Looking at my classmates’ blogs I came across Wereda’s blog post about Sparkles, a Beverly Hills- based bakery that dispenses cupcakes the same way an ATM machine dispenses money, just with a swipe of a card. I think this is a very interesting and creative marketing concept; not only is it convenient and appealing to customers, but it reduces costs for Sparkles as they don’t have to pay rent and utilities for a shop nor pay for personnel to operate it. Sparkles main concern would only be having appropriate distribution channels to make sure inventory is re-stocked and fresh every day.

Interested with this strategy, I started researching other companies that might be doing the same, and I found Redobox. They are an American company that specializes in the rental of DVD and blue ray movies and video games through automated retail kiosks located in pharmacies, and convenience stores across the country. The machines are stocked with around 600 DVDs, so you select the the movie you want to rent, pay with your credit card, get the dvd dispensed, and then you can return it to any kiosk when you are done watching it. Simple AND cheap, as the rental price are as low as a $1.

This trend toward automated retailing provides a huge opporunity for companies to access customers that are looking for a new interactive and convenient way to shop, and I can only imagine that this trend will become even more popular in the future.