Every once in a while we take the Frontier team out on a field trip to experience new services and to think about service design. This week, we took a trip to Wegmans the legendary grocery store chain, that is expanding along the east coast of the United States.

This most recent store opened in a Philadelphia suburb called Collegeville, a few weeks ago. Prior to the door’s opening the first day, there were over 1,500 customers lined up outside. Keep in mind, they weren’t giving away anything for free - they were just opening for business!

Here is link to some photos we took that day inside the store. Beyond the selection and prices, Wegmans does a fantastic job creating a very comfortable and inviting shopping environment, while also staffing the store with outstanding people. (They hired 550 out of over 6,000 applicants.) They also pushed the state of Pennsylvania on the definition of what a grocery store could be, and ended up being able to sell six packs of beer. (For those of you who live outside of Pennsylvania, this is a big deal!)

• Inevitable - Hulu to start charging for content in 2010 - #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4xXIJ
• Wal-Mart launched in home installation services for home theater and computers - Inevitable - #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4xH3D
• A look inside Microsoft’s first retail store - just opened… http://is.gd/4xT5L
• 7-11 CEO goes undercover to take new employee training. Great way to build empathy! #servicedesign http://is.gd/4xFOH
• Data collector AdMob reports that mobile Web page requests grew 9% from July to August—a 180% annual growth rate.
• I wonder if edgy brands are creating social media controversy/crisis for the sole purpose of the PR bump… http://is.gd/4wcGz
• Raytheon deploys Google Android mobile OS in “good enough” battlefield comm devices - “friend” a spy drone - http://is.gd/4vUDJ
• A single YouTube viewing takes nearly 100X cellular bandwidth as a voice call. “Pay as you go” is inevitable… #servicedesign
• Disney Planning On Turning Retail Stores Into Shopping Theme Parks - #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4wcwy - Great Idea!!
• China has 40 million bloggers and 200 million blogs. Govt has tough time stemming the tide - http://is.gd/4vUdZ
• Wow - Facebook exec: “More than 8 billion minutes are spent on Facebook every day” #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4vU5c
• Great trending stats on economy and mobile market from Morgan Stanley #servicedesign - http://bit.ly/3Fqe79
• USPS: consumers who get paper catalogs spend 28% more on that retailer’s website than those who did not get catalog. We are tactile beings!
• National Diectory of Catalogs lists 12,524 different paper catalogs printed in the U.S., many multiple printings per year.
• Amazing resource - Google archive of millions of Life Magazine photos - both published and not - http://is.gd/4sQOb
• Google and Virgin America offer free in-flight Wi-Fi from Nov 10 thru Jan 5 as a gift to holiday travelers.
• L.L. Bean sends out over 250 million paper catalogs per year - biggest U.S. catalog retailer.
• Annual Revs: Amazon = $19B, Wal-Mart Online = $1.7B, Wal-Mart overall: $401B. Do not underestimate W as they go toe-2-toe w AMZN!!
• Apple’s iPhone tops Brand Keys’ 2009 Loyalty Leader rankings. Starbucks tumbles, McCafe rises. http://is.gd/4qXJ0
• Target to pay customers 5 cents per bag for re-used shopping bags…
  #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4qXwA
• Fact: e-commerce still makes up less than 5% of American retail spending. #servicedesign

• Microsoft retail stores? Business Week laughed when Apple did the same in 2001. Who’s laughing now? #servicedesign http://is.gd/4mD3h
• Last year 17 billion catalogs were shipped in the U.S. - that is 56 for each and every American!
• California to ban power-guzzling big screen HDTVs? http://is.gd/4mroR
• American Magazine Conference rebranded as the Magazine Innovation Conference - “go niche or die” - #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4l2QJ
• “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” - Albert Einstein
• Piper Jaffray study says Starbucks is top restaurant choice for teens… #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4kZy8
• Wall Street Journal surpasses USA Today as #1 selling daily newspaper - http://is.gd/4jC81
• Our new blog post on vending machines and #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4jxPq
• Wow - my true story about my daughter’s falling iPod got posted on The Consumerist - over 5700 views so far! http://is.gd/4jr0z
• 1500 people waited to get into this local grocery on first day. Passion! http://www.Wegmans.com - will be blogging about their #servicedesign
• >80% of economists surveyed by Natl Assoc for Business Economics believe recession is over & recovery is underway. http://is.gd/4D3Yq

Here is a round-up of innovative uses of vending machines from around the world, compiled by Trendwatching.com. These are all great examples of service design. How, you ask, since they are all selling products? Service design comes into play in the methods in which they have chosen to “get” products to customers. That delivery is, in and of itself, a service supporting the product. In most cases this is about delivering the product to the right customers in the right place at the right time. And in doing so, cutting out a whole chain of middlemen, resellers, and wholesalers. (Is that good or bad? Depends on what role you currently play in that chain!)

This is also another example of technology prices continuing to fall, which make it financially feasible to distribute via vending machines or self-service kiosks. That technology is applied to not only the “machine” itself, but also it’s wired or wireless connection back to headquarters to let it’s owners know when it’s time to restock or fix the machine.  Which of these would you use?

