A smart vending fridge: a shop in one square metre that runs itself.
If you are shopping for a vending machine, this is one: a glass-door fridge with no
spirals, so it sells sandwiches, salads and cans from the same shelf. A customer taps a
card, the door unlocks, they take what they want, and cameras charge them for exactly
that. No till, no staff, no coins, nothing to jam.
Lease one or buy it outright. We supply the machine, set it up at your
site, train it on your range and stay on the end of WhatsApp afterwards. The stock, the
prices and every penny it takes are yours.
For your customer it is quicker than a counter. For you there is nothing to man.
01Tap
A card unlocks the door.
Contactless card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Locked to everyone else, so it can stand where nobody is watching it.
02Take
They pick it up.
Open the door, browse the shelves, take one thing or six. No keypad, no lane numbers, nothing to get stuck.
03Close
Cameras see what left.
When the door shuts, the cabinet recognises what was taken and charges the card about a minute later.
04Watch
You see the sale.
Every sale, to the item, on your phone — with what needs restocking and an alert if a machine goes offline.
// Why owners have one
An unattended shop that sells while you are doing something else.
Gyms, offices, hotels, halls, workshops, a café after closing — anywhere people want a cold
drink or a snack and nobody wants to stand behind a till for it. A self-service fridge
with a door, not a vending machine with a coil.
Open whenever your doors are
Early classes, late shifts, weekends. It trades every hour the space is open, with no staff cost behind any of them.
A bigger range than vending
No spirals, so anything that sits on a shelf can sell: cans, bottles, protein shakes, bars, sandwiches, meal pots — or ice cream, in the freezer.
No cash to count
Card and phone payments only. Nothing to empty, nothing worth breaking in for, and the takings arrive in your account.
Your range, your prices
You decide what goes in and what it costs. A new product is recognised within six hours of being added — no engineer visit.
Numbers, not guesswork
Our back office, Maimava, shows sales to the item, margin against your supplier invoices, stock levels and VAT records. Free for six months, optional throughout.
Fits almost anywhere
Under a square metre of floor and a standard 13A socket. Nothing plumbed, nothing bolted down, wifi or mobile signal for the connection.
// Prices
Lease it or buy it — the numbers.
The same four cabinets either way. Prices exclude VAT. Getting a machine live — survey,
delivery, setup and training — is one fixed £900, whichever machine and
wherever you are.
Cabinet
What it is
Lease a month, plus £900 on installation
Buy installed, £900 included
Mini 360
580 mm wide · 36 lanes
£85
£3,899
Pro 542 the one in the photo
750 mm wide · 49 lanes
£119
£5,099
Freezer 550
Frozen, −22 to −18 °C
£150
£6,199
Ultra 1200
1,370 mm twin‑door
£184
£7,399
Lease
Keep your capital.
£900 on installation, then the monthly rental. No deposit, nothing payable on signing.
Three quarters of every rental comes off the price if you decide to buy it later.
12 months minimum, then three months' notice and a fixed £300 to collect it. Nothing else.
Card payments. The payment processor the machines are built for. A £9 monthly gateway, then 0.6% + 3p a card transaction on our agreement — a basket over £5 is charged in two — plus the card schemes' own fees, passed through at cost: under 1% of takings on our statements.
Electricity. At 25p a unit, from the manufacturer's figures: Mini 360 about £15, Pro 542 about £20, Ultra 1200 about £47, Freezer 550 about £62.
Insurance. About £2 added to business cover you already hold — an estimate; your insurer will quote it. About £13 for a new policy like ours.
Connectivity. £0 on the site's Wi-Fi through the router we include; about £5–£10 for a pay-as-you-go data SIM; £10 for the manufacturer's 4G SIM.
A Pro 542 on Wi-Fi, every monthabout £39–£50 + up to 1.6% and about 8p a sale, depending on insurance
If you keep ours after the free periodback office from month 7 1% of takings, minimum £5care plan from month 13 £30 a month
An illustration, not a forecast: a leased Pro 542 on Wi-Fi in its second
year, added to insurance you already hold, taking £800 from 400 sales in a month, with the care plan and back office kept, costs
£119 rental + £39 fixed costs + £24.80 card fees (1.6% + 3p a sale) + £20 AI fee (5p × 400) +
£30 care plan + £8 back office (1%) = £240.80, excluding VAT and the stock itself. Swap in
your own takings — or ask the assistant to work it through for your site.
// What you get
A machine that is trading, not a box on a pallet.
