20 Fun Facts About The Vending Business

In this post, you’ll find 20 fun facts about the vending industry from around the world. I love collecting bits of information on topics that interest me and, of course, vending interests me! It’s so easy today to find little facts on the internet about anything! What a great age we live in. Enjoy!

20 Fun Facts:

1. The world’s first vending machine was invented in Ancient Egypt in 215 BCE. It reportedly sold holy water in the Temple in Alexandria.
2. The first “patented” vending machine sold stamps in 1857. The patent was acquired by Simeon Denham.
3. The U.S. has the most vending machines in the world- 7.1 million in 2016.

4. Revenue generated by the snack and vending machine industry in 2016 was $73,320,000 and climbing.

5. The average annual amount spent per capita at vending machines was $27.
6. The percent of vending machine sales that were soda or cold drinks- 56%.    
7. The first chilled bottled soft drink machines were invented in 1937 by the Vendolator Company.
8. Round candy-coated gumballs and gumball vending machines were introduced in 1907.
9. From the 1950s into the 1970s, vending machines were used in American airports to sell life insurance policies covering death, should the buyers flight crash.
10. In 1972, the first glass front snack machine appeared on the market.
11. The first bill acceptor was invented by John Greenwick in 1965.
12. Every day seven out of ten people will place coins or dollars in a Vending machine.

13. Approximately 55.1% of vending machines are located in office or manufacturing buildings.

14. Japan has the greatest density of vending machines in the world.     
15. What’s the most expensive item in a vending machine? The United Arab Emirates has a vending machine that dispenses bars or coins of up to 10 grams of pure gold.

16. Another name for vending is automated retailing.

17. If Tiffany’s is closed, you could get your significant other a genuine diamond bracelet from a vending machine in the Hudson Hotel in New York. Although, it only makes appearances during Fashion Week filled with other high-end designer items.
18. There was a convenient coal distributing vending machine in England in the 1930’s that dispensed nuggets of coal to local customers.
19. Redbox is a modern vending machine that gets used by customers across the US to bring entertainment home with the latest DVDs, Blu-Rays and video games.

20. In April 2018, Epic put Vending Machines into its Fortnite game world so that even virtual people have options. 

    

Do you know any fun facts about Vending? Share them with us in the comments below.