Tag: vending technology

Posted on | by pmasters@wittern.com

Mobile Apps to Help Your Vending Business

Vending.com loves the following three apps for your vending machine business to help keep track of financials, inventory and more.. They each offer a different service that will be valuable to you in your day-to-day life:

Mint:
Mint.com, which was name one of TIME Magazine’s “Top 50 iPhone Apps” in 2011, is the perfect free mobile app for business owners on the go. Since your vending business keeps you out and about for hours each day, this app will help make your life a lot easier. The app allows you to set a financial budget for your vending machine business and enter transactions while on the go. You also can get real-time fund availability. In addition, in case you lose your phone, the app has a password to keep any unauthorized persons from viewing your financial information.

Evernote:
This handy app gives you the ability to instantly take notes on your mobile device no matter where you are. You can then easily access this information later. This app is ideal for making notes of vending machine inventory needs, writing yourself a daily to-do list or just jotting down your latest brainstorm for your business. Thanks to Evernote, you don’t have to worry about keeping a paper and pen handy at all times.

Dropbox:
This app is available on both mobile devices and tablets. It works by storing your business documents, photos, or videos to access on the go. Imagine being able to pull up all your vending machine business marketing materials on the app no matter where you are at the time. After all, potential clients are everywhere, so why shouldn’t your most impressive business information be as well.

Any of our recommended apps for vending machine businesses will help you take yours to the next level.

Posted on | by pmasters@wittern.com

Vending Machine Industry Confidence Index

Vending MarketWatch recently released a new study of the vending industry, the Vending Operator Confidence Index. The aim of this index is to measure the confidence vending operators have in the industry and assign it a positive or negative value. In their first ever index, Vending Market Watch rated the vending industry confidence level at 136.00. The average is 100 so a reading over that indicates various levels of positive outlooks. 136 puts it at a cautiously optimist outlook for the vending industry.

This index will be conducted monthly and give industry members a view of how the overall industry is doing on a more regular basis. The vending industry usually relies on annual reports or smaller studies and the monthly delivery of this survey will certainly give some unique insights into the industry. Having monthly indexes will most likely cause a few unduly high or low points based on industry trends or developments, but it will hopefully draw attention to those developments as well.

With new developments occurring more and more frequently and new vending machines for sale hitting the market, having a way to keep tab on these technological advances and the overall trend of the industry will be very helpful.

Posted on | by pmasters@wittern.com

Vending Machines Help Relieve the Heat

Drink vending machines are a mainstay in most vending lineups and can be found year-round in most locations. Vending.com noticed that Coca-Cola recently launched a vending machine in Spain that adjusts its pricing strategy of its drinks depending on the on temperature.

These machines were placed in water parks and theme parks and the surprising vending machine pricing strategy was that the prices of cold beverages actually went down as the temperatures went up. With three different price points depending on how high the thermometer was reading, these machines sold drinks for the least amount of money when the temperature was the hottest.

The reasoning behind this pricing strategy was that hot and busy days at these amusement parks would be a good time to test a new Coke beverage, so decreasing the price on hot and usually busy days meant that the new drink got into more people’s hands.

Most vending machines for sale currently do not offer features to adjust the price based on external conditions such as weather. Adjusting prices based on time of day, number of people around the machine, or weather conditions could open some interesting marketing strategies. What conditions would you have your machines’ prices fluctuate with?

Posted on | by pmasters@wittern.com

Google Play Vending Machine

Another unique vending machine has launched in Tokyo recently. There is definitely no shortage of odd and creative vending machines in Japan, but this one has a very large brand name attached to it. This new machine was launched by Google and does not vend physical products, but it is a brick and mortar interface for Google’s Play market.

This creative vending machine requires that you have a smartphone that is running Android 4.0 and has NFC technology. So not all smartphone users will be able to interface with the machine, but most new Android devices should have no problem. The machine features a large screen that uses the same interface that Android users would regularly see when they visit Google Play on their desktop or mobile devices. Customers can then browse the selections on the screen while they are assisted by two attendants that will be stationed at every Google vending machine.

The purchases on the machine can be paid for with your mobile device and will be downloaded after payment is received. Vending.com has discussed NFC technology and mobile payments for vending machines before, and seeing how Google uses their own technology could lead to some interesting innovations!

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending services, financing, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full-range of vending machines, financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Posted on | by pmasters@wittern.com

Easy Mobile Upgrade for Vending Machines

Incorporating mobile technology into vending machines is a popular trend that is creating tons of new possibilities for payments, technical service and customer interaction. A company called LikeUS Network is coming out with a new technology that gives vending machine patrons more options for mobile payments.

This new “plug-and-play” technology is one of the easiest vending machine upgrades available. This solution allows vending machine operators to plug a device into their existing vending machines and immediately be able to use the technology without the need to change any settings. This new mobile technology is a great addition to allow vending machines for sale currently from companies such as Vending.com to accept payments from PayPayl and Google wallet.

There is also a mobile payment option that allows patrons to interact with the machine via social networks such as Facebook and receive free beverages or snacks in exchange for a Like, Retweet or share. This is an interesting new way to promote your vending machines because a branded message is shared on that customer’s social network that tells all of their friends about your vending machine.

This easy vending machine upgrade is also a great way to gain demographic information on your customers that is typically unavailable to machines that accept cash or credit and debit cards.