Give the Customer What They Want in the Vending Machine
By: Fabiola Grosshan
Submitted: 2010-06-30 06:31:24 | Word Count: 383
Identifying a key location for soda vending machines is one of the main differentiators between a profitable vending company and a company that struggles. Consumers want the products they desire most to be conveniently accessible and sold at a reasonable price. Vending machines are the perfect vehicles to bring the perfect goods to thirsty and hungry consumers.
Studies have shown that placement of these machines in the right location can turn them into goldmines that continue to produce profits month after month. Another point that goes without saying that the vending machines must operate at a level that meets customer expectations, and each machine must be stocked with the product selection that customers desire.
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A snack and soda vending machine is fast overtaking the single-solution units of the past, where rows of large refrigerator-sized machines lined the walls of a break room, each with a single type of commodity from a different vendor – you couldn’t mix.
Tailoring the machine’s offerings to customers, new modular vending machines provide a large variety of snacks and beverages. The machines can be linked together in modules to offer coffee products from one machine and hot foods in another. Such flexibility allows the vending firm to partner with local distributors to offer an incredible selection of products. These machines can combine soda, water, sports drinks and energy drinks in one single unit. A vending company can then query customers for what foods and beverages they desire most, creating profit more efficiently by stocking these highly rated items in the machines.
The new-generation machines also accept a larger variety of bills and payment methods. The machines will take bills from one dollar up to twenty dollars, along with credit and debit cards. Many people do not carry cash these days, and vending machines that support credit card transactions and are key to satisfying the customer. Also, for the vendor, in the past it was notoriously difficult to change prices for products with classical mechanical machines, but the new computerized systems allow for the easy changing of prices in any number of configurations.
