With around 65 lakh potential set-up locations across 500 cities in India, smart and cashless vending machines are driving the Indian vending market at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.9% (2020-2026). Moreover, as more brands are gearing up for phygital retail markets in India with automated and touchless vending machines, it has become vital to target the right location and spaces for your products to get more profitable returns.
But, what are some good locations for vending machines?
In all honesty, a vending machine can be installed anywhere from offices to subway stations and from departmental stores to housing apartments, depending on your target consumer and business needs. That being said, it is important to consider various factors that make a space more suitable to install a smart vending machine, as the integration of cashless payment in vending machines will enhance the convenience and accessibility of your vending machine products.
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Location Matters! Here’s why…
India hosts 40,000 hospitals, 249,000 factories, 113,000 public places, countless workspaces and residential apartment complexes that can turn into the right opportunity to upscale your retail business with low-risk and cost-effective cashless vending machines. What connects all these varied spaces are factors like comparatively high footfall, power availability, product-specific demand, rent, distance from the warehouse, etc.
Daily Footfall
Cashless payment in vending machines is meant to give convenience to people. locations to install a vending machine are places with significantly high foot traffic or visitors. With high footfall, the chance of attracting impulse and habitual buyers increases.
In either case, your business revenue will increase. Touchless vending machines with digital payment solutions have a higher advantage as the transaction becomes quick and secure in places that host large crowds.
Moreover, by placing strategically branded vending machines, you can get some brand recall going in places with more eyeballs. Know more about private labelling services by Vendekin here.
Power Availability
All automated vending machines are electrically operated, hence, to retrieve benefits from your vending business, you must ensure constant availability of electric power or at least a backup generator. Additionally, this is a must for food and beverage businesses planning to go the smart vending machine route since their product will often require an in-built refrigerator or food-heating oven.
Demand and behavioural trends
The simple rule of demand and consumer behaviour applies to Instant Commerce as well. This has only been elevated with smart vending machine payment solutions. For instance, at workspaces in India, employees and visitors are accustomed to tea, coffee and light snacks. Hence the demand for a tea/coffee vending machine or a touchless snack vending machine is high.
Likewise, for a nutrition bar and juice products, gyms and parks are profitable locations.
With the right information and proper understanding of the behavioural patterns of the target audience and the demand trends of the places they visit, placing a smart vending machine is easy.
Distance from the warehouse
Smart vending machines too require stock re-filling as and when required. So having a vending machine installed strategically nearby a warehouse or in a well-connected area is a plus for your business. As a result of which the cost of logistics goes down significantly.
Vendekin’s smart and cashless vending solutions come with vNetra, a GDPR-compliant, AI/ML-driven back office vending management software that tracks the inventory level of the vending machines along with other rich data points around sales, discounts, margins and user consumption behaviour.
Can a vending machine be placed anywhere?
Smart and cashless vending machines can be placed anywhere, but for the best returns in your buck, strategy around location is key. Depending on the space available, the location and the kind of product being vended, Vendekin will provide your business with customised smart vending solutions. For instance, at a location with more people doing digital transactions, Vendekin will provide solutions for cashless payment in vending machines to retailers and operators.
Places to install smart vending machines
Depending upon the above-mentioned factors the most profitable spaces to install smart and cashless vending machines are grouped under the following titles:
Office spaces & co-working spaces
Office space and manufacturing or industrial sites have lakhs of employees working hours regularly, making them perfect for installing a snack vending machine with multiple payment solutions.
Recreational spaces
Gyms, malls, parks, amusement parks and other recreational spaces have high footfall for food and beverages, snacks, t-shirts and artificial accessory businesses. Cashless payments in vending machines will save the cost of setting up a store.
Residential spaces
Apartment Complexes, hostels, PGs and co-living spaces have a high demand for daily-household products like milk, cheese, packed snacks etc.
Public spots
Airports, railway and metro stations, hospitals and clinics, hotels and educational institutes have great potential for vending sanitary products, tickets, medicine and food vending machines. Airports and hotels also hold a lot of promises for reaching out to a large changing audience, something that can be used to a brand’s advantage in reaching a larger diverse audience for branding and feedback too.
Tap into the right locations with Vendekin
In addition to the installation and maintenance of the automated vending machines, Vendekin has an expert marketing team that assists businesses conduct and consume the required research, in order to identify the right location with maximum footfall and demand for their product. Additionally, the team from Vendekin also aids in contacting the respective authorities for installation-related permissions.
Vendekin’s vNetra platform provides data on consumer buying patterns for each smart machine as per the location, and by analysing this information brands can identify or predict a future demand for certain products and make decisions on what should be stocked more and frequently.
If you are a business considering exploring the vending machine business, and expanding your brand’s reach by adding a new sales channel, start by locating the right space. Contact us at marketing@vendekin.com or +91 9555712713 to start a conversation around locating space and about smart vending machine solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of using cashless vending machines?
Cashless vending machines offer several advantages such as faster and more convenient transactions, reduced need for carrying cash and enhanced tracking of purchase history.
What are the types of cashless payments in vending machines?
What are the potential locations for cashless vending machines?
Do I need an internet connection to use cashless vending machines?
Are cashless machines safe to use?