The vending industry may seem like a predictable topic, but in fact the history and current track of this lucrative business may offer some unforeseen surprises. As with any business or invention, those in the know have been fine-tuning and upgrading machines, policies and systems for over 2,000 years and the big picture is expanding all the time.
Dating as far back as about 62 A.D., the vending machine was created by the first-century inventor Hero of Alexandria as a means of dispensing sacramental water in temples, operating by the insertion and leverage of a coin. People tended to associate this and other Hero inventions with magic and it wasn’t until the 1880’s that another vending action was recorded, leaving nearly 1800 years of trial and error. London led the way in creating the first commercial, cashier-free retail practice by vending postcards and books.
Not surprisingly, New York followed suite in 1888 to become the first U.S. city to join the vending revolution by selling Tutti-Fruiti gum in subways. Added attractions like animated figures jumped on board in 1897, paving the way for inventions like the pin-ball machine and slot machines. The beloved gumball machines arrived in 1907.
This obviously created a whole new way of selling and in 1902, a completely coin-operated restaurant called Horn & Hardart opened it’s “windows” in Philadelphia and kept them open until 1962. Invented in 1896 in Germany, this automat concept, or automated restaurant, gained popularity all over the world and is still popular in the Netherlands. Doris Day’s character frequents one in the movie That Touch of Mink, likely to show that she was low on the dollar. The cheap factor of this style of dining was and still is highly appealing.
Convenience is the another main attraction of the vending revolution, as nearly anything one might need can be found in one of these large, often computerized metal boxes. They can be cooled or heated to hold frozen, cool or hot foods and drinks and can sell bulk candy, toys or gum. Healthy vending has broken into the game and fruits and organic snacks and beverages are now available, especially in health clubs and schools. Men’s and women’s restrooms often offer some sort of personal refresher items (tampons, cologne and the like), particularly in highly populated travel areas like airports and bus stations. Newspapers, cigarettes, life insurance policies, gemstones, plants even marijuana have all joined the vending machine scene at some point, although not all permanently. One particularly useful machine dispenses firewood so that campers don’t have to rely on wood lot hours to keep warm and fed. Suffice it to say that convenience can up-sell nearly anything.
As far as technology and innovations go, the vending machine has evolved to accept various bill denominations, to differentiate between foreign coins, to accept credit cards, to alert refill needs to distant technicians, even to refund customer money for non-vended items. Using telemetry, a product of wireless technology, machines can authenticate cashless payments so as not to lose that customer who sees the “exact change only” light on.
Safety features have certainly been updated to discourage theft as well as injury to consumers. The link between these motives lies in the fact that most injuries have occurred in the midst of an attempted machine robbery. However, an American Medical Association article from 1988 cites 3 deaths and 12 injuries on people trying to remove a canned beverage out of the machine causing it to topple. Design and system upgrades are making potential danger more obsolete.
With a population looking for affordable and convenient items and an industry hoping to supply that population with such items, the vending industry has boomed over the last several years. Ideal for entrepreneurs looking to start a lucrative and fast growing business with little overhead and with the onset of debit card acceptance, this multi-billion dollar industry has endless potential.
J C
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