Self-driving cars become vending machines? Smart cars open up a new shopping platform

In-car commerce startups such as Cargo and Vendy have begun working with ride-hailing companies to sell products such as gum or headphones in cars, turning cars into vending machines in the age of ride-hailing apps.

As ride-hailing services such as Uber and Didi become more popular, and as self-driving taxis come along, the function of cars will change. The function of cars will no longer just be to take passengers from point A to point B, but will instead become a new shopping platform.

In-car commerce startups such as Cargo and Vendy have begun working with ride-hailing companies to sell products such as gum or headphones in cars, turning cars into vending machines in the age of ride-hailing apps.

In the United States, Uber has entered into an exclusive partnership with Cargo, and in Singapore, ride-hailing service Grab has also started a partnership with Cargo to sell items to passengers in the back seat.

While Cargo and Vendy shopping only happens while passengers are using ride-hailing services, shopping trips powered by the voice assistant Alexa could one day also happen in self-driving cars.

Earlier this month, Amazon launched the Alexa developer kit, which can directly connect to the car's infotainment system, so that we can now let the car do what we ask the Amazon smart speaker Echo to do.

Now, cars can be transformed into vending machines that sell snacks, charging cables and other goods. In the future, when "cars are no longer cars", there will be more and more services beyond driving. The process of riding in a car will be a good time to complete work, take a nap or watch TV series.

The car shopping environment needs to be optimized because excessive sales promotion can cause passengers to be disgusted.

Salomon Horowitz, CEO of Vendy and a former Lyft employee, said he believes ride-hailing services will bring new opportunities for development, just as the Internet did for e-commerce, social media and dating services. Ride-hailing apps provide a new platform for in-car vending machines, advertising and data collection.

“We’re going to spend more and more time in our cars,” Horowitz said. “We’re going to become more and more dependent on our cars.”

Earlier this year, user insight company Alpha released a research report. The report asked people what features they wanted in self-driving cars. As a result, they gave the answer of WiFi, TV and bed. In the future car, people want to be more relaxed.

This week, Shell and General Motors announced a partnership that will allow drivers to pay for gas directly from the dashboard-integrated infotainment screen of Chevrolet, Buick, GMCS vans and Cadillacs. A three-digit code on the screen will activate a pump to refuel your car. Payment can be made directly in the dashboard app with stored credit card information.

The car will increasingly become a place to relax, shop, send emails and watch TV.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.