Tag: China

The Ford Vending Machine

A glass “vending machine” in Guangzhou holds 42 cars. You choose a Ford model, pay a deposit in the Tmall app, schedule pickup, snap a selfie, and the machine recognises you when you arrive. Then it releases the car for a three-day test drive.

How the car vending machine flow works

Alibaba and Ford build this as a Super Test Drive Center. It turns the usual dealership steps into a clean sequence. Select the car model. Put down the deposit electronically via the Tmall app. Book a pickup slot. Use a selfie as identity confirmation at the moment of collection.

Why this matters for test drives and conversion

The innovation is not the building. It is the removal of friction around intent. People often want a test drive without sales pressure, paperwork ping-pong, or scheduling loops. This format makes “try before you buy” feel as immediate as e-commerce, while keeping the product physical and premium.

What the selfie step signals

The selfie is a simple trust layer. It connects the digital reservation to the physical handover. It also reinforces the theatre of the experience. You do not just pick up a car. You unlock it.

A few fast answers before you act

What is a car vending machine?

It is a vertical, automated car storage and handover system that lets customers reserve and collect a vehicle via a digital flow, instead of a traditional showroom process.

How does the three-day test drive booking work in this concept?

You select a model, place a deposit electronically in the Tmall app, schedule a pickup time, and then collect the car for a three-day test drive at the vending machine site.

Why use a selfie for pickup?

It provides a lightweight identity confirmation step that ties the digital booking to the physical release, without adding visible friction for the customer.

What should brands measure if they copy this pattern?

Test-drive completion rate, conversion rate after the test period, time from reservation to pickup, repeat bookings, and the share of customers who choose this flow over a dealership visit.

The Moby Mart

Every parking space becomes a 24-hour store. The Moby Mart is designed to turn ordinary parking spots into always-on retail. Roughly the size of a small bus, it carries everyday products such as snacks, meals, basic groceries, and even shoes. To use it, you download an app, register as a customer, and use your smartphone to unlock the doors.

The idea is in trial mode. The store is undergoing trials in Shanghai through a collaboration between Swedish startup Wheelys Inc and China’s Hefei University. For now, the trial prototype is stationary, based permanently in a car park. But the company says it is working with technology partners to develop the self-driving capability, as shown in the video.

What this concept makes tangible

Retail flips from “go to store” to “store comes to you”

The provocation is simple. If the unit can be deployed anywhere, then proximity becomes a variable you can design, not a constraint you accept.

Friction reduction becomes the product

The app unlock and self-service flow compresses the journey. Entry, selection, payment, exit. Less waiting, less staffing, less handoff.

Mobility creates new placement logic

A store on wheels changes what “location strategy” means. Instead of long-term leases, the unit can be positioned where demand spikes, or where fixed retail is uneconomical.

The reusable pattern

  1. Start with a familiar format. People immediately understand a convenience store. That lowers cognitive load.
  2. Make access the first experience. App unlock is the “moment of truth.” If that step is seamless, everything downstream feels modern.
  3. Design for unattended trust. Clear rules, clear prompts, and a clear “this worked” confirmation prevent anxiety in a staffless space.
  4. Prototype the operating model early. Mobility, restocking, and support are not secondary. They are the offering.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Moby Mart?

A bus-sized, staffless, mobile convenience store concept that aims to turn parking spaces into 24-hour retail, accessed via a smartphone app.

How do customers use it?

They download an app, register, and unlock the doors with their phone to shop inside.

Where is it being tested?

It is undergoing trials in Shanghai through a collaboration between Wheelys Inc and China’s Hefei University.

Is it already self-driving?

The trial prototype is stationary in a car park. The company says it is working with partners on self-driving capability.

What is the core lesson for marketers and innovators?

Move the experience to the moment and place of demand. Then design the access, trust, and operations as the real product.

Porsche 911 Birthday Song

For the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911, Shanghai based ad agency Fred & Farid recorded the sounds from all 7 generations of 911’s. The sounds were then made availble on the web via a musical keyboard, where Porsche fans from China and around the world could login and compose their own tunes.

The official “Birthday Song tune” from Porsche received over 6.9 million video views and the musical keyboard was played over 1.5 million times.