oca-Cola, NTT DoCoMo and Itochu Corporation introduced a new concept in vending when they launched the 'C-mode' vending machine in April 2002 in Japan. Now, Coke has reached a landmark of 5,000 machines in the country.

These vending machines allow users to pay for the beverages through their mobile phones. Besides this, they act as information providers. Coke's bottler in Japan introduced 'community support' vending machines in 2004 that displayed essential information through electronic message display boards. Now there are 155 such machines in the region.... more