Consumers can now buy used cars from vending machines
A few years ago, the big disruption to the industry was online car sales. Now, one company has gone a step further and started selling cars from a vending machine with a little customer prep work at its website first.
California-based retailer Carvana has been selling used cars online since 2013. Then it discovered that some customers like to pick up their car instead of having it delivered. The idea of a vending machine was born, though still with no sales staff or other humans onsite.
The sale and, if the customer wants, trade-in and financing are completed online. Carvana says the process can take less than 29 minutes. The company has an online inventory of 1,700 cars, according to The Tennessean.
Carvanaês first vending machine was built in Atlanta, but a new one in Nashville is the first with a five-story tower of used cars. Architects and engineers were brought in from around the globe to design the facility.
Vending machine is not a figure of speech. The customer inserts a coin the size of a large Frisbee and a machine grabs the vehicle and brings it to one of three bays. The customer can take it for a seven-day extended test drive before making a final purchase decision.
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