The £900 is the work of getting it live — fixed, however long it takes. The first year's
care plan comes with it.
Site surveyPower, floor, access, and where people actually walk.
Delivery & positioningThe cabinet delivered and standing where it sells.
Card payments set upThe unattended card facility with your processor, tested on a real card.
Range & pricingLane layout and a catalogue built from your own costings, for you to approve.
Recognition trainingThe cameras taught your actual products before the first customer arrives.
First fill & trainingStocked, live, and you shown how to run it.
90 days of supportWhatsApp and email while it beds in.
Then: 12 months' care planMonitoring, remote diagnosis, and warranty claims chased with the factory for you. £360 a year after, if you renew.
// Sizes & features
Four self-service fridge cabinets, one set of electronics.
All four take contactless cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, recognise products by camera,
and run off a standard socket.
Cabinet
W × D × H
Holds
Temperature
Weight
Power
Mini 360
580 × 675 × 1940 mm
393 L ~252 bottles
0 to 10 °C
86 kg
2.0 kWh/day
Pro 542
750 × 650 × 2020 mm
558 L ~378 bottles
0 to 10 °C
122.5 kg
2.65 kWh/day
Freezer 550
700 × 840 × 2010 mm
567 L ~384 bottles
−22 to −18 °C
150 kg
8.33 kWh/day
Ultra 1200
1370 × 700 × 2020 mm
1131 L ~756 bottles
0 to 10 °C
172 kg
6.2 kWh/day
Bottle counts are the manufacturer's figures for 500 ml bottles and 330 ml cans.
Recognition is by camera alone, so two products in near-identical packaging are the hard case
— a different cap or label colour solves it. The cabinet holds up to £5 on the card when the
door opens and then charges only what was taken. Everything else is in the
specification sheet (PDF).
// Questions
What everybody asks before buying.
The same answers we give on WhatsApp. Every figure excludes VAT. All of them, with more,
in the questions & answers (PDF).
Who owns the stock, and who keeps what it takes?
You do, both. You choose the range, you set the prices, and every penny the machine takes is yours. We put none of our own stock in it and take no share of your sales.
What does it cost to run each month?
For a Pro 542 on the site's Wi-Fi, about £39–£50 a month plus up to 1.6% and about 8p a sale — the AI service fee, card payments, electricity and insurance, none of it paid to us. The range is insurance: a small add-on to cover you already hold, or about £13 for a new policy. The care plan and back office are optional and free at first. Every line is in running costs.
How long am I committed for?
On a lease, 12 months, then three months' written notice whenever you want out, and a fixed £300 to collect the machine. If you buy, not at all — it is yours from the day you pay for it.
Can I end up owning a machine I lease?
Yes. Three quarters of every rental comes off the price of the machine, so you can buy it outright whenever you like — the longer you lease, the smaller the balance.
Am I signing anything personally?
If you lease through a limited company, a director gives a guarantee — capped at the rentals to the end of the minimum period plus the collection charge, and nothing beyond that. Buying outright needs no guarantee.
How much of my week does it take?
For one box trading steadily: a restock once or twice a week, a cash-and-carry trip every week or two, and a few minutes watching alerts. The software removes the admin, not the driving. If you would rather not do the driving at all, we can run a box at your site for you.
What happens if it breaks?
The care plan is free for the first 12 months, including one site visit a year, then £360 a year if you renew. It covers monitoring, remote diagnosis, price and product changes, and recognition training as you add lines. We raise and chase every warranty claim with the factory ourselves.
Do I need a licence to sell food from it?
Not a licence, but you do register as a food business with the local council where the machine stands — free, and at least 28 days before you start selling. You will also want public liability insurance with the machine added to the policy.
Is anything changing that I should know about?
Two dated changes. From April 2027 high-caffeine drinks (most energy drinks) cannot be sold from any vending machine, whoever is buying — subject to Parliament, but confirmed by the government in July 2026, and the offence falls on whoever controls the premises. And the Deposit Return Scheme starts on 1 October 2027, adding a 20p deposit to most single-use drinks containers.
Do you only work around Bristol?
No. We are based in Bristol, but we supply, install and support leased and bought machines anywhere in the UK, at the same fixed £900.
Who is Sidobox?
Sidobox is the smart-fridge business of WooSee Limited, registered in England and Wales (no. 14364528), based in Bristol. Our own box has been trading at Clifton Rugby Club since 5 June 2026 — the one in the photo.