A solution to redefine the vending machine experience

Swyft is an automated retail company that acts as a sales channel for brands and businesses who want to grow profits and level up their brand.

The company offers complete turn-key solutions. This includes special hardware and software, SaaS technologies and complex services to ensure the best implementation possible. The goal is to make the business efficient, cost-effective and lucrative thanks to automation and machine learning.

The aim of this project was to take another look at the vending machines sector, driven by the technological advancements and breakthroughs in user experience. Therefore, they needed a complex hard-and-software solution designed for this to happen.

Lincoln Smith, VP of Marketing at Swyft, approached us in 2014 with an innovative automated retail startup idea. Right away we knew it was going to be huge as his vision of introducing high-tech solutions into the vending machine business was attractive to us.

Our initial task was in designing the UI and UX and implementing it into the existing logic as the smooth buying experience had to be in phase with the brand’s engagement with consumers through visual appeal.

We elaborated through the prototyping stage to the UI/UX design, to the front-end development with scalability and performance on our mind.

The elimination of the back-end responsibilities allowed us to redirect the flux of forces to design and front-end implementation, enabling us to leverage the time aspect and deliver a polished and refined product.

UI/UX Design

The challenging part of the automated retail project management cycle early on was the unconventional media of our design delivery. The usual vending machine UIs are determined by the limitations in hardware and space. In this case the project was made clear to aim towards “an e-commerce website crossed with a physical retail store — a consumer portal that interfaces directly with a warehouse behind it.”

Blending the smooth online store experience with the simplicity and tactility of actually buying stuff was the destination. We wanted to make the symbiosis of the two practices so appealing and lucrative for major brands to embrace the retail automation technology. The complexity of the projects and the ambition behind it reverberated through its structure, dividing the objectives into 4 branches according to the project segments.

Identity

The entire array of logos and visual identity of all things. We elaborated on the online store interface and UX for the specific media format using prototypes and real size emulation to create a seamless buying experience via vending machines. The UI on various project management phases had to be profound enough to represent the company’s best. At the same time, we have to keep it from getting cluttered and distracting. Service Menu was on another level in terms of usability and functionality. As a purely technical area with a focus on effective maintenance and rationality.

The automated retailing project is a bold attempt to redefine the first-hand vending machine customer experience. Bringing the advances in touch interactions and IoT, we strive to morph the habitual procedure into a delightful technological self-catering adventure. Merging the intuitive and haptic shopping process with the usable mobile experience creates a unique blend and takes the industry to the next level.

Swyft Dash is a global control and management system for the entire online store network. As an overlord controlling the satellites, the company wanted to leverage the full immersion capabilities of the chain. This presented a challenge in the presentation of the massive data volume as well as building the analytics. Keeping the incoming data under the spotlight while maintaining a high-level view are the assets we could achieve to ensure the dynamic reaction to changes and sensitive management policy.

Service Menu

It is the employee area of the Smart Vending product. It is also the backbone of the whole project. Behind the smooth and enjoyable experience of the smart vending machines stands the edifice of maintenance, inventory, and care. In our vision, a delightful employee experience is a recipe for success in catering to the users. In terms of design, this means clear-cut procedures, easy-to-learn, and efficient operations with machine learning benefits.

Business Development Platform

This new type of online store guarantees their clients profit increases and brand enhancements through consistent user experience. That would not be possible without a solid technological base as well as the elaborate design and branding strategies. Top to bottom, Swyft Store is the ultimate automated retail sales channel

Swyft is a massive work with multiple teams involved in its project development process. Our objective was to create a product that could evolve and introduce new features as a response to the market and technology growth by integrating all the best practices and solutions in the design and development process we’ve been able to accomplish.

Swyft is an automated retail company with its branches spread throughout the world. It makes use of a number of unique algorithms providing one of the best vending machine services around.