London, United Kingdom - 05 Sep 2018: The deployment of smart vending technologies will surge in the Asia-Pacific as high-tech unmanned retail continues to attract major investment. The demand for technology-driven frictionless retail experiences, combined with cheap production costs and limited data privacy barriers, is driving rapid adoption in China, Japan, and South Korea, leaving the rest of the world behind. By 2023, the Asia-Pacific will be home to over 1 million automated retail units and over 4.5 million smart vending machines. This is according a new report by ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies.

“The initial growth rate of automated retail units in the Asia-Pacific market, driven primarily by China, has already been astonishing and will continue to grow exponentially over the next 5 years. This will create a vast regional disparity in adoption figures, largely a result of technological and societal factors. Ultimately it signals a strong future for smart retail in East Asia,” says Nick Finill, Senior Analyst at ABI Research.

The unprecedented growth of automated retail units in Asia is just half of the smart vending story, however. Intelligent vending machine trends also indicate how the wider smart vending market is gravitating eastwards. While North America is currently home to 76% of total smart vending machines, by 2023 China will become the primary market for intelligent vending machines.

Smart vending is emerging as an additional retail channel offering unique benefits versus traditional brick and mortar retail and e-commerce. Intelligent vending machines and automated retail units, equipped with advanced customer and operational analytical capabilities, offer immediate convenience to the customer while enabling additional revenue streams to be exploited by operators and partners.

“Successfully entering new markets, attracting new customer segments, monetizing data, and cutting operating costs can all be achieved simultaneously in addition to profiting from direct product sales,” says Finill. “Smart vending is therefore not just a powerful retail channel for the customer, but also potentially a valuable marketing tool for retailers and brands.”

The combination of mobility and smart vending is also suggesting that further innovation is around the corner for the unattended retail market. Several proofs of concept have emerged which enable autonomous vehicles to act as mobile vending machines, opening up new opportunities for customer-focused operators to better adapt to consumer needs.

The traditional smart vending market is being transformed by established market leaders such as Intel, Swyft, Nayax, and Sierra Wireless; in addition to emerging players such as Invenda, DeepMagic, and DeepBlue Technology.

These findings are from ABI Research’s report Smart Vending Trends and Market Opportunities report. This report is part of the company’s Smart Retail research service, which includes research, data, and Executive Foresights.