Vending Machine-China's Future Retail Fighter

Vending machines are a brand-new form of commercial retail, also known as 24-hour micro supermarkets. It is not restricted by time and location, saves manpower, facilitates transactions, and has a huge development prospect, which has opened up a new world for the domestic retail industry. The origin of vending machines can be traced back to Egypt in ancient times. The Alexander scientist HERON described in his book that as long as the coin is put into the device, the machine will distribute a certain amount of holy water to the coin holder. Around 215 BC, such devices were installed in Egyptian monasteries to sell'sacred water (holy water)'. This is the earliest vending machine in the world. In 1904, Japan was born a 'postage stamp and postcard vending machine'. It is a machine that integrates the sale of postage stamps and postcards and the posting of letters from the post box. In 1925, the United States developed a vending machine for selling cigarettes. Since then, various modern vending machines for selling tickets and so on have appeared. Vending machines then emerged as an industry, first in Western Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, in the subway in the United States, people could buy a piece of gum on a vending machine for 1 cent. After the Second World War, the economy began to revive, and Japan was the representative of the development of beverage vending machines. In the 1950s, the'spray juice vending machine' became popular, and the juice was poured into paper cups for sale. Since then there has been an explosive vending machine frenzy. Since the 1970s, vending machines have gradually developed and grown in Japan, Europe and the United States. In Japan, there are more than 6000 kinds of products sold through vending machines, and 70% of canned drinks are sold through vending machines. The world-renowned beverage company Coca-Cola has 500,000 beverage vending machines around the world. Today, the United States has an average of one vending machine for every 50-60 people, and Japan, as the world's largest vending machine market, has an average of one vending machine for every 23 people. A variety of novel, avant-garde, and convenient automatic purchase methods have been favored by consumers. However, how is the development of vending machines in China? Driven by the boom of foreign vending machines, some old machines imported from Japan, South Korea and other countries have been placed in the domestic market since 1992. After 1999, self-developed and produced vending machines gradually entered the Chinese retail market. However, the early days of the retail industry in China were not satisfactory. In addition to being unable to keep up with the trend in technology, they also lack experience in business models. There are very few types and numbers of vending machines. Most Chinese people are not used to this way of consumption. After more than ten years of development, vending machines have become more and more popular among young people today through continuous innovation and improvement. At present, in addition to roadside streets, vending machines have entered schools, hotels, hospitals, office buildings, theaters and other public places. The products it sells have evolved from various beverages to some daily necessities, and even newspapers, ice cream, desserts, and maternal and child products can also be sold automatically. In addition to the diversification of products, novel functions, and attractive appearance, it often attracts young people to stop and even take pictures. With the advancement of science and technology, the payment function of vending machines has changed from traditional coin (coins, paper money) to today's WeChat payment, Alipay payment, IC card payment, and even face-swiping payment, etc., making the purchase operation more and more convenient. There are many types of vending machines, among which micro-smart vending machines are more favored by entrepreneurs. Mo Convenience Hotel Machine is a miniature intelligent vending machine launched by Grid House. It is designed for the scene of hotel rooms and solves the core pain points of sex toys between the hotel and consumers. This kind of guest room mini-type unmanned vending machine, also called hotel wall vending machine, can be placed on the floor, or placed on the bedside table and TV table. Put the mini-smart vending machine such as the magic convenience hotel machine in the guest rooms of love hotels and theme hotels (high occupancy rates for men and women) to sell adult products and sex toys. To provide hotel guests with a better check-in experience, while protecting the privacy of guests purchasing products, and avoiding the embarrassment that guests encounter when they go to the front desk to check out. Experts predict that the number of vending machines on the Chinese market will increase by 50,000 to 100,000 units per year in the next few years. In the relatively wealthy coastal areas of China, there will be approximately 350 million people who regularly use vending machines. With the increase in income levels, people are pursuing flexible, convenient, fast and self-service services, especially the younger generation. This avant-garde retail approach that accompanies their growth will become a new consumer fashion. The domestic small and medium-sized operators of self-service vending machines continue to expand the market scale, and the growth rate of the overall market scale has surpassed the growth rate of large operators for the first time. This is a good trend. Vending machines will become a potentially huge industry. After department stores and supermarkets, the third retail revolution will be launched, and its prospects are very broad. In the context of mass innovation and entrepreneurship, it is believed that the vending machine industry will gain more and more attention from bottom entrepreneurs. The cost of starting a vending machine is not high and it is worth promoting. After all, the biggest market for vending machines in the future is China!