Some location managers prefer to own their own machines. A vending veteran offers some guidance to managers considering this.

Oct. 10, 2022 | by Sam Roberts — Digital Marketing Manager, Connect Vending

Every once in a while, a call comes in from a business or organization who wants to buy a vending machine. When these calls come in, most vending operators try to explain that the caller is better off having a professional vending service rather than buying and operating the machine themselves.

Sometimes the caller agrees to use a vending service, but in some cases, they insist on buying their own machine. Following are considerations that you as a vending operator can offer these individuals.

When considering buying a vending machine, it's important to consider the size of your organization, both the physical premises and the number of staff who are based on-site.

Vending machines make most sense for organizations more than 50 staff on site, typically. There will be a tipping point for every business where the benefit of implementing vending outweighs the costs of doing so — this can be the breakeven point, where the revenues generated by a machine are higher than the cost of buying, or the benefits to staff of having ready access to cold drinks, snacks and fresh food makes it sensible to invest.

Even if the business decision is sound, the premises you're in needs to be suitable for a vending machine, with adequate space, access and electricity supply all important considerations when buying a vending machine.

It's also important to understand the footfall, demand for products and the usage of the space you're going to put it into. If you are looking to buy a vending machine that will be on a shop floor of a manufacturing facility, it will need to be sturdier and easier to operate when wearing PPE than a machine in a quiet office space.

Staff in manufacturing and industrial settings are likely to be operating machinery with greasy or oily components, and that's the last thing you'd want on a touchscreen when you're next in line to choose your snack.

Sturdier keypad devices are often better at working in these environments, so making sure you understand what the technology differences are between machines is hugely important, especially if you're wanting cashless or contactless vending.

Managing, rotating and ordering new stock for your vending machine can be a time consuming and distracting exercise, especially if you're a busy office manager or facilities manager. If you are really keen to keep costs under control and will have a straightforward product rotation, then this might work out, but most of the time it's worth the extra fee of having a vending operator do all of this on your behalf. And besides, they're experts who are managing stock and cleaning machines day in, day out.

A fully managed vending service is a great way to take that stress and distraction away. Not only does it take away the stock element, but it also means that any call outs for engineers to come and fix equipment are covered in your costs.

If you decide against having a service and maintenance plan, you can always buy stock from wholesale suppliers.

Like with most other purchases in 2022, you've got a great deal of freedom when it comes to machine financing. Yes, you can buy a machine outright with a one-off payment, but most of the businesses buying vending machines opt for a lease agreement and stagger their payments across a three-, five- or sometimes seven-year deal.

Some vending businesses still offer "free on loan" machines, but in our experience these are few and far between, and for good reason — companies opting for FoL are more likely to receive poor service, both from an operating and maintenance perspective.

It may look great on paper that there's no upfront or ongoing cost associated with your new machines, but you could be in for a bumpy ride if your operators aren't regularly turning up to clean, stock or fix your machines.

We strongly recommend investing in your equipment, operating and maintenance packages — you'll be avoiding lots of frustration in the long run.

There are many different routes you can take into the world of vending, depending on what your staff's food and drink requirements are. But when you do want to buy a vending machine, a coffee machine or any other vending solution, you need to consider how the machines, aesthetically and in terms of the products they vend, will tie in with your brand identity and company culture.

Let's use a tech start-up as an example — a vibrant, energetic and rapidly growing company is looking for the best way to keep staff productive and happy all day, every day. Their brand centers on challenging the status quo and delivering new ways to solve old problems.

Throughout the week the business can expect to see prospective investors, clients, potential new starters and a range of other important stakeholders.

As a forward-thinking tech startup, they want everyone who walks through their doors to know that they're doing something different — and their food and drink solutions shouldn't be an exception. For this organization, investing in premium solutions, whether it's a high-end matte finished water tap to make a tasty tea at the turn of a tap or a fresh milk coffee station with a fantastic, modern touchscreen interface.

Similarly, if your business is manufacturing mechanical components for customers, you want everyone at the workplace to know that the vending machines and coffee machines will stand the test of time and be as rock-solid as the products you're making.

This alignment with your brand and culture will have an influence on the machines you put into your workplace, and is something that professional vending operators consult locations about as part of the sales process.

Hear the latest thought leadership and vending related news from Connect Vending, one of the UK's largest independent operators.

Sign up now for the Vending Times newsletter and get the top stories delivered straight to your inbox.

Already a member? Sign in below.

sign in  or register now

You may sign into this site using your login credentials from any of these Networld Media Group sites: