Newer Vending Machines and Higher Sales
Robert Farnham
Vending machines have certainly changed in style from the past. In fact some of the very old ones are collector's items. There is one inside of our local barber shop that he stocks cold drinks in for the kids that come in to get a hair cut. He gives them the coins to insert after they have been taken care of. It is really a great treat for my kids and I am sure it is for many others as well.
That got me to thinking about the attractiveness of a vending machine. It seems like it really does influence sales, especially when there are many of them in the same area. People tend to gravitate towards those that are colorful and even that dispense products in a way that you can see the process through the front of the machine.
This newer machine was definitely appealing to those walking into the store, especially children. It features a design on the front of it that changes from one picture to the next. Some people stopped to look at it and I did see some people buying from it just to do so. Yet many people were counting their change and then reviewing the prices on the vending machines. It wasn't surprising that this newer machine sold products at twenty cents more than most of the others.
Not everyone will be fooled by such advertising methods though. For one, that particular vending machine may not contain the type of soda or the brand of water they are looking for. So selection is going to be the key factor for them. You will also have those that want the best price. They are going to buy from the one that is forty five cents instead of the one that is sixty five cents.
Having an attractive vending machine such as these is going to cost a lot more money though. That is really something you will have to consider before you invest in one of them. Why pay thousands of dollars more for the look of the vending machine and then have less profit? Of course the image of something is very high profile in our society so that is where this concept comes from.
Since you must have your vending machine locations secured before you go shopping for the vending machine you can evaluate what your competition looks like. Hopefully you are finding great places to display your vending machines where there aren't so many to choose from already. Then the attractiveness of the vending machine doesn't become such an issue.
You definitely want to have vending machines that look nice. However, you need to balance that with the cost of them, how well the operate, and what consumers are interested in. To be honest with you most consumers don't really care what a vending machine looks like. They just want to be able to grab a cold drink or a snack and move on to the next thing in their day.
You can keep older models of vending machines looking very nice with some routine maintenance. Always have extra bulbs for the lights and make sure everything on it works like it should. When you are ready to upgrade to newer machines you need to really do your homework when it comes to prices and profits. Don't rush into buying what looks appealing or your bottom line could suffer as a result.
About the Author:
Robert Farnham built a profitable vending business after starting totally the wrong way. He now writes about building a vending machine industry and the pitfalls to avoid. Visit his website at My Vending Uncle for more.
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