Smarter Vending

 Has been happening,   more being done. 

Adding Smarts to Vending Machines Drives Convenience, Efficiency

Advanced feature sets and functionality are projected to drive the market for connected vending to nearly nine million units by 2024.

Keith Kirkpatrick

From Communications of the ACM | March 1, 2023

Adding Smarts to Vending Machines Drives Convenience, Efficiency

Communications of the ACM, March 2023, Vol. 66 No. 3, Pages 20-22 10.1145/3579651

Vending machines, which allow people to easily purchase items without interacting with a human worker, have been around since the 1st century, when a Greek engineer and mathematician named Hero Alexandria created a machine that accepted a coin before dispensing holy water at a temple, to prevent people from taking more than their share of holy water.

Two millennia later, a far greater number and variety of products can be purchased from vending machines, thanks in part to the advent of new technologies including always-on, Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, advanced physical and digital controls that allow these machines to be placed in a wide variety of settings, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms that can capture and analyze customer insights, improve stocking efficiency, and deliver greater levels of personalization to customers.

The global installed base of connected vending machines reached an estimated 2.4 million units in 2019, according to Berg Insight, a research firm that tracks the installed base of connected vending machines. Connected vending machines are equipped with an always-on Internet connection, which allows data to be sent between machines in the field and management software, enabling real-time payments, monitoring, and remote management of the machines.

Advanced feature sets and functionality are projected to drive the market to nearly nine million units by 2024, according to Berg Insight, helped along by the desire of organizations to better serve customers without needing to attract and retain relatively costly human workers.  ... '

Meal Kit Vending Machines

Nice idea, wonder how the freshness will be maintained.

Convenience is king as new-gen vending units add meal kits  by Matthew Stern in Retailwire

hew SternMeal kits, once available only by subscription online, have begun appearing in brick-and-mortar stores as brands realize that it’s difficult to get customers interested in the product purely through e-commerce. Now thanks to a partnership between two startups, meal kits might start popping up in an unexpected physical location: the vending machine in the office lobby.

Byte Foods, which places its vending machine-style smart fridges in office buildings, will be stocking meal kits from Chef’d in 100 of its Bay Area machines, according to The Spoon. As with other products in the Byte Foods machines, office workers will scan their credit card to open the fridge door, select a meal kit and receive a receipt upon closing the door. Byte Foods plans to soon stock the meal kits in all 500+ of its smart fridges. ... "

Coke Digital Vending, Now with AI

Long time follower here of the Coke Freestyle experience, saw prototypes of it with suggestions of how it could be adapted to supply chain and user experiences, as far back as 2008.  Also have seen Pepsi Spire systems in the same vein.  Are these all drink user vending and now experience centers?

How Coca-Cola's AI Approach To Customer Experience Can Boost Its Performance    Trefis Team , Contributor, in Forbes.

As reported in recent months, The Coca-Cola Company is working on a smart digital vending machine powered by artificial intelligence which is likely to be launched in New Zealand soon, followed by a planned launch in the U.S. The company is looking to connect its vending machines to the cloud, giving it an ability to control them digitally. This technology upgrade will allow Coca-Cola to remotely adjust the prices of products sold via these machines (digitally) making it easier to introduce discounts and promotions at a specific location. Further, customers will be able to buy their drinks from this vending machine via smartphones even before reaching the machine. This feature gives customers the ability to buy drinks for their family or friends in any location including another country.

This technology will also allow the company to send personalized messages to its customers and provide a chat platform. Users can opt for conversations with the vending bot via Facebook Messenger and, based on the customer’s data collected via Facebook, the bot will customize its response. As companies increasingly look to make the retail experience more convenient and digitally engage customers, this vending machine upgrade can help Coca-Cola understand customer behavior better and modify its products/services accordingly. We expect that this will ultimately have an impact beyond vending machines. .... " 

IOT and Vending Machines: Coke and SAP

Good points, we had looked at related applications with vending,  service communications and kiosks, before the advent of IOT.   Cognitive application of supply chain efficiencies can also be considered.

