“August until October is the prime season for hairy crabs in China, and to ensure people makes the most of the season, one shop vendor has stocked a vending machine full of live crabs, available day and night,” explains PSFK.
Last week the vending machine was “stocked with live crabs appeared on a street in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. The machine sells the crabs for CNY 20 (USD 3.27) and each come with vinegar and two bags of ginger tea….to enjoy a home-cooked crab in China.
Mr. Liu is hoping to target people out looking for a late-night snack, especially those who may be looking for something to soak up all the alcohol they just consumed. Apart from the opportunity to capture additional sales, the vending machine is unique way for the owner to market his business when its doors are not open.
Amazingly, this isn’t the first crab vending machine in existence. In 2010, another crab vending machine appeared in a Nanjing subway station. While it was initially successful, the gimmick served better as a marketing effort than it did an actual sales tool. Either way, it seems that Mr. Liu’s new live crab dispenser is doing the trick — attracting a lot of attention for his business.”
While in China live crabs are drawing crowds, in Japan ‘smart’ vending machines are all the rage. JR East Water Business, a drink supplier and subsidiary of Japan’s public train company, had launched of the world’s first ‘smart’ vending machine Acure at Shinagawa station in Tokyo that spies on you to appropriately “quench your thirst” in 2010.
To date, there are over 500 around Tokyo. The Acure vending machine apparently one-ups both Yahoo! Japan’s new ‘smart’ ads that record stats about passers-by and the touchscreen vending machines (from Samsung and Sapient used by Coca-Cola) by taking a shot of the consumer to capture age and gender information to recommend a tasty beverage, according to a JR East announcement in Japanese.
AsiaJin.com, a blog devoted to Asian technology trends, explains “the machine shows you a different set of beverages depending on season, hours of the day, and where it is placed,” plus sold-out drinks won’t appear.
The Acure doesn’t take hard currency. To pay for your ‘smart’ water experience you will have to use a cellphone-wallet or contactless Suica IC card (used for many rail fares in the Tokyo area).
PSFK, HEDGEAnswers