Now you’re talking ….
According to the LA Times, Let’s Pizza is a pizza vending machine that promises to deliver a piping hot pizza pie made from scratch in less than three minutes.
The machine makes pizzas to order, including kneading and rolling out the dough.
There are more than 200 toppings from which to choose.
The pizza is “delivered” in an insulated take-away box.
The machine takes cash and credit cards.
A 10-inch pizza will sell for about $5.95.
“Let’s Pizza is a huge success in Europe, especially in Italy.
You have to see it to believe it
click to watch the pizza machine work
Tags: Let's Pizza, pizza, vending machines
The Homa Files 
June 20, 2012 at 2:09 pm |
At first I was thinking “this is NOT gonna work in the U.S. – take it to Japan where people buy clothing out of vending machines.”
My other thought was “Really?? Is pizza that hard to make/pick up/have delivered? How lazy are we?”
Then, I began to see a little bit of the magic…it’s not about the product having any advantage other than an initial novelty value. They can get away with “not terrible” pizza. Why?
It’s about the white spaces in OCCASIONS and LOCATIONS.
“Rammer said Americans could expect to see the new machines at malls, airports, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, universities, gas stations and bus stations.”
Most of these are the places where it might be the best or only available option.
Think of being stuck at an airport late night, after the restaurants are closed, when the only thing you have eaten in the last 15 hours on your delayed flight is a measly bag of peanuts.
Think about returning to a hotel after a wedding. The food was terrible, the portions were small, the wine was FANTASTIC, and the hotel restaurant is now closed.
Up late at the study lounge/library before finals…
Seems almost gourmet for bus stations…
Restaurants and supermarkets seem silly, since there are so many substitute goods. However other retail could be a really good play. Have you seen the quality of food they serve at Costco, or Kmart, or Home Depot? The only thing tasty about it is the margins they are raking.
I’m not saying it will take off, but I see why it could. A fun example of business model innovation.