Automated Retail: U*tique

By Andrea | Published: September 9, 2009

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

U*tique Automated Retail Outlet (a.k.a Luxury vending machines)

"I was asked to make the Ferrari of vending machines" – Russel Greenberg, Designer

Insight by Andrea

Vending machines have been a popular retail outlet in the United States and in Japan they can even speak (there is an estimated 1 machine for every 23 people in Japan). Recently there has been some in-roads by beauty companies in the space of automated retail. Proactiv Skin Care was spotted last year at Dallas Forth Worth Airport.

But now the Ferrari of vending machines is here. U*tique was created by Mara Siegel and designed by Russel Greenberg. The first automated outlet of this kind is currently operating at Fred Segal in Santa Monica and plans to expand to gyms, airports, hotels, night clubs – places where people could use a high-end beauty fix. Brands currently available include Malin + Goetz, Clark’s Botanicals and Smashbox Cosmetics. Among other things, there is actually a little robot inside that delivers delicate items to customer’s hands, avoiding them from tumbling down like a pack of Cheetos.

One draw back pointed out by a review is that U*tique is not really a good tool for browsing and comparing as prices aren’t displayed anywhere.

"I had asked why the prices aren’t displayed with the items, you know like in vending machines, and was told that if I had to ask how much something cost then I probably shouldn’t be buying something from that machine." – Caroline C., Los Angeles. Yelp, 4/25/09

This was the only actual review of U*tique available online. Most of the coverage seemed to be straight from the press-release. I would have expected many more reviews of the product online by this point. The concept is really innovative and will definitely change they way we shop for beauty. It may however, be best if includes a good selection of reasonably priced, high quality products, to ensure more people use it more often.