In Readwrite: IoT and vending machines: Connecting an already distributed network  by Amanda Razani. 

Smart vending machines are an excellent example of how the “Internet of Things” (IoT) can affect business models and revenue flow. ... The vending industry is going through a sea of change. The access to data that is generated by connected devices has changed the way companies can operate and the way in which they generate revenues. Constant connectivity allows companies to offer customers a product utility as a service, as seen in vending machines.

With user customization, improved security, smart payments and continuous monitoring of inventory and consumption patterns, opportunities for vending machines to dispense new products in more profitable ways, using a network of connected devices are limitless.

Traditional vending machines have evolved, since they were first introduced almost a century ago. Technology that includes more digital capabilities, has transformed them into smart, connected machines.  ... 

 ....  chipmaker Intel have stepped in with smart solutions, enabling a new breed of connected, smart vending machines that offer lower operating costs and cloud connectivity.  With these solutions, machine operators can diagnose and repair systems remotely, and receive real-time updates, such as supply and operating status, that can be used to optimize delivery schedules and improve inventory tracking and controls.

Includes a case study of Coke and SAP.

Coke Vending Goes Apple Pay

Have been seeing Apple Pay being used quite a bit lately, and now adding the Watch?  Vending is an obvious next step.  And the new possibilities for point of sale interaction.    Advice for trying new beverages, new blends?  Promotional loyalty?

In Foodbev: 
 Consumers will be able to use Apple Pay to purchase Coca-Cola products from more than 100,000 vending machines in North America by the end of the year. The roll-out will make Coca-Cola one of the largest retailers to use the technology, which allows users to make payments using their iPhone or Apple Watch. ... " 

Coke Freestyle Gets Personal

Saw some early ideas for delivering this.  Makes a lot of sense to personalize the sometimes complex interaction.  Plan to test. 

" ... Building on its legacy as a game-changing innovation, 
Coca-Cola Freestyle® is set to make the consumer experience even more personal. An enhanced “Create Your Own Mix” feature on the popular Coca-Cola Freestyle app launching in January 2015 allows users to choose from 100+ drink options to create a custom mix of their own and then, for the first time, connect their smartphones to dispensers at participating outlets and pour it on the spot. It works in just a few easy steps – simply download, mix, pour, enjoy and share .. "  

Coca-Cola Gathers Streams of Big Data

Another example of the broadening use of Splunk for analyzing data streams.

Coca-Cola gets inspiration for IT automation from its bottling plants
Able to tell what people are buying from vending machines and when

Coca-Cola, the multi billion pound drinks company, today revealed that its automated bottling plants are inspiring its IT operations, particularly in the area of data collection. 

Michael Connor, the multinational corporation's senior platform architect and the man behind the claim, said Coca-Cola is collecting unprecedented levels data as a result of automation processes that have been enabled through Splunk’s data management and analytics platform, in conjunction with the Amazon Web Services cloud platform. .... "

Intelligent Color From L'Oreal

In Clickz:  New ways to market cosmetics in context.   With similarity to some of our virtual makeover work. " ... In a location perhaps better known for rats and urine, cosmetics brand L'Oreal Paris is bringing beauty in what it calls the first-ever intelligent vending experience in the New York City Subway, the L'Oreal Paris Intelligent Color Experience.
Launching November 4, the installation works as a three-step process that detects the colors in a woman's outfit, picks the most prominent and related palettes, recommends L'Oreal Paris products and allows women to purchase those products on the spot, the brand says. ... " 

Smarter Cashless Vending Machines

Cashless Vending machines are now smarter. We examined machines like this in Japan that could adapt to supply chain and demand problems.

World Peace via Vending Machines

A curious project from Coke using vending machines to promote world peace.   Would they then need a vending App too?   The Happiness project:  " ... Coke quietly posted this teaser video back in late December, but sources suggest a bigger announcement is coming soon and that it will be a major project for the brand. It shows vending machines capable of connecting users, bound for not-so-friendly neighbors India and Pakistan. Video technology means the users in the two countries will actually be able to see each other and touch hands virtually; the idea is that it could roll out to various countries in conflict.... "