Chris Collins examines Bodega, the app-enabled vending machine startup founded by ex-Google employees. It won't replace convenience stores, but could disrupt traditional vending by adding inventory monitoring and cutting theft. Top sellers in vending: Monster energy drinks and Cup Noodles.
October 5, 2017
McDonald and Rajan (described as ex-Google employees)
Something kind of interesting in the news. Just talking about business and how people try to disrupt markets. There's these guys, so they worked at Google, his name's McDonald and Rajan, they were both at Google and they left and they went and start. Started this company they've had for about a year called Bodega. And what they are basically is they're these pantry boxes that they're going to put around in businesses. And I don't know if you could imagine, like.
I don't know how to explain it, but it's a big box in it. It. Basically what they're trying to do is replace convenience stores in businesses so you would never have to leave the business. So you have an app and they have different ones around the buildings, and then you can go on the app, see which one has what you want. And they have everything from aspirin to top ramen. Or the one thing you don't see in here, like the Bodegas in New York and here, like would have tortas or sandwiches, things like that.
Right.
So it doesn't look like they have refrigeration. It all looks dry. But basically they're just vending machines is what it is. But they're putting more stuff than you would find in a vending machine. And I used to own vending machines. I'm pretty familiar with that industry and that business, which, it can be a very profitable business.
But I don't, I don't think it'll work. So they're called Bodega. There's all, there's, you know, they're trying to start this controversy that they're going to put convenience stores out of business. Isn't going to happen. I mean, I think that they might have good sales and they'll do okay, but I don't think they're going to impact convenience stores that much. It's basically just a. It's just a convenience store. I mean, I mean, it's just a vending machine is really all it is. So the thing is, you walk up to them with your app and then they have a camera and you can buy the stuff you want on the app. So it's a vending machine with an app is what it is.
There's no way that they can, they can have in those little pantry boxes around the business what they can have in a couple thousand square foot convenience store.
Yeah. And Walgreens now is on like every street corner, so it's kind of hard to compete.
I think they'll do okay as far as I Think the. The thing everybody's missing here in this article is that what they're going to do is they're going to affect vending machines.
Yeah.
That's what they're going to.
It's a nicer vending machine for sure. Yeah.
But they're not going to affect anything else. I think they got to put a.
CVS out of it.
It's a fast company article.
I don't see it as a disruptor. I just don't. It doesn't look like it.
So it's a nicer way to do a vending machine.
It's incremental improvement is really what it is.
So good luck with that.
I mean, the app part of it's really cool.
You know, they're. They're trying to say that people are going to pick at them because they're using the name bodega and it's an insult. I say leave them alone. Let them do their thing.
It's not going to be around that long anyways. It'll be fine. Nobody get wound up.
I like it. How? Because. Just because they worked for Google.
Yeah.
It's a thing. It's a story.
I think what they should have done is created an app for the vending machine people and then sold it to them. Because you imagine having a vending machine app, that'd be pretty cool. But they're kind of reconstructing it. Seems like a lot of infrastructure, money invested.
You know, the thing with vending machines that. That does fix with the app, though, is the hardest part of having a bunch of vending machines is people stealing from you.
Yeah.
And having that accountability. This takes care of that.
Yeah. You can monitor inventory, right? Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
And you almost sometimes build into your business plan that they're skimming the change.
You know, the other thing about vending machines is incredibly annoying is it won't take your dollar bill right. In and out, in and out. And this way you just go on the app, pop, pop. Things pops out of there. Yeah. And they're counting inventory controls, inventory costs. Yeah. That part of it's really cool. The rest of it, it's a good vending machine.
It's a good way to dominate the vending machine industry.
Got a six pack of Life Water.
You know what my biggest margins were in the vending machine thing?
By far and away, like. And it was our fastest seller, too. Monsters.
Oh, yeah.
Monster sodas. It's crazy.
Mine was. Mine was cup of noodle.
Cup of noodle.
Yeah. So I started putting cup of Noodles in there. And those things are selling like mad. Like, I couldn't keep them in there. So that was the biggest seller. We did Monster and what was the other one? Rock Star or whatever. They didn't do Red Bull. Red Bull's too hard. But Monster Rockstar did pretty well.
Why is Red Bull too hard?
Just they had little small cans. Nobody wanted them.
It's an attachment. A thing in the machine.
No, just nobody wanted them. Oh, they don't want to buy them? Yeah.
Well, no, I. I don't know what the way that we did it is. We let the people kind of there, dictate what they wanted.
Yeah.
Sometimes they wanted Red Bulls.
Yeah. We took.
Maybe they were mixing a little vodka while they were working with the Red Bull.
I don't know.
It's probably good for business. They buy more Red Bulls, right?
Yeah, that's right. That's right.
