The Old Vending Machine Vs. Today's Smart Ones

Earlier this year, Infinite CBD announced the launch of its first-ever CBD vending machine. A CBD vending machine allows businesses and retail stores improve people’s quality of life and wellness by making CBD accessible and more convenient than ever. Infinite CBD launched the vending machines with the mission to provide businesses an immediate option for customers to purchase CBD products.
Even wholesalers can benefit by having a CBD vending machine without having to purchase inventory. These smart vending machines require the use of a credit card or debit card in order for the CBD products to be immediately dispersed. Thanks to Infinite CBD, it’s no longer considered taboo to purchase CBD products from a vending machine. You’ll learn how about the old vending machine and how it’s become revolutionized with the new smart vending machine.

About the Old Vending Machine

Old vending machines were known as traditional vending machines. These vending machines had very little features like the ones today. The very first vending machines were coin-operated. The first commercial vending machine was in London, England during the early 1880s, according to ThoughtCo. The Thomas Adams Gun Company was the first ones to introduce the first vending machine in the U.S. in 1888.
By 1890 was when vending machines started to offer beverages. Vending machines around that time mostly offered candies and gumballs. By 1962, vending machines offered a wide variety of things, including cigars, postcards, and stamps. Cigarettes in vending machines started to pop up around the early to mid-1920s. But they became less common in the U.S. due to the concern of underage consumers.
Other countries require vendors to request for age verification via a bank card, driver’s license, or ID. Cigarette vending machines are still available in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Japan. While beverages, cigarettes, and food are the most common items that are sold in vending machines, specialty vending machines have increased in popularity. Here are some of the specialty products that have been offered in newer vending machines:

• Books
• Condoms and other contraceptives
• Electronic devices, including cell phones, digital cameras, and tablets
• Lottery tickets
• Marijuana
• Over-the-counter drugs

Overtime, CBD products started to appear in vending machines. This comes as no surprise since the CBD craze has exploded over the past few years. Even some of the most conservative states in the U.S. have embraced the use of CBD, as reported by the Denver Post. It’s no longer considered taboo since it’s been sold at Walmart, one of the nation’s biggest retailers.

New Vending Machines

It was necessary to update the old vending machine. According to Warehouse in a Box, today’s vending machines include have many capabilities such as age authentication, smart vending, and television screens. Some of these vending machines even have environmentally friendly options. Even old and traditional vending machines can be retrofitted to become smart vending machines.
These new vending machines include additional features such as:

• Cashless payment devices
• Eco-friendly with energy saving and intelligent temperature control
• Outlook design that’s in harmony with the traditional vending machine
• Cloud remote software that upgrades and grows with business and technology needs

The Future of Vending Machines

There’s no denying that the future trend is smart vending machines that offer a wide variety of products and payment options. Some of those payment options include cashless payments, facial recognition, and social media connectivity. The vending machine of the future will improve as businesses try to get to know their customers and tailor their products to their interests and needs. For some customers, this can be a scary step into the future with concerns over data privacy.
But it can be beneficial when you’re offering the right CBD delivery method for your customers. For example, a CBD vending machine can recognize that a customer purchased at other vending machines around the world and will ask them if they want the same purchase.
Twenty percent of vending machines will become smart vending machines by 2020, according to market research. Out of those vending machines, a staggering rate of 3.6 million will contain private customer information, including who they are and what they like. Smart vending machines seem a little scary in a world that’s filled with data privacy concerns. Unlike the old vending machine, CBD vending machines can help improve the life of people by immediately giving them what they want.