In December, a shopping centre in Nottingham, UK, installed the world’s first free vending machine for the homeless. The machine stocks essentials such as food and sanitary products, with much of the food supplied by companies seeking to reduce food waste (including Action Hunger, the charity behind the vending machine). Items can only be accessed via a special keycard, which are programmed to dispense up to three items a day – aiming to reduce the risk of dependency on the machines.

Another vending machine innovation! There really is no limit to what one can get from vending machines – be it health insurance or luxury cars. Consumers expect companies to be there for them in the right place at the right time, and of course these increasingly high-tech machines can provide the ultimate transactional convenience. As today’s innovation demonstrates, even a non-profit organisation can adapt this trend and make it relevant to their target ‘customer’.

As we’ve said before, your channel strategy (and that dreaded word, ‘omnichannel’!) is business jargon that means nothing to customers. What matters is CONTEXTUAL OMNIPRESENCE: being in the right place, at the right time. And, if your organization doesn’t have a vending machine strategy (yet!), could this innovation example be inspire a useful brainstorming session?

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