Vending machines have a come a long way from dispensing stamps and postcards in the late 1800s to dispensing snacks, beverages, freshly prepared food and even cars! While the vending machines are becoming increasingly innovative, the risk factors are becoming a bottleneck in its growth.
Just imagine, wouldn’t it be great if business owners focusing on creativity also managed to remove most of these operational risks with emerging technology?
In this article, we’ll see the risks involved in traditional vending machines and how vending operators can improve the performance of their machines.
Risks Involved in Traditional Vending Machines
1. Cash Management
Most of the vending machines currently accept only cash. Vending machine operators are apprehensive to remove cash & coin collectors due to lack of alternate cost effective options. Other than the inconvenience buyers face during payments, there is an increased the risk of larceny with any business that is cash dominated.
With cashless payment along with end to end technological interface, cash management is completely eliminated and accounting becomes transparent.
2. High Capex in Currency acceptors and Card readers
The maintenance of these machines is high irrespective of whether your customers are swiping the card or entering the amount in cash to make the payment. The cash payments require additional cash and coin counting equipment. In some countries, having a currency recycler is mandatory. The card reader installed in the exterior vending machine will need regular repair because of wear and tear.
A mobile based payment system that fits inside the vending machine achieves the purpose of a card reader but at a fraction of the Capex and Opex.
3. Pilferage
For vending machine operators already dealing with low margins, experiencing product or cash pilferage can cause even more damage. Vending machines are prone to pilferage both at warehouse as well as at the placement sites especially during re-filling or maintenance.
An end to end technology interface that tracks stock from inventory at warehouse till it reaches the machine along with reconciliation prevents any pilferage from both stock and cash. Although there is no study available to quantify the loss due to pilferage, experts in the industry estimate it to range anywhere between 5 to 15% depending on various factors!
4. Machine downtime
The lack of anomaly detection in machine health at the right time results in machine downtime thus decreases the overall consumer satisfaction.
An end to end technological interface with accurate real time alerts can introduce operators to the world of vending machines which can rapidly detect such irregularities. This will enable their swift resolution and enhance the consumer experience resulting in improved sales.
5. Productivity
The vending industry relies heavily on vehicles and fleet to ensure that machines never run out of stock. It becomes pertinent for operators to ensure personnel management is optimum and time taken to travel and refill machines is optimized perfectly.
An end to end technology interface payment integrated with vending machine systems will give you a detailed insight into inventory usage data based on location and time. Not only that, as an operator you would be able to keep track of machine performance and perform resource management in an optimized manner to ensure maximum uptime.
Transforming Vending Machine Experience with Vendekin
It has been estimated that by 2023, the intelligent vending machine market in the Asia Pacific region will reach USD 3594.20 million.
But, to actually realize this number, machine owners need to discard old-school ways of collecting cash. With integrated technological solutions by Vendekin, you can change the complete feel of your vending machine. From data-driven analytics to hands-free payment mode, everything will step up your sales. You can stop worrying about the risks and offer enhanced services to your customers.