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iPod vending machine rakes in $55,000 in one month
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription) and TUAW report that a single iPod vending machine sold a thousands of dollars worth of iPods in one month. A VP of Business Traveler Services is quoted as saying, “We’ve done about $55,000 in a month in gross sales just for the one on Concourse A. This is becoming the future for some high-end products in places like airports where space is at a premium.” If you’re willing to drop $349 plus tax, the iPod is yours. And it’s a change from all those salty treats you normally get at a vending machine.
From the article:
Anita Leopold has a little surprise for anyone who thinks vending machines were created to dispense lightly salted snack food and sugar-laced temptations.
The top treat in the sleek, high-tech machines operated by her company and ZoomSystems at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is a top-of-the-line Apple iPod that fetches $349 before tax. It comes with a money-back guarantee, and it doesn’t drop from anywhere.
A sophisticated robotic arm gently guides the mini-music machine to the buyer’s hands.
“We’ve done about $55,000 in a month in gross sales just for the one on Concourse A,” said Leopold, executive vice-president and owner Business Traveler Services. “This is becoming the future for some high-end products in places like airports where space is at a premium.”
Leopold, whose Atlanta-based company and Zoom operate two of the high-end vending machines at Hartsfield (the other is on Concourse C), said the Atlanta airport was the first to install what Zoom calls “small-format robotic stores.”
The idea caught on, and today airports in Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Reno, and Minneapolis-St. Paul have versions of the high-end machines.
Mark Mullins, Zoom’s executive vice-president, said his company now has machines, which, depending on the location, dispense everything from skin-care products to batteries. They are in more than 300 locations nationwide, including universities, military bases and more than 126 Macy’s stores. Mullins said there are 11 Zoom machines in metro Atlanta.
The company installed its first machine at Hartsfield-Jackson in the fall of 2005 and followed with a second location at the San Francisco airport.
“We put in some iPods and found we couldn’t keep them in stock,” he said, “We found no customer resistance to swiping a card and buying a $300 item from a machine. We’re selling thousands (of iPods), and the machines at the Atlanta airport are major contributors to that.”
The 7-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide vending machines turned out to be tailor-made for airports and their lucrative combination of business, vacation and holiday travelers. The company does 30 to 40 percent of its business during the Christmas holidays as last-minute gift-buyers go on a binge.
“Our core customers are business travelers who are short on time,” said John Cugasi, director of concessions at Hartsfield. “This gives them the chance to get something conveniently and something they can easily carry on board.”
The vending machines are user-friendly, providing easy-to-access product information through a video touch screen. And, unlike traditional retailers, they never close.
“In the middle of the night, someone can get a product from one of these,” Cugasi said.
The Hartsfield machines have created a buzz among travelers for dispensing a variety of iPods, but offer about 30 different electronic items, from headphones to rechargers, as well.
Chris Manning, 34, of Athens became a first-time customer en route to catch a pre-Christmas business flight to Tampa.
Manning was searching for a pair of Sony headphones to use on his flight and found them staring back at him from the Zoom machine on concourse A. He used the machine’s video screen to get product information, inserted his credit card and $21.39 (including tax) and found himself with a brand new headset. The machine also dispensed a receipt with information for returning any defective product.
“I had looked in a few stores but couldn’t find exactly what I wanted at the right price,” Manning said. “These guys seem competitive on price, so I didn’t have any qualms about buying them out of a machine.”
Spc. Brian Koellish, 24, stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, looked, but didn’t buy. He was concerned that an iPod from the machines is delivered uncharged and without any music.
“If you’re going to buy one to listen to on your flight you’d have to charge and download the music,” Koellish said. “It’s an interesting idea, but they need to have a place to download music as well.”
Leopold said there are plans to add a music-download kiosk across from the Zoom machine on concourse A.
