According to a survey conducted by Ipsos for Confida, the Italian vending machine association, 93% of consumers positively evaluate the experience at vending machines mainly because they are faster than traditional points of sale (44%), for convenience (29%) , for the quality / price ratio (27%) and for the possibility of accessing it even when the other shops are closed (24%). The 24-hour automatic shops are a cross between automatic bars and small markets open 24 hours a day that dispense food products through vending machines. In recent years these businesses have experienced a rapid expansion, accentuated in the period of the lockdown when Italians rediscovered neighborhood shops integrated with technological services such as e-commerce and delivery. Today the 24-hour shops have about 2,500 points of sale in our country.

Also according to the survey, consumers appreciate the automatic shops also for the variety of products (33%) and for the supply: it emerges, in fact, that almost all the distributors are always at least 75% full. The best-selling products are coffee and other hot drinks (88%), along with mineral water and soft drinks (94%) and snacks and ready meals (90%), but the offer also includes ice creams, capsules of the coffee, basic necessities, personal hygiene products, parapharmaceuticals and much more.

"The sector of 24-hour automatic shops is growing very rapidly", comments Massimo Trapletti , President of Confida, "because their offer matches the new needs, needs and lifestyles of Italians: there is less time for meals and we eat more often outside the home or after hours, when traditional shops are now closed. The managers of 24-hour automatic shops must be recognized for their ability to intercept the needs of consumers and to have made the sector grow. Confida will continue to strive to guarantee them maximum support by offering the services they need".

Finally, 66% of consumers, during the covid period, felt safe in attending automatic shops, recognizing the good level of attention to compliance with the rules: such as warnings on anti-covid legislation and control and sanitization devices. The cleanliness of the premises (33%) is also satisfactory. Vending shops today are roughly evenly distributed across the country between north (50%), center (20%) and south (33%). In cities, they are mainly found in commercial areas next to shops and restaurants (40%), near public transport stops (10%), schools / universities (10%) and in city centers (10%).