You may know that you can get hot pizzas from a vending machine, but did you know you can get bread from a can out of a vending machine? When I went to Japan, I found all kinds of new vending machines, including one that poured beer into a chilled glass, and tipped the glass to create just the right amount of foam on top. Bread from a can is an interesting twist to the vending machine empire. It looks more like muffins or scones, which might be perfect if the machine was right next to the hot coffee/hot tea machine! Maybe good for that late night, watching-innovation-videos, snack break? From a design perspective, I have a hard time thinking of the user needs it might meet or hidden problems this might solve. Perhaps because we are accustomed to bakeries in our grocery stores, eating bread from a bag, and the wide availability of other late-night snack options. You can read more here.
4 comments:
It's interesting to see how many products they've figured out how to put into vending machines besides food: iPods, proActiv, DVDs, etc. It seems as though companies have decided consumers would prefer to have no human contact involved in the purchasing of goods.
I understand putting these types of vending machines in airports (where I've seen most of them) when people don't have the time to stand around and wait in line, but I'm unsure of how many people really want to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a vending machine item-- as discussed in class, people look to the history of their experiences to shape their current actions, and if people have gotten items stuck in vending machines before and lost their money, they'll begin to not trust using them.
And I honestly don't see the benefit of removing this sort of emotional interaction from buying things-- it's nice to have somebody answer questions about a product or tell you their personal experiences with said product. Occasionally salespeople can be pushy, but I'd still prefer a real person to a metal box.
I never knew about the pizzas in a vending machine or anything other than snacks and drinks. I think it is one of the coolest/most convenient things ever. I know I am personally a big fan of being able to get what I want as quickly as possible, I hate lines.
To Libby's point about being able to ask a salesperson questions, I usually do my research online prior to any major purchases, especially technology. I am past the spot of my decision making process that a salesperson is of much help and I am looking to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible to avoid any impulse buying. Having hot pizza in a vending seems ridiculous, but something that I know I would try at least once.
I've lived in Japan for a number of years and I've never seen vending machines for canned bread but I've mostly seen the machines for pizza, fries, and fried chicken at rest stops on highways. It's all a matter of convenience for the user.
Vending machines are becoming increasingly more popular in Japan because of this convenience and also since their cellphone technology allows them to buy from vending machines with a swipe of their phone.
What if we tried to cram all three of these thoughts together. Perhaps there are some things for which people do want interaction with another person and other things that people would just as soon avoid the necessity of going through a salesperson. Maybe fast food is an example of a "no interaction" purchase. If so, should McDonald's have automated purchasing? You may not remember these, but there used to be restaurants called "automats" where you served yourself (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat). You walked up to a wall of tiny glass doors behind which were all kinds of food and drink choices. You put coins in the slot, opened the door, and took out your food. They were hugely popular for a while, then died out. Maybe it's time to bring them back?
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