The Rise of the Vending Machine

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Vending Machines are all around us, at the busy shopping mall, the local leisure centre, at work, the list goes on. However, the vending machine did not get popular overnight and history shows that there is more to them than meets the eye.

Firstly and amazingly, history dates vending machines back as early as 215 B.C where ancient Egyptians used a device that has been identified to dispense holy water at places of worships after depositing a coin. America introduced vending machines to the public in 1888 when the Adams Gum company sold their penny gum products using machines.
From its humble beginnings, the vending machine has rapidly grown into a multi-million pound business and the vending industry has no signs of letting up with 2005 predications of 40% increases in sales coming true.

Vending industry success can be is attributed to the combined use of technology and mechanisms in different vending equipment. The pioneering vending machine is undoubtedly the drinks machine with its ability to vend hot and cold drinks.

Japan is home to millions of people with limited space. They shop on foot or by bicycle, have low rates of vandalism and petty crime and a small and decreasing number of working-age people. These are the contributing factors to the fact that Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with about one machine for every 23 people.

There seems to be no limit to what is sold by vending machines including rice, drinks, snacks, cigarettes, fried food, ipods, underwear, pornography, sexual lubricants, potted plants, the list goes on.

The first vending machine in Japan was made of wood and sold postage stamps and post cards. About 80 years ago, there were vending machines that sold sweets called "Glico". In 1967, the 100-yen coin vending machines were used for the first time and vending machine sales skyrocketed overnight, selling a vast variety of items everywhere.
Scheduled for introduction in 2008, a smart card called taspo will restrict sales of cigarettes from vending machines. An embedded integrated circuit will contain information about the age of the cardholder.

With consumers wanting quick and convenient access to competitively priced products, the vending industry has seen a great deal of growth over the last ten years. Vending offers new entrepreneurs a way to start businesses which can grow quickly. Drinks, candy and food vending machines continue to be the most lucrative and stable in the market place. New innovations in service vending machines include internet kiosks and DVD vending. Cashless vending now allows consumers to use debit cards for added convenience. Vending is a multi-billion dollar industry, and growing.