Today, I got to cover a pretty interesting story for CNBC about a particular way to sell cars. The company is called “Carvana” and they use a method they call a vending machine. You pick your car out online, go to their shop and there the car sits in a garage. Ok, so it’s not exactly a vending machine, but to the consumer, sure. My day started at the facility where all the cars are stored, detailed and photographed. I got to see and capture the huge room where they take 360 pictures of the cars. They just drive in the car on this pedestal, it spins around and gets glamour shots taken. I was there on a good day and they had a catered lunch that I got to have. Good ol’ southern food.
After I covered the car lot, I headed over to where the cars are actually delivered to the customer. It’s pretty much just a big open garage where you sign for the car and then take it away. Of course the car doesn’t just “fall out” like a conventional vending machine, they deliver it from the storage facility to the vending facility. Overall, pretty cool way to buy a car for the online only type of shoppers.
-Jeff M
Pictures for days
The inside of the picture pedestal
The camera that takes the 360 picture inside the car. Always wondered how they did that.
Our hero shooting inside the car. Look at that glorious Novembeard.
