Thursday, November 29, 2007

Basics Of Full Line Vending Business

The trend of full line vending has recently gained a lot of popularity. Beginning in the late 1990s, large national retailers in the United States made contracts with national vending companies for a service called ‘full line vending’. However, they were unable to provide personalized service to the employees of companies or satisfy the demand for niche products.

In the 2000s, this trend saw a reversal with smaller enterprises taking up full line vending and catering to the needs of employees with personalized services. They are able to replace existing vendor’s equipment with their own by offering lower prices, better product selection including the manager’s favorite items and better servicing and maintenance.

If you are a vending operator, full line vending is a good option. The business will have various unique aspects that can be described as follows:

#1 The Antares soda/snack vending machines are willingly accepted by location owners for installation in their premises. Some may even take the initiative to call operators to request placement of vending equipment at their site.

#2 Once your vending machines have been setup at a location, it will be more or less a permanent fixture of that place. The business owners understand the difficulty involved in moving or shifting these large vending machines and won’t tell you to remove the vending machines unless you are giving low-grade service or performance.

#3 Vend counters enable tracking of vending product sales and makes it easier to keep accounts. There will be lesser chance of an employee stealing money. even the vending machines are so bulky and heavy that it is difficult to steal money from them without drawing attention of people.

#4 If you are just beginning in the vending industry, you may find that soda vending machines are quite expensive as compared to the bulk vending machines. Moreover, full line vending requires larger amount of time and effort in servicing, repair and maintenance. You will need the help of professional technical staff as the repairs may be complex in nature.

#5 When you start looking for full line vending machines, compare several vending companies and buy the equipment from a reliable source such as Planet Antares Inc. you may go for a single product or multiple product vending machine. However, a combo machine has the problem of not holding much of the products and will need frequent servicing. It is better to buy a separate soda and snack vending machine.

#6 Finding good locations is also a key factor for your vending business success. If the location owner demands a large amount of commission (upto 10%) or the vending locations are far away from one another, the cost of operations will be very high and profit earning potential will go down.

#7 You must keep an eye on new sites and places that are untapped as vending locations. Also, keep a check on the expiry date of products and ensure that only fresh, branded products are filled in your equipment.

All these things must be kept in mind while starting a full line vending business. you will also have to gather information about the tax legislations, business permits and other elements of starting a new business. do your homework and begin on the right foot for a rewarding vending machine business!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Flexibility In Products For Vending Machines

With a vending machine business, you can be your own boss. All the decisions are under your control and you can choose the kind of vending machines, products and locations that suit your business requirements and objectives.

Most people start by looking for good quality vending machines from a reliable company like Planet Antares. This is essential for ensuring effective business operations, sales and overall performance. Once you have purchased or rented the vending equipment from a reputable source, make sure that you buy braded products to stock the vending machines.

For this, you have various options like buying the products from a wholesale supplier or going for bulk purchases from the vending machine supplier only. As a Planet Antares vending machine operator, you can place all the bestseller products in your vending machines. According to your budget, you may go for a specific range of products or a combination of two or more items that are demanded by customers.

In high-end locations, there will be a large number of potential customers who buy vending products. You must observe and analyze their needs to understand the right products for satisfying their needs and replacing the low performing items with popular ones.

A national survey indicates that personal preferences for cold drinks are classified as follows:
• Coke – 38.6%
• Pepsi – 27.4%
• Others – 34%

This means that it would be best to keep a combination of various vending products in your vending machines. If you stock the vending machines with a single kind of product, you will miss out on the other high selling products. So, keeping a variety of beverages will keep your customers happy and ensure profitability as well. Go for branded cold drinks that can be easily recognized by customers and enjoy a large brand following. These are also more durable, fresh and have superior quality as compared to any local items.

When choosing your vending products, check the merchandise for quality and freshness before making any purchases. There should be no expired products in your vending machines. This can harm the health of the customers as well as your business reputation. If you want repeat sales, you must ensure fresh, good quality products in your vending machines.

The locations chosen for your vending machines will also determine the amount of flexibility enjoyed by you in stocking vending products of diverse kinds. It is imperative to match the location with the products to be sold so that the target customers can get easy access to desired products and you can maximize sales.

Selection of vending products should be made carefully after evaluation of the potential locations and customer preferences. To get best results, study the market demand and supply factors and then decide upon the right product mix for your vending machines.