Can vending machines deliver the goods?
We were on a very quiet platform at Huntingdon train station when my children (as always) were desperate for a drink and without an on-site buffet/café we approached the vending machine with our one and only pound coin. You know what happened next.
We all have our own war stories of vending machines happily taking our coins before reneging on their part of the deal as the automated dispensing mechanism remains motionless. Despite this legacy the vending machine industry is apparently on something of a roll. The UK’s vending, coffee services and automated retail industry generated £3.8 billion in revenues, according to the AVA’s 2025 Census & Market report, which is up 3.3% on 2024 that places the industry 5% above pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Subscribe to TRBThere have been a number of drivers. Cashless payment technology has undoubtedly helped and is now fitted to 95% of pay-vend machines (up 5% on 2024), with as many as 30% of machines no longer taking cash. These cashless customers spend as much as double the amount per transaction as cash payers. I wonder if the fact you no longer need to insert a pound coin means the chances of the non-delivery of an item is reduced?
The other key driver of vending machine usage is the growth in hybrid working environments where staffed catering is not economically viable. The solution here is the installation of smart fridges that require a bank card to open them and then charge customers based on RFID, weight sensors, and cameras detecting the products that have been removed. There is definitely no risk of a failure to deliver the purchased items under these circumstances.
Against this backdrop Greggs has just launched a trial of a self-service format, Greggs Express, which has initially been installed at Motor Fuel Group’s MRG’s) petrol forecourt near Glasgow Airport. The plan is to roll-out more of these food-to-go vending machines to other travel hub locations. The devices house a range of savoury and sweet baked goods along with Fairtrade hot drinks.
Interestingly, the buoyant vending machine market in the UK is in complete contrast to the activities in Japan, arguably the home of the vending machine where thousands of devices are disappearing. Highlighting the situation is the country’s 2.2 million drinks vending machines that represent a 23% fall from the peak hit in 1985, according to the Japan Vending System Manufacturers Association.
The blow to this industry is a combination of rising inflation, which is pushing consumers away from the premium pricing of vending machines, and the shortages of labour in Japan. It seems ironic that vending machines – which are automated retail – to be threatened by a shortage of labour. But the reality is that they ultimately have to be kept stocked by an army of people driving trucks with inventory in order to keep them stocked. To some extent the solution is better wireless connectivity that monitors stock levels, which can significantly reduce the workload.
It will be interesting to see if the UK can learn from the experiences in Japan and ensure its vending machines utilise the relevant technologies whereby they maximise their underlying automated characteristics and be less reliant on labour. And keep the children of the UK fully hydrated.
