Tag Archives: future of retail

Speaking about the future of gold during Schone Symposium

I have been invited by Umicore's subsidary Schone Edelmetaal B.V. to speak during their Symposium on Monday November 3rd, 2014, which they are organising in honor of their 275th birthday.

Schöne Edelmetaal B.V. has been a household name in the world of precious metals since 1739. Having originally started out as inspectors of gold and silver at the Exchange Bank, they have grown into being the main supplier to the European mints. They got to where they are today by capitalizing on their rich history. But they don’t just live in the past, as they continue to go for gold. Since 2003 we’ve been doing that under the wing of Umicore.

Alon Ben Joseph speaking at Schone Symposium 2014

The title of my presentation is: "De gouden toekomst van goud", which translates to: "The golden future of gold". I have been invited by the management of Schone to inspire all their guests, partners, customers and employees. As I am: a jeweller, consultant, innovator in the jewelry industry with regard to multichannel retail, Shopping2020 Expert and Schone customer, they asked me to philosophize about the future of gold in the 'New Economy'.

I have the honor to share the stage with TV personality Humberto Tan, Gold Expert Willem Middelkoop and Inspirator and consultant Richard van Hooijdonk.

Do you want to learn more about my personal view of the future of retail, the luxury industry and the consumption behavior of gold? Please visit Oak Consultancy's page.

 

Gold ATM Machine

The title sounds a bit weird, but now you can get physical gold bars from an ATM machine instead of cash money. The first gold vending machine that actually spits out gold was presented in (where else) Dubai. But this week I ran in to one in Europe. Now where else than in London, United Kingdom. This is a picture I took of the machine at Westfield London White City Shopping Mall:

GOLD TO GO ATM Machine at Westfield London White City

This surprised me a bit and made me curious if there is a serious business (plan) behind this, or it's just a good marketing stunt?!

The company that created these gold vending machines is: Gold to Go. And, they seem very professional and serious...

This is what they write on their homepage:

"A simple and brilliant principle: put your money in and pick your gold!

The GOLD to go™ vending machine is an unmanned point of sale. It offers an extraordinary opportunity to purchase gold bars and coins of assured quality, backed by the security of a Swabian Fort Knox® and with the ease-of-use of a vending machine. Prices are updated in real-time. The GOLD to go™ gold vending machine is largely burglar-proof and tamper-resistant. It has an excellent user guidance, which makes it very easy to handle.

geschenkbox-krugerrandIn the standard version, our GOLD to go™ ATM’s are equipped with the following products (alternative product portfolio is possible, depending on the requirements of the respective location):

Gold Bars 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce

Krugerrand 1/10 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1 ounce

Kangaroo 1/10 ounce ($15) and 1 ounce ($100)

Maple Leaf 1/10 ounce ($5)

All these come in a precious gift box."

Today, there are already 27 ATM machines installed: 15 in Germany, 8 in The UAE, 2 in Italy and one each in The USA and The UK.