• Barcelona company Lof (short for ‘Lo Fresco’) has developed a range of vending machines that only dispense healthy food, from prepared fruit and ready meals to gazpacho soup.
• Redbox specializes in the vending of DVDs via self-service kiosks. Redbox kiosks are located throughout the US in fast food restaurants, pharmacies, grocery stores and convenience stores, leasing out DVDs from USD 1 per night.
• Launched earlier this year, US based U*tique bills itself as the world’s first interactive, automated luxury store for “life’s little emergencies and indulgences”. Debuting at Los Angeles retailer Fred Segal, U*tique lets consumers learn about selected luxury and personal-care products and have them dispensed with a swipe of their credit card. Only 50 products are available at any given time, and all have been handpicked by product specialists with backgrounds in global beauty, trend-hunting and innovation. The technology features a touch-screen interface, interactive LED lighting design, and a behind-the-scenes robot that delivers products from secure storage into consumers’ hands.
• German farm ‘Peter-und-Paul-Hof’ has begun selling its fresh produce in vending machines. The specially designed Regiomat machines sell milk, eggs, butter, cheese, potatoes and sausage in thirteen German towns and communities.
• The Standard Hotel chain in the US has introduced a retail concept by placing vending machines stocked with designer swimming trunks in their hotels. Quiksilver and André Balazs’ have partnered to fill the vending machines in the New York, Los Angeles, Hollywood and Miami hotels.
• Bike manufacturer Trek set up a prototype Trek Stop Cycling Convenience Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Located outside (and operated by) bike shop Machinery Row, the Trek Stop is a convenience center for cyclists. The vending machine is stocked with bicycle products such as spare tubes, patches, tire levers and more, along with food and cold drinks.
• InstyMeds have developed vending machines to dispense medication. The machines are designed to be placed in doctors’ offices, clinics, emergency rooms and other healthcare facilities. Each holds 100 of some of the most often used medications, ranging from pills to drops to creams and so forth.
• Last year, US Electronics retailer Best Buy installed vending machines at 14 major US airports as part of a successful pilot program for the company’s new Best Buy express kiosks. The kiosks are large vending machines that carry cell phone and computer accessories, flash drives, MP3 players, headphones, gaming devices, travel adapters, and other items that are likely to appeal to customers on the go.
• Kosher Vending Industries in the US operates “Hot Nosh” vending machines that deliver hot kosher meals in 90 seconds. The company originally launched with more than 50 locations in New York City and has expanded nationwide through partnering agreements and regional licensing.

And we particularly like this one, which solves a very specific problem, in very specific places…

• Two British companies now sell their version of portable ballet flats in vending machines at nightclubs: Rollasoles sell for about GBP 5 and come in four colors: Hi Ho Silver, Gold Digger, Back to Black and Pink. Afterheels are similar rollable ballet flats which have the added feature of being recyclable.

• Free hardcopy photo books from your FB photos w/ free shipping. Sponsored by removable ads. #servicedesign http://hotprints.com/index.php
• Client question: Who are the top web video producers for long form content i.e. ‘”TV shows” on the web? (Not video bloggers.)
• If you can type, you can make movies - http://www.xtranormal.com - #servicedesign - great service!
• great idea - ecofont - a font that uses 20% less ink/toner - http://bit.ly/2TMFfI
• German farmers selling fresh produce, milk, eggs via vending machines - no middleman! #servicedesign - http://is.gd/4528V
• Wal-Mart sells 1/3 of all DVDs sold in the U.S. - now pulling display cases - impact of streaming video. #servicedesign
• No new casinos in Vegas for 10 years; “The old model has been thrown out” says MGM Mirage CEO. #servicedesign - http://is.gd/43ab6
• Comcast says video on demand (VOD) services up 11% year over year - 368 million views in July alone - #servicedesign
• AT&T reverses decision: will now allow Skype app to be used on iPhone via their network.
• Disney parks launch “Give a Day, Get a Day” promotion - great #servicedesign marketing idea - http://is.gd/3YZdl

• GM drops eBay pilot program for new car sales - too difficult to track results. Stay focused on great cars, great service!
• Very slick web service, solves a lot of the problems of desktop based Powerpoint… http://www.sliderocket.com/
• Toy R Us sets up 350 “pop up” retail stores in empty mall space to seize holiday sales. Smart! #servicedesign http://bit.ly/mij8T
• San Fran Airport launches carbon offset kiosk. Flying? Send money to local forest. #servicedesign - http://bit.ly/1wDaZt
• Airline bag fees in 2nd quarter: $670M, up from $178M last year. Entire industry goes a la carte for profits. #servicedesigner
• Dell buys Perot Systems for $3.9 Billlion for their service expertise and revenues. See a trend? #servicedesign http://bit.ly/gKRJ4
• Xerox (w 54K people) acquires larger ACS (w 74K people) for their services expertise and revenue. #servicedesign - http://bit.ly/ZLzuJ