Using data from vending machines helps businesses. By using solutions like card readers and kiosks, companies can select top products, enhance efficiency, and make smart choices to boost profits and lower costs.
Author’s Note: This article was originally published on January 8th, 2018. We’ve updated it with new information on machine data best practices.
Whether you’re a new operator or a seasoned veteran with thousands of machines, you’re looking to take your operation to the next level: increase your profits, reduce your costs, and overall improve your operational efficiency. To do that, you need to take advantage of the data available from your card readers and kiosks.
Here are four ways your data can power up your vending business:
Transactional data allows you to see how each machine at each location is performing and what products are selling. By analyzing your data, you stock each machine with the right product mix for its location and customer demographic.
We suggest regularly reviewing sales performance data to identify bestsellers and underperformers. Adjusting the product mix accordingly can lead to increased customer satisfaction and higher sales volumes. For example, if data shows that protein-packed snacks are hot sellers at a gym location, add more of these options to those machines.
Taking it one step further, you can look at your sales data at a granular, machine level to get more specific insights and merchandise more efficiently.
Use planograms to track performance by category. Once you understand what type of items sell best, strategically place those products in the machine to maximize sales. Drive sales of your best-selling or high-margin products by testing item location in the machine. Naturally, eye-level items sell quickly.
To make data-driven decisions, start by setting clear goals that can be measured. These goals should match your business’s goals, such as increasing sales or better managing inventory. Gather accurate data on sales, customer interactions, and machine performance — and use it to identify trends and insights that can inform strategic decisions, such as adjusting product placement or route schedules based on stock levels.
Once strategic changes are implemented, it’s important to monitor the outcomes and continuously refine your approach based on the results. This not only improves operational efficiency and adaptability but also ensures sustained growth and competitiveness.
Real-time machine data helps you make the best decisions for your operation. It can help you answer questions like:
The answers to these operational questions should inform your actions. For example, if you’re looking to increase sales per machine, study your transactional and machine-level data as mentioned above. These decisions can influence your operational costs, driving down your expenses and improving your sales.
Embracing data is not just beneficial — it’s essential.
With the right data, you can streamline operations and become more responsive to the needs of your customer. Learn more about how our Seed solutions offer tools and reports that help you unlock and analyze data to help you run your business better.