Long gone are the days when vending machines would simply swallow your money. Nor are they limited to offering a savoury snack or sweet treat. Instead they have quietly transformed into hi-tech cashless devices selling everything you could possibly need on the move, from false eyelashes to milk, and now books.
The publisher Penguin Random House is showcasing a book vending machine at Exeter St Davids railway station in Devon. The titles available include Taste by Stanley Tucci, but what is sold will change regularly, partly based on key moments in the year such as Black History Month.
David Llewellyn, chief executive of the Automatic Vending Association, said there has been a rise in machines offering personal protective equipment for workers, as well as a growth in “micro-markets”.
“These are small retail units that sit within an office block offering fresh food, snacks and confectionery,” he says. “It’s like a small unattended retail corner, using things like smart fridges that can read what is taken out of them. You can buy a whole meal.”
Llewellyn thinks micro-markets have arisen because of different working patterns, with more people at home. “There are less people consistently on sites now, so not huge demand for canteens,” he says.
Book vending machines are not entirely new. The first Penguin book vending machine sprang up in Charing Cross Road in 1937, and at the time the books cost sixpence each. In 2019, short-story vending machines arrived in Canary Wharf in London. They dispensed one-, three- and five-minute stories free to passersby.
Llewellyn says the vending market had a £2.2bn turnover before the pandemic, which dropped by around 40% when lockdowns forced people out of the offices, transport hubs and leisure spaces where they are most commonly found. However, sales are expected to return to pre-Covid levels this year.
Pizza is another product that has emerged as a top seller, with machines serving the dish popping up from Hampshire to Bristol. Even Italy got in on the act with its own device close to Piazza Bologna in Rome: Mr Go Pizza offers four varieties, including the classic margherita, each costing between €4.50 (£4) and €6 (£5.30).
Maud Gerbault, business developer manager at API Tech, which produces pizza vending machines, said: “We have more than 2,800 machines installed in Europe and around 10 will be installed shortly in US … Sales are increasing exponentially. They double every year.
“We deeply think that it is the future, especially after the lockdown from the Covid period. Our customers were able to keep the business running during this difficult period of time.”
Gerbault adds: “It also provides a local outlet with quality food in rural and underserved areas. It combines short circuits and technology. It attracts a larger customer base due to a new type of business.”
Japan is home to the most unusual vending operations, offering everything from umbrellas to fancy dress. A new model sells fresh bear meat. The machine, in the northern prefecture of Akita, was installed at the end of last year, according to media reports.
The last formal count, conducted by a trade body in December 2020, found that there were 2.7m vending machines in Japan – one for every 46 citizens.
Llewellyn says the UK is following Japan down the route of offering more fresh food in vending, although it is unlikely we will ever reach that country’s sheer number of machines.
“There is a huge array of machines [in Japan], but they have a lot of public vending which would not stand our climate or our social responsibility to other people’s equipment. People don’t beat machines up in Japan.”
