Automatic Age

12
T he A
u t o m a t ic
some of the selling in retail stores
and the retailer deserves, according­
ly, to be given the general facts re­
garding automatic retailing — its
drawbacks as well as its advantages,
its limitations as well as its poten­
tialities.
Range of Products is Restricted
To begin with, then, the range of
products which can properly be re­
tailed by machines is rather restrict­
ed. A ll that a mechan'sm can do is
to receive payment and deliver; it
cannot actually sell. Hence all the
vast field of merchandise that re­
quires the exercise of salesmansh:p,
or personal attention for the cus­
tomer, n barred’ from the machines.
So is all bulky merchandise — the
larger the product, the larger the ma­
chine required to sell it, and there is
a practical lim it to the s‘ze of ma­
chines which stores will install. Also
we must eliminate all merchandise
which is carried in many sizes, colors,
patterns, styles, etc.— the great num ­
ber of machine3 required would take
up too much space. As machines can
only operate on coins — and prefer­
ably on single coins— we can only dis­
tribute products through them which
cost not over 25 cents, or at the out­
side 50 cents. The public must recog­
nize the merchandise sold by machine
and have confidence in it; otherwise
it will not buy in sufficient volume to
warrant the investment in machines.
Hence all unknown and rlow moving
merchandise is unsuited to automatic
retailing.
Accordingly, we can say in recapi­
tulation that, generally speaking,
only merchandise which is small in
size, which sells at a price of not
over 50 cents, which is known by
brand or otherwise to the great mass
of people, and for which there is a
uniform active demand is suitable
for automatic retailing. Examples of
such merchandise are found among
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A
ge
notions, drug products, toilet articles,
confections, tobacco products, etc.
There are also miscellaneous items
such as camera films, razor blades,
pencils, handkerchiefs, and many
others.
The next question of concern to the
retailer is what effect automatic re­
tailing will have on his merchandis­
ing division. And the answer is —-
considerable.
In the first place it will introduce
an entirely new method of selling,
together with its train of new prob­
lems. Every vending machine man
knows that machines sell most suc­
cessfully when they function on
single coins— that is on 1, 5, 10 or 25
cents; This requires that merchan­
dise be worked out to sell at these
prices. I f products are sold at odd
prices such as 4 cents or 7 cents, they
must be in 5 cents and 10 cents pac­
kages respectively and the necessary
change packed with the product. This
requ'res almost too much trouble and
expense to make it worth while. I f
products are sold at 15 cents or 20
cents the machines can be made to
function on two or more coins; for
example, a 15 cent item for a nickel
and a dime, or a 20 cent item for
two dimes or four nickels. The chief
drawback to multiple coin machines
is the fact that thoughtless or ignor­
ant people will insert one coin then
raise Cain because no package is
forthcoming.
Another is the fact
that it quickly runs people out of
coins, which tends to slow down buy­
ing.
Standard Prices Are Necessary
The merchandise division ii further
faced with a certain inflexibility in
mechanical selling. Each machine can
sell only for one price— i.e. the coin
on which it operates. In a depart­
ment there may be placed b cents
machines, 10 cents machines and 25
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