Shop 24 and Outerwall Selling Food When Others Don’t.

New non-traditional avenues of food distribution are evolving and two of those companies want to sell food to your customer’s 24 hours a day.  Outerwall the old Coinstar is placing 1,000 Seattle Best Coffee “vending” machines around the country maybe across the street or in the parking lot near your location.  Where do you sell food today?  Why? Where can you sell branded food?

Shop 24 is a PC-based store, it is an automated store like a sophisticated vending machine. “Shop24 Global LLC convenience stores operate similar to a vending machine, but they offer everything from a small bag of chips to a half-gallon of milk. The stores offer up to 180 items that range in weight from an ounce to 8 pounds.” According to the company. However could you sell branded food with a private label “shop 24”?

Jason Santoro, vice president of sales for Shop24 said  “We are PC-based”…“We cater to our audience,” …by location.  Shop 24 likes to be near universities / colleges Santoro said. “So what we’ve learned in higher ed is that students are buying meal options late at night — you’re seeing fresh-made sandwiches, frozen entrees, frozen pizzas and calzones are all very popular. Beverages are also popular, but it’s primarily food.”… (I find it interesting Students 18 – 24 leveraging new points of distribution, could this work in urban locations at night or during lunch?)

“Meaning there is a computer inside the store, so that’s what separates us from a vending machine. That technology allows us to take all payment options — cash, credit cards, debit cards and university meal plan cards.”  Shop 24 is working with the University of Alabama to allow the machine to take Bama Cash from Alabama student Action Cards as a way to build loyalty.

What could you sell 24 hours a day?  Are you utilizing all the space inside and outside of your building?  Is your drive-thru open 24 hours but the inside of the store closed?  If you are paying rent 24 hours a day would selling branded product 24 hours a day help build top line revenue and bottom line sales?

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits.  Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant