Santa Monica rolls out new app-based, bike-sharing program

Bike-share arrived on the East Coast and in Europe several years ago, and today, Los Angeles County joins in with its own system.

Source: www.latimes.com

The launch of Santa Monica’s system, Breeze Bikeshare, will provide 500 green bicycles for rent at 75 kiosks in Santa Monica and four kiosks in neighboring Venice.

The system is designed for short, point-to-point trips rather than an all-day rental. Users will rent a bicycle from a Breeze kiosk, or a nearby bicycle rack, hop on and leave the bike near their destination.

Fundamental shifts seen in POS, digital shopping

Contactless payments to surge, as will mobile ecommerce The shift to EMV in the U.S. is happening in parallel with the emergence of mass-market mobile…

Source: www.bankingexchange.com

Javelin forecasts nearly a third of U.S. retail establishments will accept contactless EMV card payments by 2019. This estimate stems from the growing case for the introduction of dual interface mobile payments and contactless EMV cards in the second wave of EMV card portfolio replacement to streamline the user payment experience.


3D Printer Kiosk by Best Buy

ROBO 3D brings eye-catching 3D printing kiosks to Best Buy retail stores Nov 11, 2015 | By Kira – LINK TO ARTICLE Though we’ve recently seen some major retail names including Staples and Lowe’s enter the 3D printing consumer market, it’s clear that they were just at the forefront of a massive global movement. Next in line to… Read More »

Vending machines: A micro revolution in retail – RealViews

Ordering coffee at Barcelona airport has become something of a futuristic experience with the arrival of a new generation of vending machine.

Source: www.jllrealviews.com

Along with other big name brands including Nike and Coca-Cola, Best Buy is overhauling the clunky, old image of a vending machine. Today’s ‘automated retail machines’ are increasingly interactive, are found in a range of locations – including hotel lobbies, malls, train stations or within stores – and often come in bright colours and playing music.


For retailers, they can play a far more strategic role than the grim functionality and convenience of their predecessors. With a high tech design that is often tongue in cheek, they are frequently used by brands to catch the eye of millennials, impulse buyers and other target groups.

How to Manage Innovation With Design Thinking

Innovative new products are the lifeblood of society’s progress but the risk of market, technology or execution failure is significant. With failure rates of 30-40% for incremental innovations and 95% for breakthrough innovations, rates of return are difficult to predict. Only the best survives in the game of innovation. Managing New Product Development (NPD) can thus be daunting,… Read More »

Farmer’s Fridge – Always Fresh

Farmer’s Fridge brings vegan vending machines in Chicago to make fresh and healthy food accessible to you easily.

Source: www.farmersfridge.com

Don’t think of the Farmer’s Fridge kiosk as a vending machine. It’s a veggie machine. And just as each salad is a culinary thing of beauty, the kiosk is a work of art in its own right. Made from reclaimed wood (provided by Modern Urban Woods of West Chicago) and even some recycled materials, each one is unique and user-friendly.

 

A Few Facts:

  • The Farmer’s Fridge kiosk accepts all major credit cards.

  • Touch screens and bar code scanners for coupons and email receipts make it super user-friendly. We haven’t tested this, but it may actually hug you, too.

  • Product images, nutrition and ingredient information are in a large, easy-to-read format.

  • You can buy multiple items at once.

  • Power consumption for each machine is under $25 worth of electricity a month.  

  • It keeps your food at the perfect temperature.

 

How it Works:

  • We get fresh produce every morning. 

  • We make everything from scratch and have it ready by 5 a.m. so it’s ready to deliver to our kiosks.

  • We deliver the salads to the machine by 10 a.m.

  • We remove the unsold salads (which we donate to a local food pantry).

  • We deliver menu items Monday through Friday when we are most in demand. You can still find our offerings over the weekend, as they stay at peak freshness for three days. 

Don’t think of the Farmer’s Fridge kiosk as a vending machine. It’s a veggie machine. And just as each salad is a culinary thing of beauty, the kiosk is a work of art in its own right. Made from reclaimed wood (provided by Modern Urban Woods of West Chicago) and even some recycled materials, each one is unique and user-friendly. A Few Facts:The Farmer’s Fridge kiosk accepts all major credit cards.Touch screens and bar code scanners for coupons and email receipts make it super user-friendly. We haven’t tested this, but it may actually hug you, too.Product images, nutrition and ingredient information are in a large, easy-to-read format.You can buy multiple items at once.Power consumption for each machine is under $25 worth of electricity a month.  It keeps your food at the perfect temperature. How it Works:We get fresh produce every morning. We make everything from scratch and have it ready by 5 a.m. so it’s ready to deliver to our kiosks.We deliver the salads to the machine by 10 a.m.We remove the unsold salads (which we donate to a local food pantry).We deliver menu items Monday through Friday when we are most in demand. You can still find our offerings over the weekend, as they stay at peak freshness for three days. 

6 Things Good to Know About Paying With Cash

Good article on Kiplinger on six considerations for using cash. Excerpt —  From PayPal to Bitcoin to Samsung Pay (the newest contender among mobile wallets), advances in payment technology make pocket change look as if it’s headed for the history books. But according to a 2012 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 40% of an… Read More »