The Development Status of Foreign Vending Machines
Vending machines first appeared in the United States and Europe in the 1960s. At that time, people could buy chewing gum in cents from the vending machine in the subway system in the United States. This was the earliest vending machine.
As a brand-new retail method, vending machines have been rapidly popularized and developed in developed countries such as the United States and Europe since the 1980s. They are characterized by high technology, integrating optical, mechanical, electrical, anti-counterfeiting identification, digital encryption, intelligent software and other technologies, 24-hour service, convenient sales, many types, saving labor and costs. Vending machines can not only buy food, cigarettes, drinks, newspapers, tickets, cards, and even items such as flowers and small pets, but also a novel and unique advertising medium. At present, vending machines are used in 65 countries and regions. According to the statistics of Automatic Times in the United States, every 40 persons in the United States own one vending machine and 60 in Europe. In Japan, 70% of canned beverages in the national market are sold through vending machines, and each person spends as high as 400 US dollars buying from the automatic vending machine every year. According to a survey by Japan's Kirin Beer Company, a vending machine can sell over ten thousand bottles of soft drinks every year, which is more than those of a small store that doesn't have many customers.
The Coca-Cola Company of the United States has hundreds of thousands of beverage vending machines distributed around the world. In Spain, the sales of goods sold through vending machines account for more than 60% of the national retail industry, and the rate of increase is 10% every year. There are approximately 18 million vending machines which are in operation around the world. The annual sales of the whole industry including manufacturing and the use of vending machines exceeds $250 billion. The vending machine industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in the retail format.
The United States owned 6.9 million vending machines in 2016, with annual revenue of $25.1 billion, and 14,225 operators. Statistics show that the vending machine market in Japan has become saturated and had a downward trend in recent years.
Table 1 A comparison of the status of vending machines in the United States, Japan and Europe in 2016
As a brand-new retail method, vending machines have been rapidly popularized and developed in developed countries such as the United States and Europe since the 1980s. They are characterized by high technology, integrating optical, mechanical, electrical, anti-counterfeiting identification, digital encryption, intelligent software and other technologies, 24-hour service, convenient sales, many types, saving labor and costs. Vending machines can not only buy food, cigarettes, drinks, newspapers, tickets, cards, and even items such as flowers and small pets, but also a novel and unique advertising medium. At present, vending machines are used in 65 countries and regions. According to the statistics of Automatic Times in the United States, every 40 persons in the United States own one vending machine and 60 in Europe. In Japan, 70% of canned beverages in the national market are sold through vending machines, and each person spends as high as 400 US dollars buying from the automatic vending machine every year. According to a survey by Japan's Kirin Beer Company, a vending machine can sell over ten thousand bottles of soft drinks every year, which is more than those of a small store that doesn't have many customers.
The Coca-Cola Company of the United States has hundreds of thousands of beverage vending machines distributed around the world. In Spain, the sales of goods sold through vending machines account for more than 60% of the national retail industry, and the rate of increase is 10% every year. There are approximately 18 million vending machines which are in operation around the world. The annual sales of the whole industry including manufacturing and the use of vending machines exceeds $250 billion. The vending machine industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in the retail format.
The United States owned 6.9 million vending machines in 2016, with annual revenue of $25.1 billion, and 14,225 operators. Statistics show that the vending machine market in Japan has become saturated and had a downward trend in recent years.
Table 1 A comparison of the status of vending machines in the United States, Japan and Europe in 2016
| Countries | The U.S. | Japan | Europe |
| Quantity (unit: 10,000 units) | 690 | 580 | 430 |
| Revenue (Unit: US$ 100 million) | 251 | 410 |
From the data in Table 1, it can be seen that the foreign vending machine market has developed well and the popularity is good, and the income of vending machines has made a great contribution to the GDP.
The development of vending machines not only facilitates people's lives, but also greatly drives the development of the lock industry, especially the development of vending machine locks.