The vending market is estimated to grow 17% for the next 3-4 years to about $12.45 billion, with 40% coming from only the United States. In what way does the vending market have to do with the fashion industry?
Pop-up shows are one of the few PR strategies that fashion brands, such as Yves Saint Laurent, utilize to gain a larger reach. This new digital age has introduced us to new avenues of commerce through Intelligent vending machines. These can be seen everywhere from malls, subways, events, parks, and many more.
Pop-Up Vending
Based on a survey, 40% of consumers prefer to buy online than picking up in-store, however, there are complaints about the long waiting lines in-store. With the current pandemic, online shopping has been a staple, and it gave consumers a more accessible way to buy their products. Although, we cannot deny that physical stores account for 88-90% of retail sales.
The potential of pop-up vending could possibly be a good strategy to reach customers, especially when they take advantage of high-traffic locations, stimulating that impulsive buying behavior. A retailer’s reports stated:
“Pop-up locations sales can be 35% or greater than a physical store."
Gif via voguebusiness
What is a Smart Vending Machine?
A smart vending machine is based on the idea of a traditional vending machine but with enhanced softwares and features that make the user experience interactive. The vending machine idea came from the notion of providing service while no one was there to operate the store. The collaboration of product delivery and technology creates a bigger avenue for companies and stores to dabble in.
CEO of SMRT1 Technologies, Brad Pommen, is one of the pioneers that changed the retail industry. His company started innovating and installing different hardware that increased the user experience of Vending Machines. This allowed consumers to pay through different payment methods such as cash, debit, credit, and digital wallets.
They also instilled the use of machine learning to collect data and understand human behavior to improve the vending pop-up experience. Through Brain STEM tools made by Brad Pommen, ML allows the vending machine to build awareness and forecast the initial demand of consumers.
Image via RunnersWorld
Smart Vending Supports
- Customized UI (user interface) for vending machine use, like navigation, branding, product information, and controls
- Providing sub-categories of product catalogs for specific machine use and location
- Combining both physical and online transactions
- Overall buy buttons and carts that have inventory and customer accounts
- Customized cart and checkout flow
- Various available Payments Methods such as Apple Pay
- In-app purchase through mobile checkout or SMS
- Loyalty program and campaign
Fashion Brands Adopting Smart Vending Machines
1. UNIQLO
Uniqlo’s unique installation mainly focused on one item: warm vests for travelers who may not have packed properly for Northern California’s difficult microclimate.
2. Adidas Live Interaction
Adidas wanted to promote their Splash Pack line, so they installed vending machines in sports bars based in LA and Boston during the baseball world series. Consumers were allowed to win limited edition products based on the World Series such as cleats, autographs, and gears. The vending machine had digital printing features that unlocked new products.
3. Lululemon
Lululemon focused on a certain target market — runners. They set up a machine at a Run Stop that included running gears and products like Lululemon socks and hats. Customers had to answer a questionnaire on their workout habits.
4. Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent created a vending machine that increased their customer experience through customization. Called “Lipstick Engraving ATM 2.0”, allowing people to buy lipsticks with their names engraved on their product in real-time.
Image via BusinessInsider
Future of Smart Vending Machines
Although smart vending machines haven’t been fully adopted in business, this art of marketing could easily be utilized to reach certain demographics depending on the purpose and product. Thanks to the advancement in technology, we can expect to see more vending machines among fashion brands as softwares become more sophisticated — implementing retina recognition and online integration. It could possibly be the future of retail.