Subway: Are Automated Vending Machines and Facial Recognition the Future?

內容大綱
The iconic sandwich-franchise firm Subway IP LLC (Subway), founded as a partnership in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1965, had grown rapidly, and by 2024, it was the second-largest restaurant chain in the world, with approximately 37,000 restaurants. While the company had experienced some difficult years beginning in 2014, it began to rebound in 2022 with the introduction of the Subway Series menu and the Grab & Go smart fridge, an automated vending machine that catered to consumers in non-traditional locations such as casinos, airports, and hospitals. Others in the food-service and supermarket industries had equipped similar devices with facial recognition software, sometimes without the awareness of consumers, and this had raised a number of ethical issues. In 2024, Subway’s chief executive officer was facing an important decision with regard to the fridges: should Subway follow the trend and equip its Grab & Go fridges with facial recognition software?
學習目標
This case can be used in undergraduate- or graduate-level courses on introduction to marketing, marketing management, and consumer behaviour. This case focuses on Subway’s potential use of facial recognition software in its food vending machines. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to achieve the following objectives: <ul><li>Evaluate a company’s decision to distribute products in a non-traditional fashion.</li><li>Consider the importance of distribution in a company’s marketing mix.</li><li>Determine whether it is ethical to utilize artificial intelligence to increase sales and profits.</li><li>Assess whether a new way of distribution can influence an industry in the long term.</li></ul>
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