Automatic Age

t h e a u t o m a t ic a g e
Vq1- 5
__________________C H IC A G O , JU N E , 1929_____________________ No. 11
Problem of Applying Mechanical
Selling Facing Stores Today
J. H. ST E V EN SO N , President, Automatic Retailing Corp., New York City
Paradoxical though it may sound,
it is nevertheless true, thtvt our retail
stores do not sell a whole lot of
things which are bought from them.
Yet, when we come to think of it,
what retailer can sincerely claim that
he sells Camel cigarettes, Gillette
blades, Kodak films, or a host of
other nationally advertised products.
The public is “sold” these things en­
tirely outside of the stores and, when
•t wants them, goes to the most con­
venient place where it can procure
them quickly and easily. Many people
do not realze what a mass of items
comprises the market of things
bought by the public rather than sold
hy the retailer. Woohvorth has built
UP his colossal business entirely with­
out benefit of ordinary salesmanship,
the clerks being mere order-takers,
wrappers and change makers, with
instructions not to attempt “selling.”
Now all this is rather obvious and
■well-known, and naturaly the^thought
has frequently been expressed that
that-sort of retailing might better be
done by machines. What, after all, is
gained by handing your coin to a
clerk and receiving th ^ article you
a-k f o r when the same coin dropped
into a machine would produce the
desired package wTth equal facility?
Almost needless to say, there are cer­
tain pros and certain cons. There
are, in fact, many .of them.
The
“pros” have been iairly well aired
lately by the proponents of automatic
detailing. It is the purpose of this
article to trot out the “cons” so that
the retailer who is seriously interest­
ed in this subject may be enabled to
balance one side of the question
against the Other, for his protection
and more certain profit.
New Type Needed for Retail Stores
Right at this point the reader
should disabuse himself of any men­
tal comparison between ordinary
vending of merchandise and the store
type of automatic selling fixture
which will be considered in this
article. He should visualize fixtures
in appearance not unlike those used
in retail stores today. Display coun­
ters will contain small trap doors
through which packages are delivered
after the necessary coin is inserted.
Attractive cabinets in keeping with
the store trim will stand on stair
land ngs, between elevators and in
other available unused space. The
well-known “ Automat” gives a crude
idea .of the t$pe of fixture which will
be placed against walls. In a sen­
tence, automatic store fixtures must
be visualized, not vending machines.
The development of much equip­
ment has been progressing quietly
and along sound mechanical and
business lines toward what appears at
this date to be certain success. We
are on the verge of no “new era in
retailing,” however.
Progress is
going to be slow. Nor are our stores
going to throw away their sales
people and substitute machines, for
no automaton can ever take the place
of an efficient salesperson. But ma­
chines will certainly be used to do
y
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