Most people think of vending machines as a way to grab a soda or bag of chips. Thanks to a group of innovators, they're becoming much more. Creative new vending machines are popping up all over the world, offering products as diverse as CBD-infused edibles, to luxury handbags. Here are some of the coolest ones yet:
Last month, Miami debuted a new vending machine focused on cannabidiol products. Cannabidiol is a natural component of cannabis that doesn't produce a high but can help improve symptoms of anxiety, sleeplessness, and pain. The Wellness Pantry's new machine offers users a wide selection of CBD-infused goods, from water to candies, to medicinal tinctures, to bath products.
Interestingly, since CBD is only legal to purchase for people 18 and older, the machine's interface includes age verification. It features a 43” touchscreen display and uses a combination of ID verification and facial recognition technology to make sure that users match their IDs and are of legal age to purchase CBD. Currently, the founder of the company is in talks to expand beyond Miami. It's the Wellness Pantry's hope to improve access to CBD products to people all over.
During the initial stages of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a lot of people picked up new hobbies. Two of the most popular among them were knitting and crocheting. Emani Outterbridge, crochet influencer and owner of online shop Emani Milan, recently opened a vending machine dedicated entirely to yarn.
The first machine opened in mid-July on the Cherry Street Pier and has since expanded across Philadelphia. Within the first day of its opening, her first machine sold over 100 skeins of yarn. Outterbridge's designer yarn is brightly colored and unique, with names like Prada Party and Fruity Pebbles, and the machines draw in customers with a slideshow of photographs set to music. As Outterbridge's skills and business gain more attention through social media and celebrity endorsements (she has made outfits for the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Drew Barrymore, and Cardi B), more and more people are clamoring for her vending machines.
In mid-August, eBay installed vending machines at its marketplaces in Brooklyn and Los Angeles with a unique goal in mind: to award winners of a trivia contest. The contest was on the subject of luxury handbags, and winners had the opportunity to win one of six bags featured on the machines. Fashion aficionados outside of New York and California could enter by visiting eBay's Twitter or Instagram.
While unlikely to spread as widely as the other machines featured here, this does raise interesting questions about the utility of a luxury vending machine. Part of the experience of purchasing high-end goods is going to a store and receiving the attention of sales associates. Could this experience translate to a sufficiently advanced vending machine? If so, will designers follow eBay's example?
After a trip to Paris and a self-serve wine tasting, two schoolteachers had an idea: What about a vending machine that could serve wine? Shortly after, GenuWine was born. Unlike other machines, this is located in a dedicated event space.
GenuWine is located in Arizona and highlights local wines. They rotate in a new bottle each week, so their roster of 24 bottles is always fresh and exciting. In addition to wine, they also offer draft beer and charcuterie options. The machine's location is also available to rent for events.
Food vendors were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, but it's hard to get a good pizza without human contact. At least, it was until gas station owner Gao Tang purchased a vending machine for his Pembroke, Ontario Esso station.
The machine works like this. The station's pizza chef makes the pizzas in the station's kitchen. They are then placed in the machine, which keeps them fresh for three days. After that point, it will no longer dispense them. Visitors can walk up to the machine, place their order, and get a hot pizza in three minutes flat.
In the beginning, the station wasn't able to keep up with demand. While things have slowed down quite a bit, the pizza vending machine remains very popular with locals. They can show up at any time, any day of the week, and get a hot pizza. Flavor options include classic cheese, pepperoni, vegetarian, barbecue chicken, and more.
Are vending machines the way we'll do business in the future? For many people, they might be. With lower overhead than a traditional storefront and less risk of spreading the virus, they have proven popular with business owners and customers alike.
