Automated Retail & Kiosk Innovation Show

Best practices for integrating automated retail while enhancing customer experience

How automated retail such as kiosks can be integrated within a venue is the focus of a panel talk at the upcoming Automated Retail and Kiosk Innovation Show

Photo: Connect Media/John Renner

October 12, 2026 by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

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It's a safe bet that most airport travelers tend to grab a drink, snack or meal during airport travel and expect to have food and beverage options available while waiting to board a flight.

But what happens when all the food and drink options in a concourse are closed? That's a scenario the Lee County Port Authority dealt with when construction activity triggered the closures and created a meal option deficit.]

In response, the authority, which owns and operates Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Florida, turned to automated retail to fill the food and drink gap.

"To address this, we bypassed traditional vending and converted a gate area into a bistro-style food court. By utilizing cutting-edge vending automation, we now offer passengers premium hot and cold meals 24/7 from national brands — including White Castle, Wow Bao, The Cheesecake Factory and Evolve Breakfast," Christina Henjum, director of concessions for Lee County Port Authority, said in an email interview.

"This solution filled the gap by delivering speed, efficiency, and convenience, driving incremental revenue with minimal overhead, and enhancing the overall customer experience," she added.

It wasn't the first time for vending at the airport as it had used traditional vending machines for years and had a strong foundation in place, said Henjum.

The goal for the concessions department, which led the automated retail strategy, was to to provide hot meals that would "bridge our operational deficit and give passengers 24/7 access to food and beverages, said Henjum.

"We partnered with our concessionaire to select robotic machines proven in airports like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas Fort Worth, and Boston Logan. We wanted to introduce innovative options backed by proven results to ensure success."

Event focuses on automated retail

The Florida concourse food gap scenario illustrates a perfect example of how automated retail such as kiosks can be integrated within a venue.

The topic is the focus of a panel talk, sponsored by Tech2Success OptConnect, at the upcoming Automated Retail and Kiosk Innovation Show taking place Dec. 14-16 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Henjum is one of five leaders participating in the panel, "Making Automated Retail & Kiosks Fit: Integrating Across Venues," and sharing insight on integrating automated retail effectively while enhancing the customer experience.

Panelists include Valentina Ellison, CEO and co-founder of Evolvending, Sharon Loeff, president and f9uonder of Shopworks, Inc., Catherine Loy, head of Max & XM (business development, specialty leasing, experience management at JLL and Audra Mazzeo, vice president of retail at White Castle.

The panel will examine deploying kiosks and vending across airports, healthcare, higher education, corporate and mixed-use venues. Attendees will learn about infrastructure, operational considerations, and stakeholder alignment, gaining strategies to integrate automated retail effectively while enhancing customer experience and driving operational and financial returns.

In addition to informative panel sessions the Automated Retail & Kiosk Innovation Show showcases the latest technologies and trends in self-service retail, vending, interactive kiosks and more. Attendees can see cutting-edge technologies in action, connect with industry experts, learn best practices and gain the insights needed to implement successful self-service strategies.

Click here to register for the Automated Retail and Kiosk Innovation Show.

Upcoming Events

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Automated Retail & Kiosk Innovation Show

December 14-16, 2026 | Miami Beach, FL

Explore the latest breakthroughs in automated retail, interactive kiosks, and unattended technology — and unlock new ways to serve customers and grow revenue.

View AgendaRegister Now

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is the editor of RetailCustomerExperience.com and DigitalSignageToday.com at Connect Media. She is an award-winning editor, reporter and blogger who has worked for top media for nearly four decades,  including AOL, InformationWeek and Internet News, as well as for leading technology providers including HP. She’s written everything from breaking news to in-depth industry trends and reported on technology long before the internet arrived, including the debut of the first smartphone. When she's not sharing insights on digital signage deployments and trends in retail customer experience she's on the beach or watching the latest live murder trial.

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