Vending machines that vend soft-drinks? Meh. Vending machines that vend short stories? Wow. Vending machines that vend gold coins? Say what!
Exactly what my reaction was. Adopting this smart advertising move, the online jewellery portal Bluestone has created quite a buzz this festive season. Bluestone has launched two ATM machines in the country. While one is in Bengaluru, the other one is right here in the capital.
These vending machines are in fact named automatic teller machines because they dispense gold coins in exchange for the money you put in. The gold coins are available in denominations of one, two, five, ten and twenty grams. All the coins are made up of 24 carat gold and are stored in the ATM machine.
Buying gold jewellery during the season of Diwali especially on the occasion of Dhanteras is considered to be very auspicious. It is said that Goddess Lakshmi grants her devotees divine blessings and to please her, purchase of any gold jewellery or utensil is often witnessed during the festive season of Diwali.
The most common form of gold bought during Dhanteras is usually in the form of gold coins.
Utilising this devotion of people towards purchasing gold into marketing, Bluestone’s strategy to target Dhanteras customers is quite a brilliant idea.
Not only is it a symbol of intelligent marketing, it in fact saves a lot of time for customers who want buy in a jiffy. It might address a first world problem, but its practicality is unarguably very employable.
The starting prices of these coins is around INR 16,000 for a 5-gram coin and around INR 61,500 for 20-gram coin. You just have to enter your name and mobile number and put in your card or cash like you do with an ATM. A completely hassle free technology, it also grants its customers the flexibility to pay through modes of cash as well as credit/debit cards.
The company had installed its first ATM in Bengaluru and the response had been more than satisfactory. The gold prices at the ATM are very much in sync with the prices of gold in the market right now. In case you were wondering, alongside the purchase, the ATM machine also delivers you a certificate of purity and genuineness of the gold you just bought.
This Bluestone offer is only for a limited period of time because obviously, how sturdy would be an ATM machine that dispenses gold coins in a nation where, when thieves fail in stealing money the entire ATM machine gets stolen. The results of this experiment would further determine how secure putting heavy amounts of expensive jewellery material, in an ATM is.
So how about you check them out? Head over to the Forum Mall in Bengaluru and Select City Walk in Delhi to buy your own very first ATM dispensed gold coin.
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