Products and processes for a membership for a customer of a vending machine

Abstract

In a disclosed embodiment of the invention, a customer of a vending machine is provided with an offer to establish a membership at a vending machine. After receiving an acceptance of the offer, a membership identifier is determined. The membership identifier is stored in association with the term of the membership. After the step of storing, the membership identifier is received. The term of the membership is determined. A selection of a product that the customer intends to purchase is received form the customer, and a transaction is processed at the vending machine in accordance with the term and the selection.

1 . A method comprising
 determining, based on demand for a product, a term of an offer to establish a membership at a vending machine;   providing, to a customer of a vending machine, the offer via a display device;   receiving an acceptance of the offer;   determining an amount of payment that is required to establish the membership;   determining whether the amount of payment has been received;   generating a membership identifier that includes a plurality of alphanumeric digits;   storing the membership identifier in association with the term of the membership;   receiving the membership identifier via an input device after the step of storing;   determining the term of the membership;   receiving, from the customer, a selection of a product that the customer intends to purchase;   determining a product having a sales velocity that is less than an ideal sales velocity thereof; and   selling the product at a discount.