Russia is to get its first mobile vending machines. The machines have been developed by Russian mobile services company i-Free, which has designed a hardware and software package with mobile vending functionality, and added the module to standard vending machines. It says the device is now ready for action.
To use the machine, consumers send an SMS with a product code to a shortcode, or call a voice portal. i-Free says that mobile vending is ideal for all kinds of promotional schemes, with its ability to identify and reward the most frequent buyers, and to disseminating branded content such as ringtones, games, images and more.
“We invite vendors to follow us into a not-so-distant future,” says Andrei Pristinsky, Head of Strategic Business Development at i-Free. “I believe this solution we have designed for remote management and control of vending machines will be a big hit in Russias FMCG market.” 
