the demand for unmanned vending machines will increase sharply. In 2016, the per capita GDP of 9 provinces and cities in China exceeded this standard. As the disposable income of consumers increases, the demand for vending machines also expands. Experts predict that the explosive growth of China's vending industry may have reached an inflection point. In the next few years, the Chinese market will add 50,000-100,000 unmanned vending machines each year. At the mature stage, the domestic market will reach 3 million unmanned vending machines Taiwan, the market prospects can be said to be broad. The three major factors that have caused the unmanned vending machine industry to break out: wages, rents, and technology are not difficult to find. In recent years, labor costs have become higher and higher. In the ten years since 2005, China’s labor costs have risen five times, 15 times more than in 1995. As an indispensable part of the traditional retail process, manpower is an indispensable part of the traditional retail process. The increase in employee wages has caused the cost of each link in the retail chain to increase, and the profit margin is compressed. At the same time, since 2005, housing prices across the country have risen sharply, and land rents have risen accordingly. Take Shanghai as an example. Commercial rents in the Shanghai area have increased by at least 8 times in ten years, and store holding costs have soared. Physical retail companies are struggling with e-commerce, labor costs, and rental costs, making life increasingly difficult. In addition, as a high-tech and intelligent product integrating sound, light and mechatronics, the development of unmanned vending machines is inseparable from the update and iteration of technology. The popularization of mobile payment technology has greatly improved the settlement efficiency of unmanned vending machines and the shopping experience of consumers. The in-depth application of AI technology, big data, cloud computing, biometrics and other technologies has made the stability and operational efficiency of unmanned vending machines unprecedentedly improved, making it possible to find people with unlimited goods.