ON A wet afternoon in Orchard Emerald Shopping Centre, three tourists queue in front of a vending machine near the taxi stand - but not because they want a drink or a snack.
They are lining up to buy an umbrella - a simple white one that costs $6.
In the past three years, machines peddling anything from diapers to Xbox games to even toilet seat liners have been popping up in places as accessible as MRT stations and hospitals.
Others are found in less common areas, such as machines selling baby bed liners in the baby diaper-changing rooms of Ikea's Tampines branch.
But consumers aren't biting into the concept yet, said five vending machine operators.
Indeed, more than half of 20 people LifeStyle spoke to did not even know such machines existed. 'I'd never even seen it,' said a surprised deliveryman Mohd Hafiz, 22, after LifeStyle pointed out to him a machine dispensing Mini Melts ice cream in West Mall.
The American dessert comes in the form of small balls of ice cream in a plastic cup.
Mr Mohd added: 'The ice cream looks strange - I would be uncomfortable eating it. I'd rather buy a regular ice cream from a grocery store.'
Consumers in countries like Taiwan and Japan are more open to vending machines. In fact, you can buy items ranging from the quirky (live rhinoceros beetles and fishing bait) to the kinky (used underwear and porn magazines) there.
There are almost 5.6 million vending machines in Japan, or one for 23 people, according to its Vending Machine Manufacturers' Association.
In comparison, there are 12,000 vending machines here, estimated a spokesman for Atlas Vending. This works out to one for 375 people.
The leading operators - F&N, Atlas Vending and Yeo Hiap Seng - focus on drinks and snacks machines.
Singapore's small population size - 4.5 million - and its many convenience stores also make it hard to earn profits, say operators.
'All you have to do is turn a corner and you'll find a Cheers or 7-Eleven, so it's difficult for us to compete,' said lollipop vending machine operator Agnes Cheng. She operates more than 100 Chupa Chups lollipop vending machines.
Mr Davis Ken, who owns the Hotbake sandwich dispensing machines, said high operational costs - like maintaining food quality - mean that he has been losing money although his sandwiches sell quite well.
For consumers, it all boils down to two factors: product relevance and convenience.
As Ms Kavitha Chockalingam, 31, a records officer at an American leadership training firm, said: 'I don't buy lollipops because I don't like them. But if I go into a toilet and the seat is really bad, I may just buy a toilet seat liner.'
