Comments on: Sony, Universal begin rolling out PoP vending machines http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/11/03/sony-universal-begin-rolling-out-pop-vending-machines/ Gadgets, gear and computer hardware. Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:01:22 -0500 hourly 1 By: Ankit Gupta http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/11/03/sony-universal-begin-rolling-out-pop-vending-machines/comment-page-1/#comment-945006 Ankit Gupta Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:23:10 +0000 http://www.crunchgear.com/?p=51759#comment-945006 Will they be keeping a specific inventory of what people are buying? Something I think Redbox should have done, and this could too, would be to create the DVD right at the machine. This way you can reduce the amount of inventory you need - someone would just have to come and place blank DVD's in the machine for it to work. If every airport and mall has a starbucks, you could even work out a deal for some employee to take out 10 minutes and restock blank DVD's in the machine, how's that for scaling? This does create the issue of people not wanting to wait for a DVD to burn, and so my recommendation for that is to have the machine keep 1 of each item ready for dispensing. Maybe if something is popular enough that people are lined up for it, you can create more in advance, but the basic concept is to burn the DVD and slap the label on it at the machine. Will they be keeping a specific inventory of what people are buying? Something I think Redbox should have done, and this could too, would be to create the DVD right at the machine. This way you can reduce the amount of inventory you need – someone would just have to come and place blank DVD’s in the machine for it to work. If every airport and mall has a starbucks, you could even work out a deal for some employee to take out 10 minutes and restock blank DVD’s in the machine, how’s that for scaling?

This does create the issue of people not wanting to wait for a DVD to burn, and so my recommendation for that is to have the machine keep 1 of each item ready for dispensing. Maybe if something is popular enough that people are lined up for it, you can create more in advance, but the basic concept is to burn the DVD and slap the label on it at the machine.

]]>