Customers in some 7-Eleven stores can now buy items such as theatre tickets, flowers, mobile phone ring tones and even travel insurance from machines installed in the shops.
MetroNet multimedia machines, which have been installed at 50 7-Eleven stores in Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok, can provide 'almost any kind' of online service, according to distributor iMagic Systems. They became available for use yesterday.
The machines feature big screens to show movie trailers and advertisements, and touch screens for entering commands. They sell movie tickets from UA cinemas, travel insurance from HSBC, ring tones and fresh flowers for delivery.
Similar services are available on the internet, but the machines allow the use of EPS and Octopus cards as well as credit cards. And items like tickets and insurance policies are printed out immediately.
'You can buy film tickets online, but you can't get the printed tickets until you arrive at the cinema,' said Newwa Ng, commercial director of iMagic.
The company said a 24-hour monitoring system would prevent security problems such as those that had plagued internet services.
