Box to de-bottleneck Shanghai time-honored brands

Shanghai's waning time-honored brands have literally been given a helping hand - in the form of a robotic arm within a cubic vending machine.

"Since the machine was made available in October, we've seen more than 20 orders every day for the products, most of them priced between 58 and 108 yuan," said Feng.

Shao Yuling, secretary-general of the Shanghai Time-Honored Brand Association, said she was hugely impressed by the spending power of Chinese consumers during the November 11 Singles Day online shopping spree. Yet, at the same time, this phenomenon spelled trouble for certain businesses as well.

"The booming e-commerce scene has overshadowed traditional purchasing habits and the physical stores for Shanghai's time-honored brands have been impacted as a result. It's sad to hear that some of the flagship stores for famous brands will be lowering their shutters next year," she said.

Shao added that she felt compelled to do something to help these ailing businesses, and when her association was approached by Feng's company earlier in June, she immediately took interest in the idea of promoting the city's prestigious brands and products through vending machines.

Based on market surveys, Feng's team would choose the products that will be featured in the machines. The selection of goods will also be altered over time according to factors such as purchase frequencies, timing and location.

"Take the existing machine for example. As its location is adjacent to many high-end office buildings where many white-collar workers and foreigners have the habit of drinking coffee, products like Shanghai Coffee are among the most popular," said Feng.

According to a poll conducted by Signature Lifestyle, up to 54 percent of respondents said they would buy a souvenir during their travels, with outbound travelers being more inclined to do so. However, not many people actually buy souvenirs in China's tourist hotspots because most of them are similar in appearance and quality - they are all made in Yiwu, a small city in Zhejiang province famous for producing such commodities.

Feng said that their project can help change the situation in Shanghai as the machines can make time-honored goods more distinctive via its unique sales platform.