Unattended retail solutions are redefining how audiences engage with concessions at the cinema. As theaters embrace innovations like Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and grab-and-go concession stands, they see reduced wait times for customers, lower overhead, and the potential for rising sales. BoxofficePro interviewed Dominic Donylal, head of Groupwide Vending & Autonomous Retail at Coca-Cola HBC, to learn about the latest innovations coming to a concession stand near you.
Can you share your background and how you became involved with autonomous retail at Coca-Cola?
I head the vending and autonomous retail business for Coca-Cola HBC, and I have been with the company for almost four years. I started my career in hotels, then moved into leadership roles in contract catering and retail, and vending and autonomous retail business. During that time, I had the opportunity to work with many technology solutions, including Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, as well as various unattended retail solutions.
How would you describe the concept of automated retail?
People think about unattended retail in terms of extremes; either a vending machine or the very advanced Just Walk Out stores, but there are a lot of solutions that sit in between. Frictionless retailing is really about removing all of the little obstacles between a consumer and the product they want. It means no queues, no checkout counters, and no delays. Just walk in, grab what you like, and off you go. Typically, this is powered by tech like computer vision and AI, but from a consumer’s perspective, it’s just easy, and that simplicity, that seamlessness, is what today’s customers expect.
As I mentioned at the start, unattended retail can be as simple as a vending machine, a tabletop coffee machine, or a popcorn machine. Or it can be a best-in-class concept like a Just Walk Out store from Amazon. Those stores bring technology solutions with computer vision—cameras that help track consumer purchase patterns—and weighted sensors deployed in the shop, allowing them to determine exactly what a consumer took from the store. The simplicity of the solution is what enables that frictionless experience for consumers.
What sort of growth are you seeing in this concept?
It’s not just cinemas. We operate in multiple channels, including primary and secondary education, universities, workplaces, travel, and retail. It’s relevant in many channels, and obviously for cinemas as well. If you think about cinemas, it’s about creating a great experience, but nothing breaks that magic like waiting in a long line for snacks and drinks and potentially missing the opening scene of your movie.
I’ll be honest with you: If I see a long concessions line, I’m not missing the first five minutes of the movie, and that’s at the cost of the cinema.
Exactly, this is where frictionless retail fits perfectly, and this is where Amazon, as our partner, helps with the right technology. It allows people to grab a Coke or some popcorn and head straight in. It is fast and intuitive, and it adds to the experience rather than interrupting it. From an operations perspective, we see that when customers have the freedom to browse and choose at their own pace, they actually spend more in some Just Walk Out stores. So instead of just quickly ordering popcorn and Coke at the counter, they are exploring the whole space and often treating themselves to extra snacks like M&Ms or candy bars. Customers get a smoother experience, and operators are seeing higher average transaction values, so the whole store becomes this natural impulse zone where people feel more relaxed, and they are treating themselves.
When it comes to cinemas, what do you see as the key elements for an exhibitor’s successful move into this frictionless environment? What’s behind the success of adopting this?
There is a lot of flexibility. For larger cinemas, a full Just Walk Out store can be amazing. You could have drinks, snacks, merchandise, and even food. For midsize sites, a combination of smart coolers, snack cabinets, and a great self-service coffee solution works equally brilliantly. For smaller venues, they might just need a single, dual-branded Coca-Cola or Costa Coffee unit. The idea is to find the right- sized solution for the space and the customer flow. From my experience, there is no “one size fits all” approach, but that’s the beauty of it. We can tailor the solution for our cinema customers.
This reminds me of the success of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, which are very popular in cinemas in the United States. It gave moviegoers the choice of soda combinations they want. What you’re suggesting here implies that there is a similar solution coming for that next generation of moviegoers.
Exactly. Customers are walking into a store, tapping with their card, picking up their Coca-Cola, and walking out in minutes. No queues and no fuss. That’s what it’s all about. It becomes a seamless part of the total cinema experience. And it’s not just about customers; if you think about the Freestyle solution, it’s also about staff members. Instead of being stuck behind the counter taking orders, they can be out on the floor helping guests, making recommendations, and ensuring everything runs smoothly. It can be about making that pre-movie experience as entertaining as the film itself.
Why is frictionless the right concept for cinemas, specifically?
I have a young family, and we go to the cinema together as a family. It is not a pleasant experience, most often, especially for a dad, because you are managing your kids, they’re running around, and then sometimes one person wants a coffee, another one needs popcorn, somebody else needs something else. I’m looking around, and these things are all around the concession area, and I have to queue before we get to the auditorium.
If you can bring everything into one place, and it’s one seamless experience, it makes all the difference to families. If you look at big blockbusters now, they are two and a half hours long. You may need a snack or a drink during the movie as well. Can you come out very quickly, grab something in one minute, and go back in? Is that really possible? With frictionless retail the answer is yes.
Let’s talk about specifics, because Just Walk Out technology is going to require, let’s say, some flexibility in the space of a cinema itself. What space is required to install this tech?
It’s surprisingly flexible. We have seen great setups in as little as 2 square meters. So this can be a compact coffee and drink unit, but a full Just Walk Out store might need 15 to 20 square meters or more. It’s about making the space work harder, not necessarily bigger. It is scalable, which is important for cinemas with different layouts and footfalls.
What is the cost required to change from a traditional environment to installing this Just Walk Out concept for cinemas, because, as we know, capital expenditure can be difficult for a lot of operators coming out of the pandemic.
Return on investment is an area we work closely on with our customers. Just Walk Out stores are not the right solution for every location. It’s about doing the math together, looking at the customer peak periods and staffing costs, and really getting into the nitty gritty of value realization. Sometimes we find that a solution, such as smart vending, might be the better fit for certain locations. We are completely upfront about that. It’s about finding the right solution, not just pushing technology for technology’s sake.
Typically, we see a return on investment of 24 to 36 months, depending on the setup. Again, it’s not just about saving money: It’s about selling more, faster, and more often. Return on investment certainly varies by location and operation, but within three years is a target for most customers. It is exciting that some locations hit their return on investment in less than a year. That has sustained improvement to their bottom line and increased sales or improved operations. Seeing this kind of impact at such an early stage really validates the investment. I have seen some great examples of this.
We have been working closely with a number of cinema chains—some are already live with our vending solutions, while others are in planning phases for unattended stores and integrated solutions. What I mean by integrated solutions is technology that allows you to connect multiple machines to offer one seamless experience for the customer. There is real momentum now. It is great that cinemas are seeing this not just as a trend, but as a fundamental shift in how they serve their guests. It’s not just the big chains, but also independents. Everyone is looking for that edge, and frictionless retail is proving to be a real game changer. I cannot give you any specific names right now, but we are working with some of the leading players.
Coca-Cola’s CineEurope 2025 programming is talking about this concept in the cinema space. What would you say is the one key highlight for exhibitors to take away from this concept?
We keep saying the customer is first; the customer is king. For me, it’s about really making a difference to the customer’s experience, and what has been proved is that unattended retail is good for the customer. When something is good for the customer, it’s good for business too. From that perspective, if the solution can deliver a return on investment, if it can deliver a better experience to consumers, and—in thinking about partners like Coca-Cola—if you can sell more of our products and technology that works, then everyone wins. This win-win partnership is what I see as the biggest benefit.
Share this post