Print Pod provides photographic prints from digital cameras
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Published: 16 March, 2006
When it comes to vending in a shopping centre the options might, at first sight, appear limited. However in reality the choices are diverse -- from having your picture taken to getting rid of loose change.
A case in point is Coinstar. To the uninformed, the message displayed on some of the company's machines might appear confusing: "Turn your coins into cash." Bearing in mind that individual coins can be as valuable as £2, you might be forgiven for thinking that they are in fact already cash, but the good folk at Coinstar know better.
This is a company whose major premise is to turn coins into cash by putting machines in shops (and one UK mall) allowing shoppers to pour leftover change into a high-tech bucket that spits out notes in return.
There is an argument that you might as well go to the bank and save yourself the 7.9 per cent charge that Coinstar levies for using its service, but the company is banking on a combination of sloth and convenience.
It works. You'll find Coinstar machines in retailers up and down the country. All that's required, as Chris Grace, director of sales and marketing, says is: "Good visibility and access to people." A Coinstar machine is currently being put through its paces at Castle Mall in Norwich.
Rather than turning coins into cash, shoppers at the mall put their spare change into the machine and receive a "gift cheque", equivalent to the amount inserted less 7.9 per cent, redeemable at shops within the mall. This seems a good set-up. Shoppers rid themselves of change, Castle Mall and Coinstar take their cut and the spending power is kept in the centre. Grace says: "This is a pilot. We're watching and measuring it."
Coinstar is coy about the revenue split between the owner of a location and itself, but it varies, one assumes, by contract size and the number of machines in action. Grace says that Coinstar is looking at the possibilities of its machines being installed (for free) in other locations and is believed to be in discussion with Capital Shopping Centres about this.
Coinstar's other major product area, mobile phone top-up kiosks, has already found favour in over 100 UK shopping centres.
Another strategy is to give money to shoppers and charge them for doing so. This is the premise of Bank Machine, the ATM operator which allow shoppers to withdraw money from a hole in the wall while on a shopping trip. According to the company, "dependent upon local market conditions" a surcharge of between £1.25 and £1.75 is charged for the service and the fee is divided between between Bank Machine and the site owner. Coinstar says: "typically, up to 10 per cent of the cash withdrawn will be spent on your premises."
More straightforward services are in evidence with products from Photo-Me International and Kodak. Photo-Me marketing manager Francois de Freitas says that there are "around 350 shopping centres with Photo-Me booths in the UK" and that "we maintain and visit at least once a month -- to empty it of money."
Kodak introduced self-serve photo kiosks in 2004 that allow shoppers to take a digi-card from a camera and develop prints on the spot. To date none have been put into shopping centres, but they look a good bet. A similar service is provided by rival kiosk supplier Print Pod.
A lot to consider therefore, beyond the usual snack or drink machines.
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=== Contacts ===
Photo-Me International: [http://www.photo-me.co.uk]
Bank Machine: [http://www.bankmachine.com]
Kodak: [http://www.kodak.co.uk]
Coinstar: [http://www.coinstar.co.uk]
Print Pod: [http://www.printpod.co.uk]
