Why can vending machines occupy the traditional retail market?

Friends who have been to Japan know that as a capitalist country where human capital is scarce, Japanese people love vending machines beyond the ordinary. Although vending machines have existed in some public places for a long time in our country, it has not developed rapidly until the last two years. With the introduction of new retail concepts by major Internet giants, more and more capital is paying attention to vending machines' commercial form. We can see that more and more vending machines appear in subway stations, shopping malls, schools, office buildings, and other places closely related to our daily lives. Compared with traditional convenience stores, vending machines have unique advantages in human capital, rent, supply, and convenience.
     
1. Low initial investment
When opening a convenience store, the first thing that comes to mind is location, interior decoration, and pre-delivery costs. For enterprises, this is undoubtedly a considerable upfront expenditure from 300,000 to several million. And the actual operation consumes a lot of time and energy. In this way, it is far worse than earning money every day. If you don't manage well, you will usually lose a lot and be heavily in debt. Small companies with low liquidity and low-risk resistance are easily squeezed out of market share by well-known brands.

Vending machines have a considerable advantage because the vending machines are small in size and occupy a small area, and the rent of the natural site can also be saved a lot. Initially, only one convenience store could be opened in one place, and more than a dozen points could be opened instantly. This is like putting eggs in a basket, which significantly enhances the store's ability to resist risks and ensures the business's stability.

2. Unparalleled price advantage
Selling fast-moving consumer goods must rely on people's flow in the surrounding area, that is, chain-type 24-hour convenience stores like the whole family and express customers. If there are not many housing and commercial areas in the surrounding area, they have to close down. Therefore, it is essential to choose a store with a large flow of people. Some prosperous stores are difficult to enter without personal connections. Thus, higher costs will inevitably lead to soaring commodity prices. The vending machine does not have this trouble. It can enter the subway, office buildings, shopping malls, and even the roadside, and it can reasonably control its costs, benefit customers and allow them to buy goods at the same price as supermarkets.

3. No inventory logistics trouble
In addition to apparent costs such as site, labor, and decoration, warehousing and logistics are also hidden costs that stores cannot ignore. Convenience stores, as a supply window, need to have complete products. The purchase rule for vending machines is: how many products are sold and how much purchase prices are charged, which means merchants can operate with zero inventory. There will be no time-consuming and laborious behaviors such as pressing goods and clearing warehouses. The cooperative model of management and operation means that all machines in the area will be uniformly allocated and supplemented, maintained, and repaired. Merchants can directly complete the replenishment process through the WeChat background, which is simple to operate and saves time.