Coca-Cola is testing vending machine subscriptions in Japan

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Beverage subscription services aren’t an unproven model. The cruise industry has offered guests the option to buy subscription packages for sodas and alcohol for years. Such services might be less attractive to customers on land with more options to choose from, but we shall see.

Coca-Cola is turning to the ever-popular subscription model to boost vending machine sales.

Japanese publication Nikkei is reporting that starting next month, Coca-Cola Japan will experiment with a flat-rate beverage service in which subscribers can get one bottle from a vending machine per day. The monthly subscription will command 2700 Yen, or roughly $25.

That works out to less than a buck per soda – cheaper than you’d normally pay at a vending machine, but still more expensive than buying a few 12 packs for the house and, say, hauling one with you to work each day for lunch.

The subscription service will be handled through the Coke On smartphone app. Roughly 340,000 machines nationwide will work with the subscription service, we’re told.

Sales from vending machines have dropped over the past year due to the pandemic, and Coca-Cola is no doubt hoping that its flat-rate subscription service can provide a much-needed boost.

Images courtesy Alexander Tolstykh, Fotazdymak

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https://www.techspot.com/news/88971-coca-cola-testing-vending-machine-subscriptions-japan.html

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

Just what is missing in this world. A coke subscription.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Diabetes in several easy payments...

 

[envirovore]

Just what is missing in this world. A coke subscription.

I hear those were available in the 80's

 

[seeprime]

Just what is missing in this world. A coke subscription.

I think a light bulb might have gone off in some cartel bosses mind after Coke did this. Shipments from Columbia or Bolivia are never suspect, are they?

 

[VitalyT]

Subscription audience will represent the absolute bottom of the society, because you have to be really as dumb as f.

 

[Burty117]

You can buy 24 cans of coke for £6 from Costco here in the UK. $25 for 30 cans seems pretty bad to me. I would expect it to be more expensive because these are convenient vending machines but it needs to drop to like $15 a month.

 

[Nobina]

You can improve your health AND save money at the same time by not drinking garbage like this.

 

[VitalyT]

How is it that cigarettes all come with the warning these days, but Coca-Cola continues to sell their crap without the diabetes warning? This should be illegal.

 

[Wrinkle]

Having said that, a generic vending machine subscription makes some sense, especially for people who travel or commute. You could create different tiers with matching prices.

 

[kiwigraeme]

I think if I got paid a dollar a day to drink one - I still wouldn't . TBF - when I was travelling in developing countries - when I jumped of a bus or back of a truck for a quick stop - I drank soda - cause it was cold . quick and safe to drink - plus you never put on weight with all the walking ,hiking etc - so you needed energy - but bananas and mandarins were better and you could eat them - no matter how filthy your hands were

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Japanese publication Nikkei is reporting that starting next month, Coca-Cola Japan will experiment with a flat-rate beverage service in which subscribers can get one bottle from a vending machine per day. The monthly subscription will command 2700 Yen, or roughly $25. That works out to less than a buck per soda – cheaper than you’d normally pay at a vending machine, but still more expensive than buying a few 12 packs for the house and, say, hauling one with you to work each day for lunch.

That's because you're paying for refrigeration as well

 

[Uncle Al]

I'm sure the rest of the drink industry is watching this one carefully ..... and hoping .....

 

[GLenn63]

Just what is missing in this world. A coke subscription.

Yeah that and coke prescriptions

 

[Avro Arrow]

"That works out to less than a buck per soda – cheaper than you’d normally pay at a vending machine, but still more expensive than buying a few 12 packs for the house and, say, hauling one with you to work each day for lunch."
I'd like to say that this is why it will fail but there are a lot of people who can't seem to help themselves when it comes to wasting money on extremely minor conveniences such as this.