Getting Familiar With The Vending Marketplace

It may seem to be very obvious to understand changes in the vending industry. However, many companies misinterpret clues and end up at wrong conclusions most of the time. Despite all the talk about organizational agility and its importance, a large number of businesses continue to remain neutral when they need to implement new strategies.

More than any other industry, the vending marketplace is experiencing new changes. Today’s economic conditions and aggressive competition have resulted in an environment that is significantly different from that experienced in the past years.

You must ensure that your Planet Antares vending business is in tune with the changes taking place. For this, you need a solid strategy. Survival can only be ensured by making money at smaller accounts, achieving higher per capita sales, opening new markets, introducing new products, utilizing technology, selling new locations and most importantly, holding on to your existing business.

If you want to improve the efficiency of your vending business, you can look at cutting costs. However, this is not going to work in the long term. When revenue drops again, another round of costs cutting is implemented, then another, until you finally realize that the organization has been crippled. Theoretically, reducing costs shouldn’t be needed if good expense management is practiced on a regular basis.

Without strong controls and preventive measures in place, your Planet Antares vending business cannot afford to operate in the current circumstances. Smaller businesses are more vulnerable as they lack the secondary controls and procedures adopted by larger vending organizations.

In this situation, software has given vending operators, including Planet Antares vending operators, the opportunity for better control over route warehouse inventory than ever before. This can be easily lost when collection procedures are not followed and cash meters are recorded inconsistently.

What is required by all vending companies is a culture of excellence that incorporates cost controls and encourages outstanding employee performance. This is needed as the market place is changing for the vending industry and to be successful, you need to change as well.

Vending Tips For Protection Against Food Borne Diseases

It is essential for customers to purchase safe products from vending machines. To do this, you will have to take careful steps to protect against products that could pose as a threat to the consumer’s health. It has been revealed that 76 million Americans experience food borne illnesses every year.

As a Planet Antares vending operator, you are part of the food service business and not in the food industry itself. That implies that you and your company are responsible for the safety of the food sold in the vending machine. The vending industry sells around $2 billion per year in commissary prepared food or purchased food from outside companies. This makes food safety a primary concern for you. Planet Antares vending machines sell snacks and cold drinks, which means that the food safety concerns are not as high as those machines that sell perishable, high risk foods like sandwiches.

Safe food handling procedures must be followed at all times to ensure that the food products you receive are safe for putting in your vending machines. Here are a few steps for the same:

#1: Clean hands
Always wash your hands before you start servicing your Planet Antares vending machines at any location. They tend to get dirty while unloading the truck. If you keep your hands clean, customers will realize that you are concerned about the way you handle food.

#2: Replace outdated items
Outdated products must always be removed from vending machines so that you do not mix it with the new items. Before loading the new products, make sure that all of the trays are clean and in case there is food package that is torn, place it with the expired products.

#3: Clean the condenser
Once in a month, you should brush the condenser. Cleaning of the interior glass is also an important part of maintaining the vending machines. After all this, you can clean the exterior of the vending machine.

Cashless Payment For Enhanced Vending Customer Service

The vending industry has made great leaps and bounds in the recent years. Many people have joined the $40 billion vending industry with the aim of being their own boss and making a successful enterprise with all cash revenue.

With technological advancements, the vending machines and products are becoming more innovative and cater to diverse customer needs. This means that your Planet Antares vending business needs to be updated to keep up with the changing customer preferences as well as technological trends. After all, the aim of your vending business is to serve customers, keep them coming back and ultimately, have a profitable business.

One of the most popular technological changes in vending machines consists of cashless payment techniques. Planet Antares vending machines are fitted with bill validators and now, accept credit or debit cards that can be used to make payments for purchases by customers. When people have the option to pay through card, they will get rid of the ‘exact change’ phenomena. Not only does it encourage them to make more purchases but also allows you to enjoy greater sales and fix higher price points.

Another advantage of using cashless payment options in your vending machines is that collection becomes easier and more secure. No more counting and sorting of coins and dollar bills. Your headache days are gone forever!

You get to spend lesser time in collecting revenue from the vending route as the money is credited to your account. Also, the chances of vandalism and theft are reduced with the help of cashless payment facility in vending machines. That can go a long way in saving the cost of repairs and damage correction in the long run.

All in all, cashless payment technology is a great way to reduce the maintenance burden while increasing your customer base and getting higher priced products on the shelf. As more and more people run short of time in their busy schedules, cashless vending technology will only make it easier for them to obtain meal replacement snacks and beverages from Planet Antares vending machines.

Diversity In Vending Technology And Impact On Vending Industry

Many of the vending operators have successfully adapted their vending machines to accept higher denomination currency. Recent reports show that nearly 10% of all bill validators offered dollar coin payout and nearly 25% of all vending operators shifted from the 3 tube coin tray to 4 and 5 tube coin trays. Evidently, investing in higher denomination bill acceptors have proved to be beneficial to vending operators.

In the year 2004, investment was made by vending operators in many technologies like cashless payment options and other techniques to make their Planet Antares vending business more profitable. State of the art tools such as DEX handhelds have allowed vending operators to account faster and more accurately for revenue.

Also, they gain more control over product placement and variety in location. This is extremely beneficial to Planet Antares vending business owners as customer preferences have become more diverse. This diversity can be attributed to the higher health concerns and awareness about nutrition among the public.

With the rising levels of obesity among Americans, they are not ready to eat high-calorie, fried snacks or beverages. Even school authorities have become very particular about the kind of products that can be dispensed by vending machines in their premises. All this has resulted in new changes in the vending industry, increased scope for innovations in products and technology as well as higher price points on nutritional items.

Even though there has been an increase in the restrictions imposed on products in vending machines, the trend and demand for nutritional vending has expanded to other accounts. Planet Antares vending operators have addressed the consumer demands for low carbohydrate products by placing healthier snacks and drinks in their vending machines. They also use sales tracking software to keep tab on the products selling well and the ones that are performing badly.

This technology has been able to provide vending operators’ great insight about the customer preferences. Vending customers have become more diverse in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, race, occupation, income and overall, culture. Vending operators can face this dynamic customer audience with the help of technology and effective strategies.