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Miami-based Pharmabox Inc. has begun shipping what it describes as an “automated drug store.”
Its eponymous product, the Pharmabox, is a self-service kiosk that carries more than 140 over-the-counter products typically found in a local drug store — a “Target, CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid-type store,” the company said.
Billed as “a pharmacy at your fingertips,” the Pharmabox is intended as a solution to provide consumers with round-the-clock access to OTC health products in nonconventional, high-traffic sites, such as malls, hotels, tourist attractions, transit stations, condominiums, airports, universities, stadiums, transportation hubs, apartment complexes, hospitals and retail stores, according to the company.
The eye-catching vending machine — which actually resembles a box, with a handle on the top — features an efficient display system that enables it to offer any product regardless of its shape or size, including boxes, envelopes, bags, bottles, containers and blister packs. The unit can store a supply of 1,500 to 2,100 products, according to the company.
OTC health and personal care products offered via the Pharmabox include such well-known brands as Tylenol, Bayer, Vicks, Advil, Motrin, Bengay, Pepto-Bismol, Alka-Seltzer, Tums, Duracell, Trojan, Listerine, Colgate, Gillette, Tampax, Band-Aid, Neosporin, Excedrin, Zantac, Unisom, Blistex, Purell, Afrin, Visine, Benadryl, Venus, Secret and Nivea, among many others. And Pharmabox said the items are offered “at the same or lower prices than found at most stores.”
Consumers use a large touchscreen display on the front of the unit to select a product, which is then transported on an elevator system that carefully places the item in the exit area for retrieval. For payment, the machine accepts bills, coins and credit cards.
Pharmabox founder and chief executive officer Alejandro Rodriguez explained that he wanted to find a way to get name-brand OTC products into communities and areas not well-served by traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Two years of research and development resulted in the Pharmabox.
“The Pharmabox not only helps people get the products they need, but also gives entrepreneurs the ability to participate in the rapidly growing automated retailing market,” Rodriguez stated. The company is now accepting inquiries for distributorships and franchises.
