Fine Jewelry Vending Machine
My Role | Project Manager
Duration | Over the course of 4 years
The Big Idea: Automated retail for a luxury product.
The company founder’s dream was to make a vending machine and sell our fine jewelry worth thousands of dollars in it. What would it take to create automated retail for a luxury product?
She wanted it to be a part of our business model for years to come, so my job was to manage the first vending machine installation and then record and systematize all of the processes to make it easy to replicate with each installation.
We went on to install the vending machine at the Brooklyn Museum, the William Vale Hotel, MZ Wallace, and Rockefeller Center.
The Problem: Create an automated retail experience in NYC to sell our fine jewelry pieces.
Make it secure | We were selling fine jewelry that ranged from $125 - $2,500 so security was vitally important.
Make it unexpected | We wanted people to stumble upon our vending machine. We wanted to create intrigue. Putting it in a mall or retail space would be too obvious.
Make it marketable and profitable | The vending machine was both a marketing tool and profit center. We wanted to make it appealing enough to draw in someone new, but also simple and easy to purchase for our current customer base.
Make it beautiful | The goal was to create something beautiful. Take something ordinary like a vending machine and turn it into art.
Make it work | To state the obvious, we needed the vending machine to work. Nobody in our organization had any prior knowledge of how to work a vending machine or how to troubleshoot issues that would arise.
The Solution: Learn how to install a high end, fine jewelry vending machine, and then create a process to make it easily replicable.
Here is the step by step process:
Location | Find a location that can accommodate the machine. Get connected with your main contact there as you work through logistics.
Design | The vending machine wrap, screens, and branding are custom designed with each installation according to the location. Work with our creative agency and photographer to bring this to fruition.
Merchandise | Decide what jewelry we want to sell in the machine and work cross-functionally with the production team to be sure the proper inventory is ready in time.
Install | Work with software developer and car wrap company to implement new designs and rewrap the machine.
Fill | Fill the machine with the packaged jewelry and work with a software developer to implement the planogram.
Market | Have the PR firm issue a press release to announce the installation of the machine. Create an internal marketing plan to announce on all social channels, send out possible newsletter, and add a blurb to our website.
Move & Install | Work with moving company to move the machine into the new location. Test the machine and have the IT team double check hardware.
Installation Locations
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The Brooklyn Museum
The vending machine was located in the lobby of the museum for a few months during Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
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The William Vale Hotel
The machine resided in the elevated park at the William Vale Hotel. It was our first outdoor installation.
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MZ Wallace
The vending machine resided in the MZ Wallace flagship in SoHo. It was there through Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
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Rockefeller Center
During the Rockefeller Center installation, the jewelry sold in the machine was a part of a campaign to support the restaurant industry during Covid-19.