It was in the early 1880s when the first retail coin-operated modernised vending machine was set up to dispense postcards. This efficient mode of retail gradually made it into the 21st century while undergoing countless changes and through multiple vending machine trends.
The findings from PepsiCo Foodservice’s consumer study on unattended retail show that consumer spending rose from 20% to 40% with unattended vending machines highlighting how post-pandemic, consumers are preferring unattended retail, digital transactions and hassle-free shopping experience. Hence, it is only right to say that the market size of vending machines and their acceptability will only expand in the coming years. And with this expansion will come countless upgrades, some of which are already shaping the upcoming trends for vending machine businesses. Let’s take a look at them in detail.
Top vending machine trends you must not miss
The thriving vending industry will experience a positive push for the following vending machine trends:
Cashless payments
Sustainability in vending
Interactive and immersive experience
Multi-function operations
More product variation
These are described in detail below.
Cashless Payment: Providing convenience and security
Right off the bat, the biggest shift in vending machine trends is the increase in the usage of digital payment gateways. With 48 billion digital payment tractions in the previous years, India topped the list with the most real-time transactions. This, in 2021 resulted in a cost saving of $12.6 billion for businesses.
The growing number of cashless and smart vending machines has led to increased consumer satisfaction with improved hygiene, and seamless, quicker, efficient and more secure transactions.
Additionally, this vending machine trend will efficiently ease the refund process for businesses and consumers likewise. Ensuring that cashless and automatic vending machines stay in the retail industry for the long run.
Support Sustainability: Making automatic vending eco-friendly
The next vital vending machine trend is the rise of eco-friendly and more sustainable ways to vend. The solution to it comes with the best vending machine software and hardware technologies that can provide sustainable solutions in the future.
Under this, the rise of upcycling old vending machines with smarter vending machine software will gain great attention. Vendekin’s RetroBox is one such sustainable solution. This plug-and-play device can be installed and ready to use in under 2 minutes.
It converts a regular vending machine into an automated vending machine by enabling touchless and easy mobile payments. Furthermore, it allows the consumer to purchase multiple products in one transaction, meaning they do not have to pay individually for each item.
Additionally, businesses would focus on advanced vending machine software that provides a deeper analytical insight into restocking and product status. Sensors that aid perfect temperature for products are in for a win among all vending machine trends as they reduce the risk of product spoilage.
Interactive and Immersive: Personalised experience with smart vending machines
“Consumers prefer unattended retail more than ever because they want to shop at their own pace. Consumers want control over their transactions, something that unattended retail gives them without the hassle of feeling pressured by an outside party”, shared Greg Herman from PepsiCo Foodservice in an interview.
Their experiment showcased how consumers now demand unattended and cashless retail experiences where they can physically feel the product and enjoy instant gratification with the least interactions.
This vending machine trend has already begun to shape consumer behaviour with vending machine software driven by algorithms that curate more personalised experiences.
Multi-function Operations: Best of vending machine software
Vending machine software, in the coming future, will be even more sophisticated and intelligent. AI will be able to gather more complex and specific data about consumers ranging from individual preferences to the choices of a geographical and demographical group. All this along with performing multiple functions. All this with just one interface.
This vending machine trend will be set as cashless payments saving the hassle of carrying cash, machine status monitoring that provides regular data points about the vending machine, and better inventory maintenance highlighting the sales results and the key-performing products. This will help businesses build and alter their business strategy.
For instance, in coming years the software of a smart coffee vending machine in an office may keep a track of the number of cups dispensed, hours of use and hold a transparent record of transitions that take place and help eliminate standby operations.
More product variation: A leading vending machine trend
From newspapers to chewing gum to snacks, vending machines have constantly kept evolving the products they vend with time and needs. The same trend will be seen in the coming years as vending machines would go beyond the F&B retail sector.
Vendekin is taking this vending machine trend forward with its best vending machine software and technology solutions. With the belief that smart vending machines can vend anything, it has helped introduce unique automatic vending machines powered by Vendekin’s intelligent AI-driven smart vending solutions and customisation.
Some of them vend products as unique as paan, t-shirts, seafood, Panipuri, footballs, and all kinds of food and beverages.
With efficient vending machine software and product-specific customisation provided by Vendekin, your business can also expand by making good these vending machine trends.
Harness these vending machine trends with Vendekin
With the aim of democratising smart vending solutions to businesses all across the globe, Vendekin provides technological solutions with the aid of the best vending machine software, hardware plug-in devices and VCommerce platform. The efforts in this have made Vendekin the pioneer for unattended retail technology solutions in India.
Along with this, it provides customised automatic vending machines as per the needs of product type and private labelling. The team of experts helps individual brands identify the right location for their smart vending machines and is ready to assist them at every step.
Vendekin is driven by continuous innovation and keeps understanding the evolving market to deliver only the best service and .
If you want a thriving business in the vending machine industry, reach out to us at marketing@vendekin.com or give us a call at +91 9555712713.