Sony chairman Howard Stringer clearly isn't impressed by the skills of in-store sales stuff.
In the USA, the company is testing out vending machines - much like those used for sandwiches and drinks - for flogging a variety of its smaller lines in airports and shopping centres.
Trade magazine TWICE (This Week in Consumer Electronics) reports that,
Sony Electronics will bring its
chairman Howard Stringer’s “Sony United”
directive to airports and shopping malls as it tests a new Sony vending
kiosk to sell products from many of the company’s disparate
operations.
The vending kiosks, which will be maintained and operated by Zoom Systems, will showcase and sell multiple formats of Sony recordable media, batteries, headphones, Walkman MP3 players and CD players, Sony digital cameras, Sony Pictures DVD and UMD videos, Sony music CDs, Vaio PC accessories and PlayStation games and PSP players.
Sony is calling the new retailing approach “Sony Access,” and will use it to both sell Sony goods and promote its brand name and products, said Joe Stinziano, Sony Electronics media and applications solutions division senior VP.
Our take is that vending machine are unlikely to provide less
useful information than many sales staff would, so the idea makes some
sense.The vending kiosks, which will be maintained and operated by Zoom Systems, will showcase and sell multiple formats of Sony recordable media, batteries, headphones, Walkman MP3 players and CD players, Sony digital cameras, Sony Pictures DVD and UMD videos, Sony music CDs, Vaio PC accessories and PlayStation games and PSP players.
Sony is calling the new retailing approach “Sony Access,” and will use it to both sell Sony goods and promote its brand name and products, said Joe Stinziano, Sony Electronics media and applications solutions division senior VP.
Check out the TWICE report (registration required) for more information and let us know your thoughts in the HEXUS.community. Oh, and if you want to better understand the much-needed revolution that's going on at Sony, try this Fortune article on CNNMoney, The Welshman, the Walkman, and the salarymen. Although rather uncritical, it's an interesting read and may provide some insights.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community - discussion thread about this news brief
TWICE - Sony Launches Vending Machines (registration required)
CNNMoney - The Welshman, the Walkman, and the salarymen
