Innovative Vending Machines Gain Popularity

With over 29,000 vending-related businesses in the U.S., the industry is experiencing a revival, thanks to new, fun technology that makes vending an interactive and satisfying experience.

As that creativity opens new opportunities, many entrepreneurs and innovators have turned to the $7 billion vending retail industry for a fresh share of the market. Expanding beyond snacks and sodas, vending machines can now dispense bikes, baby formula or a spare pair of shoes. Vending machines are so hot, they've caught the attention of more than just small businesses -- even commercial retailers like Macy's are turning to automated machines to help consolidate shelf space while boosting sales of less traditional department store products such as personal tech gadgets.

Check out some of the most innovative vending machines we've found to date.

RATE IT!   |  

VOTE

CURRENT TOP 5 PICK YOUR OWN TOP 5

USERS WHO VOTED

NEW! CREATE YOUR OWN SLIDESHOW

Comments

[ferro info]

11:45 PM on 01/14/2012

don't forget the curling iron vending machine and the trade your electronics for cash machine...what will they think of next!

[Kritikos]

09:54 PM on 12/23/2011

A weed machine--now THAT will make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$....................

[Frank-Landfield]

08:40 AM on 12/27/2011

Already does.
In private location.
:-)

[grtessman]

02:54 PM on 12/22/2011

test

[J Owen Williams]

02:37 AM on 12/28/2011

Don't be scared little buddy...

[theone26]

09:03 AM on 12/22/2011

I love the idea for the baby items, because if you are a parent even when you pack a little bag with the items you need...you can either run out or forget something, that is a great one. The pizza making one I have used, it's not bad about 8 of 10. The one with the flats are awesome!! from the point of view for women who want to get out of those trying to be sexy shoes that hurt like hell. Trying to figure out the security on the Rent a Bike one...most of these are great ideas, proactive seems abit...overkill but I guess its better than used panties courtesy of Japaniperv.

[meganmarieborn]

01:02 PM on 12/31/2011

We have a Proactive vending machine, as well as an Ipod vending machine, in our mall. I see people using them frequently. The only other way to purchase Proactive is to order it and have it shipped. This machine saves time and money.

[Dean Peters]

07:16 AM on 12/22/2011

Sounds like someone is getting their job obsoleted, except for the vending service. I can see crime going up and now we can add the vending service to being robbed most often of gold, weed and RX drugs. Let's shut down the bars and have a beer vend too. What ever happened to the good ole cigarette vends that were every where and life was much simpler.

[skevwe]

08:05 AM on 12/22/2011

I hear you! But the Rx machine is pretty safe though. First and foremost, joe blow out on the street just can't come in to get a scrpt filled, they have to be a patient treated at the office or ED. They also need a special code to use the machine as well. Each facilty has nothing to do with stocking the machine thus they have no keys to even open it up. But the best part of them, you can get most medications filled for a flat fee, no matter what the medication is. As for someone trying to take the whole machine, it weighs almost 1/2 a ton and is about 6 feet tall.

[bsgraves1]

07:00 AM on 12/22/2011

I've seen an Apple Product dispenser in a Macys.... just throw down a few hundred bucks and out pops an Ipod or Ipad... Even some accessories!!

[Wake Up Call]

06:05 AM on 12/22/2011

Ha! This is nothing compared to some vending machines I've seen. How about one that dispenses high school girls' panties - WORN, no less? They have those in Japan. Then there is the technology in other countries now where the machine can read a signal from your cell phone, so you just go get the soda and it charges your phone automatically. But the bottom line is that the more machines like this, the fewer jobs there are. Not exactly what we need.

[J Owen Williams]

04:18 AM on 12/22/2011

Looks more like humans isolating themselves socially instead of convenience shopping.

[Jason McManus]

03:35 AM on 12/22/2011

The bike rental is great. There is a store (maybe a Macy's?) where I live that has a vending machine inside the holds ipods.

[jp83]

02:49 AM on 12/22/2011

Wow! I don't know how tasty that pizza would be, but just the fact that it "makes" a pizza and dispenses it is pretty incredible.

[Adam Dray]

01:00 AM on 12/22/2011

...I think the 'insta scripts' one is a little bit too much, I doubt a machine can tell if it is wrongly loaded and gives osmeone a bad pescription....otherwise most of these seem to be a little too much I mean really how much do you need to remove the human element from business? Do we REALLY need a machine that dispenses gold? The cannibus one is cool though LOL Im surprised no ones figured out a way to get into them.......

[anitafeeney]

01:43 AM on 12/22/2011

give it time i am sure someone will find a way to get into the cannibus one at some point

[skevwe]

08:11 AM on 12/22/2011

Everything is barcoded in the Insty Med machine. So if the company puts the wrong bottle in the wrong slot, the machine will not dispense it. Besides, it is only used between the hours of 9pm to 6am at our ED. ALso there's nothing to say if the pharmacist puts the wrong label let alone the wrong kind of med in the prescription bottle as well. If I hadn't checked what was on a bottle of my own pills, I would have never caught the error made by a pharmacist! I must say I let him have it too, right in front of everyone at the counter. I was polite but very stern so that others could hear what I was telling him. Being an RN may make me more cautious then some others but ........damn!

[Memphis65]

02:20 PM on 12/22/2011

I agree that pharmacists sometimes makes errors. Their only human. But the number of errors are far exceeded by the number of times the "human" pharmacist contacts the doc to get a medication changed because the patient is allergic to the med that was prescribed, or their is a serious drug interaction with something else they take, or the dose the doc wrote for is way too high. Docs are diagnostic and/or surgical experts, they are not medication experts. Pharmacists are the medication experts. They have four years of pharmacy education, on top of 2 to 4 years of undergrad. And about 25% of pharmacist have also completed a one or two year clinical residency. They don't have all of that education just to put the right med in the right bottle. They have all of that education to make sure the patient is getting the safest and most effective medication.

Technology and convenience can only go so far. They have planes that can fly themselves, as well as take off and land automatically. But would any of you fly in a plane like that, if it didn't still have a human pilot to take over just in case?

[pult du]

02:18 AM on 12/21/2011

“new, fun technology that makes vending an interactive and satisfying experience”

I think this is the same advert that Hero of Alexandria used to sell his vending machine that dispensed holy water.

[blood1]

01:24 PM on 12/20/2011

While some of these vending machines may make sense, does it alarm anyone but me that one of the problems in our society is that mindless spending on "stuff" via a instant gratification system is one of the problems.

Obviously, these vending machines need to be maintained on a regular basis, how else could a 3 minute pizza vending machine put out "fresh" ingredients or maybe they don't want us to ask for their definition of "fresh"?

Drug dispenser's are used in hospitals as a faster and more efficient and questionable cost savings device. But, they are maintained by individuals trained in Pharmaceutical Medicine. One has to wonder is the person maintaining a vending machine has the same credentials.

But hey, for those craving cotton candy at any time 24/7 - good news?!

[artbylas]

06:06 PM on 12/19/2011

I found it funny the one that dispensed Medical Cannabis was numbers 9. But the one that dispensed pharmaceuticals was number 6. Curse you big Pharma!!

[Adam Dray]

01:01 AM on 12/22/2011

um the medical cannibus one is #3

[salamanca1]

05:51 PM on 12/19/2011

We're years behind the Japanese and Asians in general in the vending machine wars. There must not be a vending machine gap!

[havok563]

02:18 AM on 12/22/2011

Not only in vending machines but computers, and internet speeds as well. Our internet moves like a turtle compared to Japan's and even slower compared to South Korea's.