Last week
was the EVA (European Vending Association) AGM and workshop. Around 70 of Europe’s keenest Vending
Professionals converged on Brussels to participate in energetic and topical
conversations and issues affecting our industry.
Whilst the
AGM offered EVA members to understand more about the mechanics of its association,
the Workshop offered the EVA the opportunity to learn more about what keeps
their members awake at night!
It’s a very
interesting time to be in the vending or unattended retailing world right
now. With so much technological change
in the world, it’s curious in a very Alice through the Looking Glass kind of
way.
Vending is
not new, particularly if you credit the ancient Greek Philosopher Hero with
being the first in 215BC (or thereabouts!). Vending has come a long way baby
and, until a few decades ago was way ahead of the field in terms of convenience
and creating a “shopportunity” (if I may coin the phrase!) without directly
involving a human to serve you.
Obviously, any humans involved with vending lurk before and after your
engaging with the shopping or retail moment.
However, it’s probably fair to say that for most average vending
moments, the technology leap that was so enjoyed in previous decades is now
losing edge. That’s an observation and
not a criticism; it’s still a great way of shopping, just that there are
rumbles in the vending jungle that it could be better.
That sense
of “how can we make a great industry even better” was a theme in the room
throughout the workshop and particularly apparent from all our guest speakers.
First up was
David Hoskin, guru of vending data, who encouraged every active player in
vending to get involved in providing insight and information. In no other industry with the scale and breadth
of vending would there be such paucity of qualified data. It’s strange that everyone who cares wants
the data to be accurate, on time and available and yet, those who seek it may,
on occasion, be looking for the teeth of hens.
Anonymised and aggregated, this data has such power and insight that
would surely help all of us to do our jobs better.
Key message
for us was “get involved”.
Second to
the Podium was David Kirby from PWC, the global powerhouse of consulting. A wide set of insights, case studies and
market knowledge not limited to our own industry but others from which we can
all learn. Customer and consumer
knowledge that can help shape our industry to be even greater. Was a fantastic 20 minutes of information
sharing, the likes of which can inform and shape business strategies.
Key message
for us was “know more, do more, achieve more”.
Our third
guest speaker wasn’t called David and once we had all overcome that
disappointment (!), it was great to listen to Rod O’Shea from Intel who was travelling
with some of his team. They work with a
wide range of industries and again had data and customer/consumer
insights that were incredibly thought provoking. The giant touch screen vending machine on
trial at a US Campus caused a lot of discussion and not just about its
cost! I don’t think anyone in the room
was unconvinced that theatre in vending is a good thing; people were just
grappling with how to make it work in their parish!
Key message
for us was “times are changing except perhaps not quickly enough in vending”.
This all
sounds a little gloomy, but as we’ve said on many occasions, all issues are
really opportunities in disguise. The
tension we feel between working in a technical industry and the fact that we
aren’t necessarily able to embrace current technology quickly and effectively
isn’t a bad thing. There will be a
game-changer out there for vending and the discussions last week show us that
people care enough to try and find it!
Let’s think
back to Stephen Hawkings at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony and the
quotation I gave you then “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
Be curious”
Let us know what you think - be part of the conversation
