Have you made a purchase at a store with a self-checkout facility? If not, then you should make one soon. Over the years, although we have cherished the traditional retail buying experience where the purchase was made via a person, with the dominance of constant new upgrades, the retail industry has reformed to automated retail.
What is Automated Retail, and Why is it Beneficial
Automated retail is about using innovative technology to sell retail products. It is a brand-new sales channel for retailers and brands to reach customers in an innovative, exciting and non-traditional way. It enables customers to buy their products automatically through compact machines/self-checkout kiosks.
One such automated retail solution is the Vendiman Smart vending machine or Smart Micro Retail Kiosk (SMRK). These smart vending machines/ SMRK’s, enhance the process of buying a product through captivating features like being fully automated and contactless. It also offers numerous payment options for customers to instantly buy their products through these kiosks. These SMRK’s offer:
- Relevance with Convenience: Instant gratification with no waiting for delivery, no delivery charges
- Ease of use: Appealing design and interface
- Real time data: Sales, consumption, inventory monitoring in real time via dashboards
The Transition from Traditional Retail to Automated Retail
Automated kiosks highly persuade customers by cutting time from waiting in long queues and boosts customer experience. The convenience of automated machines in various setups, including airports, malls, and railway ticketing centers, is prominent.
- The rising popularity of automated retail has made its market size valued at USD 14 billion as of 2021.
- It is estimated to rise to USD 36 Billion by 2030 with growing market visibility with a CAGR of 10% from 2023 to 2030.
Due to the shift in consumer buying behaviour, automated kiosks have gained significant popularity in the past few years. Thereby it has enabled more businesses to adopt automated retail services. The sole aim of introducing smart vending machines is to enable consumers to access healthy food and beverages, even during odd hours, with extended features such as digital payment options and e-wallets added to enhance the customer experience.
Vendiman’s Smart retail solutions offer a wide range of curated options not just in F&B but also in health and personal care. Moreover, it provides its customers with a massive range of options, making it highly attractive & beneficial.
Why is Retail Automation a Need, Not an Option?
A McKinsey study suggests that 53% of shoppers visit brick-and-mortar stores off-peak to beat a slow checkout experience. Consumers want customized retail experiences and want to fasten the traditional retail process with an automated retail shopping experience. Recent advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), offer retailers an affordable way to access the data-driven world of smart retail, to improve operations and customer experience.
As more and more organizations in India are changing their work habits and inculcating a culture of performance and productivity, the presence of smart vending machines is saving them time from strolling out for the occasional snack and is the ideal solution.
With the adoption of technology across retail process lifecycles, retail automation is no longer an option; it is a requirement. Vendiman has its own dashboard that can track sales, transactions, inventory, and physical assets and compile reports — all from a single dashboard.
The Leading Benefits of Automated Retail:
1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency
Automation finds the quickest, most accurate way to complete a task and repeats the process. This ensures that the business runs efficiently and receives the same consistent results to keep things moving seamlessly.
2. Scalability & Presence
Lower cost expansion through autonomous retail when compared to traditional “brick and mortar” retail stores. Its ability to expand the retail presence with versatility of location and round the clock functionality with no staff costs, no hassle, just sales.
3. Improved Customer Experience
Automated customer support, personalized marketing automation, and quick order fulfillment are just a few ways this technology elevates the customer experience. It helps accomplish consistency by setting up workflows or guidelines. This ensures that customers have the same experience each time.
4. Increased Sales
Enhanced customer service in retail leads to better customer satisfaction and increased sales. Moreover, automation gives a detailed analysis of market trends, sales forecasting, and monitoring of inventory, for improving sales.
The Growing Prominence of Vending Machines with Vendiman SMRK’s Being the Catalyst
Smart vending machines have automated retail and reshaped the F&B industry. Due to technological advancements, food vending machines have upgraded to new-age features such as cashless payments. Vendiman, being the foremost in instant commerce via smart micro retail solutions, with its Smart Micro Retail Kiosk provides a wide range of healthy snacks, meals, and beverages options that are available instantly. Simply Pay-Select-Grab and get your hands on safe, hygienic and branded products. With a multi-sector approach, our kiosks are present at multiple locations to reach our customers widely and 24×7. So, choose smart – choose Vendiman!
