Retailers have done the math and it adds up.
Consumers doing more themselves
– Fewer workers
= Bigger profits
Today, retailers and suppliers are operating self-service checkouts as well as kiosks and vending units to get an ever expanding list of products into the hands of consumers in a wide variety of locations.
"Consumers are more accepting of these automated technologies because they just want the stuff at a good price and really do not care if they get it from a piece of technology or a person," Richard Feinberg, a retail analyst, told The Indianapolis Star.
Here in the U.S., beyond soft drinks and snacks, vending units offer DVDs, consumer electronics, wine, over-the counter and prescription medicines, Bentley's and more.
Around the globe, consumers are buying products that might make Americans scratch their heads. Included on a list compiled by NBC's Today Show are vending units selling live crabs (China), bars of gold (Germany), pizza (Italy) and fishing bait (Poland). The world capital of vending units, Japan, has machines that dispense batteries, eggs, sneakers and toilet paper.
Now, a vending machine company in Corona, CA has designed a gas station that will allow consumers to fill their tanks and also buy bottled drinks, coffee and snacks without the aid of an attendant. While the new stations will not have bathrooms, the company, AVT, believes owners and customers will make the adjustment.
"It's just like anything else that develops over time with retail," Brentt Arcement, vice president of investor relations for AVT, told the Los Angeles Times. "It's sort of that evolutionary process of what's next."