Why are the prices of drinks in vending machines high?

As a new terminal channel that is favored nowadays, drinks, ice cream, snacks, etc. sold by vending machines are generally more expensive than traditional channels in the same location. What is the reason for such pricing? Is it just caused by natural monopoly? Let's take a look at the analysis of the following 'great gods'-Zhihu netizen @guo tony Strictly speaking, goods bought from vending machines and bought elsewhere (such as Wal-Mart) are not a kind of commodity. For example, some people may not go to the supermarket to buy a bottle of drink at all, but they are more willing to pay when they see a vending machine-it can also be understood as a transaction cost issue. In a relatively small space, the market cannot accommodate two vending machines, so there is a so-called natural monopoly, so it is not surprising that vending machines have a certain pricing power--it has little correlation with marginal cost. I don't really believe how big the marginal cost of the vending machine is. In the final analysis, the beverages bought in supermarkets are more substitutable. If Carrefour is more expensive than Wal-Mart, everyone will definitely go to the latter to buy, so it is fully competitive. However, as mentioned above, vending machines meet people's immediate needs, which are relatively rigid and therefore less competitive. Knowing the netizen @陶钧同学 Actually it is very difficult to compare. I will probably talk about a few aspects. 1. Pricing. Vending machines in not all places are more expensive than supermarkets. Machines in many big cities are already sold at a low price. Of course, vending machines sell for 3 yuan in supermarkets for 2.8 yuan and we regard it as the same price. 2. Profit composition. The profit of vending machines is inherently higher than that of supermarkets. First of all, in terms of variable costs, most of the vending machines are now directly supplied by beverage manufacturers, or beverage manufacturers are also in the business of vending machines, so the variable costs are relatively lower than supermarkets, especially small supermarkets. Secondly, the fixed cost. Although the vending machines in many industrial parks have to be changed several times a day in summer, most of the vending machines can reach 400 cans at present, so the dilution is not higher than the supermarket; again, most of the vending machines The model of cargo aircraft is leasing rather than depreciation, and maintenance costs are relatively low. Supermarkets tend to care more about hidden income and cash flow. 3. Business model. The current domestic vending machine market monopoly is still relatively serious, especially in some relatively closed environments, such as university towns, industrial parks, and stations, where competition is not sufficient, even if sales are not at a low price, sales volume is still not affected. The second is the cost of the venue. This cost is actually relatively large as a sales expense. When the salesperson talks about the venue, there will be many gray links, which cannot be invoiced and amortized, which will have a certain impact on the initial stage of operation. Of course, this is all It's a small problem. Knowing the netizen @人神共奋的李刚 The typical wrong answer is: if you have a monopoly, you can raise the price. In fact, apart from administrative monopoly, there is no other form of monopoly in this world, and real businessmen do not believe in monopoly. If I were a supplier, I would not have such a stupid idea. The prices of beverages are all translucent, and they are not a necessity. If they are more expensive, fewer people buy them naturally. Don't tell me that there is no choice, price elasticity also exists in vending machines that have no other choice-'will you die if you don't drink it? 'Don’t say that people who spend money don’t care about this price. If you haven’t done retail, you can never imagine how sensitive the Chinese are to prices and how disloyal to the brand, such as beverages, as long as you With a 10% discount on the price, sales can quadruple. If you earn 1 yuan per bottle, you can sell 1,000 bottles a day, you earn 50 cents per bottle, and you can sell 3000 bottles every day, then I will definitely choose to earn 50 cents. The wrong answer is wrong because it confuses pricing power with pricing strategy. In other words, pricing power is determined by consumer willingness, but it only sets the upper limit of the price, and pricing strategy must consider the capabilities of the supply chain. As someone who wants to enter this industry and has done a survey, I provide the only correct answer to this question: because the pricing of vending machines mainly depends on the maximum available supply of the venue. The capacity of a vending machine is fixed, and its total sales depend on the number of restockings per day. In some occasions, such as subway stations and urban areas, where it is inconvenient to add goods, the sales volume will be small, and the price will naturally be higher, otherwise it will be out of stock; in some occasions, such as campuses and industrial parks, where it is convenient to add goods, the sales will be limited. If there are more, the price is naturally not high, because we are not afraid of out of stock. Of course, the more typical mistake: the problem itself-who is more expensive than the vending machine? The drinks in the supermarket are not very profitable, and even some of the cola sold are paid for it. The vending machine is almost based on beverages as the core product, and profits are derived from this. Therefore, the price of supermarket drinks and vending machines are not comparable.