Vending Machines Sell IPods to Go
Zoom Systems has come out with an interesting new way of selling iPods to consumers. If you’re disenchanted with the retail or outlet experience, just go to the nearest airport or mall, and you’ll find a vending machine- yes I said it, vending machine- that has the iPod, and right next to the digital cameras and snacks. Just remember the bring the credit or debit card, as it doesn’t take cash.
You want an IPod? It’s over there: just beneath the NyQuil and next to the Gatorade. Apple Computer’s hot digital music players may be better associated with the company’s hip Apple Stores, but in the past few months they’ve also popped up next to less exotic products in special vending machines built by Zoom Systems. Since spring, the San Francisco company has been selling IPods across the U.S. in “robotic product delivery systems” (don’t say the words “vending machine” around Zoom Systems executives; they find the term archaic). The first IPods were sold in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and the players can now be found in “Zoom Shop” machines operating in malls, hotels and grocery stores across the country, the company said. Though Zoom Shops sell plenty of other products, including digital cameras and snacks, the IPod is the top seller, said Rick Cusick, Zoom Systems’ executive vice president of merchandising. “It seems to unleash an incredible impulse opportunity,” he said. “You can walk up and buy and IPod in 20 seconds.”
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