RJP
New Contributor
Interested in all/any opinions.
This concept relates to vending. I have no experiance in vending, but I do have
experiance in retail. (Owned a retail location in a major mall for approx. 4 years).
The concept: Body jewelry (high quality) sold in vending machines lacated throughout major malls. Cluster of (3) or (4) machines. (60) or so selections ea., so possibly as many as (240) total selections. Price ranges from approx. $3.00 (simple barbells) thru $30 - $40 (high quality belly items). High quality, very good, knock-out graphics on the machines to attract the customers. Machines arranged in a cluster with display boards arranged between, above, etc... creating a sort of small "kiosk" type area. Machines to accept coins, bills, & credit cards.
In our former retail store, we sold jewelry and fashion accessories. Body jewelry was always a big seller; always amounting for approx. 1/4 (or so) of our total sales during most of the year (lesser precent at Christmas time though). We used mark-ups of approx 3x to 4x. (Could have been higher if we purchased from over-seas and labeled ourselves. But ... we were particular on the quality level and chose a good brand name product. At that time, I did not have the time to locate a high quality supplier over seas for body jewelry; although I was purchasing much other jewelry from over seas. The other big retailer of body jewelry in the mall at the time was purchasing from over seas and many of his customers became my customers because of products breaking).
Plusses - High profit margins. Low space = low cost rent. Can be located in busy malls. Fewer employees. No ones else doing it presently (that I have been able to find). Cash will account for much of the sales (I believe?). Youth spend money readily. Can offer lower prices than competition because of lower operating costs. Malls provide security (although that is debatable some malls). Customer generally become repeat customers, looking for the newest items.
But ......... will people who wear body jewelry feel comfortable buying it from a machine (even a professional looking, well done machine(s) ?????
Looking for any input. As a purchaser of body jewelry (I personally do not wear body jewelry). Or from a general business point of view. Or from anyone who wants to offer their opinion.
Feel free to "rip it appart" if you think it is not a viable idea. Please be brutally honest.
P.S.- I am not worried about "loosing the idea". Breaking into "new ground" is difficult to do .... so anyone else who does this could only be helpfull in getting the marker place to accept it. This country is vast. I lost my paranoia about "protecting concepts/ideas" long ago. Ideas are easy to come by. It's the implementation that's the difficult part.
Thanks for any opinions that can be offered.
R. Poulin
This concept relates to vending. I have no experiance in vending, but I do have
experiance in retail. (Owned a retail location in a major mall for approx. 4 years).
The concept: Body jewelry (high quality) sold in vending machines lacated throughout major malls. Cluster of (3) or (4) machines. (60) or so selections ea., so possibly as many as (240) total selections. Price ranges from approx. $3.00 (simple barbells) thru $30 - $40 (high quality belly items). High quality, very good, knock-out graphics on the machines to attract the customers. Machines arranged in a cluster with display boards arranged between, above, etc... creating a sort of small "kiosk" type area. Machines to accept coins, bills, & credit cards.
In our former retail store, we sold jewelry and fashion accessories. Body jewelry was always a big seller; always amounting for approx. 1/4 (or so) of our total sales during most of the year (lesser precent at Christmas time though). We used mark-ups of approx 3x to 4x. (Could have been higher if we purchased from over-seas and labeled ourselves. But ... we were particular on the quality level and chose a good brand name product. At that time, I did not have the time to locate a high quality supplier over seas for body jewelry; although I was purchasing much other jewelry from over seas. The other big retailer of body jewelry in the mall at the time was purchasing from over seas and many of his customers became my customers because of products breaking).
Plusses - High profit margins. Low space = low cost rent. Can be located in busy malls. Fewer employees. No ones else doing it presently (that I have been able to find). Cash will account for much of the sales (I believe?). Youth spend money readily. Can offer lower prices than competition because of lower operating costs. Malls provide security (although that is debatable some malls). Customer generally become repeat customers, looking for the newest items.
But ......... will people who wear body jewelry feel comfortable buying it from a machine (even a professional looking, well done machine(s) ?????
Looking for any input. As a purchaser of body jewelry (I personally do not wear body jewelry). Or from a general business point of view. Or from anyone who wants to offer their opinion.
Feel free to "rip it appart" if you think it is not a viable idea. Please be brutally honest.
P.S.- I am not worried about "loosing the idea". Breaking into "new ground" is difficult to do .... so anyone else who does this could only be helpfull in getting the marker place to accept it. This country is vast. I lost my paranoia about "protecting concepts/ideas" long ago. Ideas are easy to come by. It's the implementation that's the difficult part.
Thanks for any opinions that can be offered.
R. Poulin
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