(Divulgação Grêmio)
Brazilian soccer club Gremio is testing out a new and innovative marketing tactic for fans to buy team uniforms. The club has installed a kit vending machine at the Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Gremio plays its home matches in Porto Alegre and competes in the Brasileiro Série A, which is the top tier of the Brazilian soccer league system. The club will test its new kit vending operation for the next 90 days, with the machine based in the airport’s Terminal One area. Just like purchasing soda or candy from a traditional vending machine, a user simply presses a button to receive a shirt. The machine accepts debit or credit card payment.
“The concept of this [Gremio] machine is new to the football segment so we need to enter the market on an experimental basis,” said Gremio marketing executive Beto Carvalho in a club press release. “But taking into account the ease of distribution, coupled with the accessibility, practicality and instantaneousness with which the product reaches the consumer’s hands, we are sure that it will be a successful product.”
Gremio will review its kit vending machine after the three-month period and consider expanding into a more long term situation inside the airport. According to the press release, Gremio also deployed its vending machine kits in September at a team-sponsored banquet and sold 80 uniforms within an hour.
SportTechie Takeaway
Depending on how early you get to an airport before your scheduled departure, and how quick or slow moving your check-in process is, travelers can struggle to find time to browse storefronts inside. Perhaps this vending machine solution will be a quick and easy way for teams to sell merchandise to fans before they hop on their next flight.
