Posted by Ablang on 07/16/06 06:31

Vending Machines Sell IPods to Go

Shop-in-box featuring players, digicams, and snacks are appearing at
airports, malls nationwide.

Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Monday, October 24, 2005

You want an IPod? It's over there: just beneath the NyQuil and next to
the Gatorade. Apple Computer's hot digital music players may be better
associated with the company's hip Apple Stores, but in the past few
months they've also popped up next to less exotic products in special
vending machines built by Zoom Systems.

Since spring, the San Francisco company has been selling IPods across
the U.S. in "robotic product delivery systems" (don't say the words
"vending machine" around Zoom Systems executives; they find the term
archaic). The first IPods were sold in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport, and the players can now be found in "Zoom Shop"
machines operating in malls, hotels and grocery stores across the
country, the company said.

Though Zoom Shops sell plenty of other products, including digital
cameras and snacks, the IPod is the top seller, said Rick Cusick, Zoom
Systems' executive vice president of merchandising. "It seems to
unleash an incredible impulse opportunity," he said. "You can walk up
and buy and IPod in 20 seconds."

Buying Trends

Buying music to play on the IPod, however is slightly more
complicated, and since Zoom Shops do not sell tunes for the players,
people may be reluctant to pick up an IPod to help kill time during a
long flight.

The IPods are often purchased as gifts, however, and people who are
turned off by the shopping experience at consumer retail outlets seem
to respond to the instant gratification offered by a 7-foot-high,
7-foot-wide machine, Cusick said.

People who change their minds after buying an IPod can mail the
product back to Zoom Systems for a refund, Cusick said.

"We offer a 30-day return if you have any buyer's remorse or if you
have any issue with the product," Cusick said.

Having just phased out the IPod Minis, the company is now selling the
IPod Shuffle and IPod nano in its machines. Next month, it plans to
begin selling Apple's latest video-enabled IPods.

More Outlets Due

Zoom Systems hopes to have more than 100 of its mechanical shops in
operation by the end of this year and is planning for about 600
machines next year.

In addition to Atlanta, the machines can be found at San Francisco
International Airport, and Zoom Systems is in negotiations with 30
other airports, hoping to make the machines a common sight for U.S.
travelers.

But IPod fans who are wondering how to get 796 quarters through
airport security need not worry: the Zoom Shops take credit and debit
cards, not cash.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,123163,tk,dn102405X,00.asp

==
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-- Winston Churchill
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