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39 points pmcpinto | 6 comments | | HN request time: 1.063s | source | bottom
1. Eridrus ◴[] No.15292426[source]
This is basically a fancy vending machine, so I'm not really clear on why this got funded, but on the other hand vending machines are a thing. They don't actually seem to be trying to displacement bodegas from the get go, but rather putting their machines in upscale places like lobbies and gyms, but I'm still a bit confused by this whole thing, is the premise that these places are more likely to accept a pretty vending machine?
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2. smudgymcscmudge ◴[] No.15292501[source]
This article is the first and only thing I’ve read about Bodega, and I the same thought as you.

You can do ok running vending machines, but it isn’t any kind of disruptive business. I wonder what kind of spin they put on Bodega to sell it to investors.

3. dagw ◴[] No.15292615[source]
I'm not really clear on why this got funded

"Imagine if Facebook was vending machine. There are over 7 Billion people in the world today who could potentially use a vending machine! And if we can capture just half that market and convince them to spent just a dollar a day each that's over 1 Trillion Dollars a Year! We will Disrupt the whole vending machine industry by using cutting edge Cloud Technology, Deep Learning, State Of The Art Facial Recognition and Advanced Social Graphs to make sure that each of our vending machines has a uniquely curated selection of the best Locally Produced, Organic products. And of course all of these features will be tightly integrated with our Truly Amazing App. This will be the perfect companion for the Digital Nomad Generation of the Future!"

4. pault ◴[] No.15292618[source]
I don't know, I can think of several times in the last week I would have been very happy to have a vending machine with toilet paper and coffee creamer in the lobby of my building. The only corner store nearby went out of business a few months ago.
replies(1): >>15294208 #
5. Eridrus ◴[] No.15294208[source]
Sure, everyone wants convenient things, but why do they need fancy tech development (they're planning to use computer vision), and what makes them think they will be able to make the economics work?

Putting these inside building lobbies means they can serve far fewer people than a regular vending machine; their costs have to be far better than a regular vending machine for this plan to make sense.

replies(1): >>15295233 #
6. hsod ◴[] No.15295233{3}[source]
> Putting these inside building lobbies means they can serve far fewer people than a regular vending machine

Huh? Lots (probably a vast majority) of vending machines are in building lobbies or otherwise semipublic spaces.