Vending - what is it? Vending equipment, technology and reviews

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Each of us must have noticed on the streets special vending machines for coffee and tea, payment terminals for replenishing mobile communications, systems for printing photos and much more. All these devices belong to the category of “vending machines”. And we will talk about them in this article.

I would like to note right away about vending that this is such a “general” concept, which actually includes the whole area of trade. And, of course, in one article it is not even worth trying to cover some details of this area. We will describe only the most basic things in order to bring the user up to date.

So, let's start with the definition of "vending". You may have heard what it is, if not, remember: the term comes from the English “vend” (“trade”). When this concept is used, it should immediately be clear that we are talking about automatic installations for trading. The term refers to an entire industry in business, based on the offer of goods to the population using automated systems. In our country, when compared with foreign indicators, this area is still practically undeveloped. Therefore, entrepreneurs have a real opportunity to “turn around” in this field.

Benefits

This type of business clearly has its own significant “pluses” that are worth it to start doing it. Firstly, there is no need for a large number of personnel. Since the vending machine interacts directly with the client, there is no need to hire sellers and consultants - everything can be written in a special instruction and attached to the trading equipment. Secondly, vending (what it is - you already know) is a wide area in terms of subtypes of products that you are ready to offer. Let's put it this way: with the help of vending machines, everyone can distribute not only coffee drinks, but also snacks, shoe covers, and anything else. Plus, of course, you can also engage in the provision of services using mobile communication terminals. Everything that limits you in this area is only your imagination. Thirdly, as we mentioned above, the vending market is practically unoccupied today (the reviews of those who already work here confirm this about vending), so there is still enough room for original ideas and solutions. Of course, if you decide to install another terminal for replenishment, you will enter a highly competitive market where it will not be easy to fight for a client. At the same time, if you use your imagination, you can come up with something original and try to win your niche.

Flaws

Of course, such a field of activity as vending (we already understood what it is) has a lot of “minuses”. First, the high cost of commercial equipment. Everything is obvious here:each device has a set of characteristics that allow it to perform the necessary functions. The more complex the machine, the more expensive it is. And in order to at least try yourself here, you need to purchase (or rent) at least one device. Add to the start-up costs the cost of storing, transporting, installing and maintaining your equipment, not to mention rent. If everything is clear in the case of transport and installation, then servicing the same coffee machines is a whole science. You can find a lot of reviews about such a business, which indicate the following: what kind of service you provide to your vending machines directly determines your future profits. Did you replenish the device with new products (or ingredients) at the wrong time? The client could not make a purchase and left you. The same goes for the situation with dirty equipment, a power failure that caused the machine to turn off, accepting the buyer's money, etc. There can be a sea of situations, and you need to predict at least the most difficult of them.

Secondly, the downside of this business is often low margins and long payback periods. Roughly speaking, having spent 30-40 thousand rubles on the device, you will need to wait another 3-4 years in order to return them. At the same time, it needs to be regularly refueled, checked, adjusted (depending on the specifics of the business). In order for all this to make at least some sense (in terms of profitability), you need to have at least 15-20 machines in operation. And their content is already serious work. Vending is generally more complicated than it might seem at first glance.

Thirdly, there is a risk that consumers simply do not appreciate your device properly (or do not figure out how (why) to use it). This may happen because the service may be new to a person, he will not know how such machines work, and so on.

Benefit Factors

If we are talking about such a business area as vending, the business plan here is different from what we see in other categories. It depends on a number of factors that determine whether the whole undertaking will be profitable or not. The entrepreneur needs to predict them, predict how each of these and other factors will affect his business.

For example, one of them is the location of the machine. We all understand that the machine should be installed where there is a maximum flow of people (potential customers). However, placing a point in a busy subway passage or near a large shopping center does not always give the expected results. The task of such a business is not just to “light up” your point of sale to the maximum number of people, but to find as many loyal customers as possible. The specifics of the sphere is such that it can be a small office space, where actual regular customers work.

Design is another factor. Agree, you yourself would not have approached a sloppy, ugly and untrustworthy device. Instead, each of us would prefer a clean, colorful, modern machine (regardless of the product category it offers). Therefore, if you start doing such a business, you should know: vending machines (vending tools) should be attractive to the buyer.

Next - prices. You need to calculate not only the cost of the goods and set your margin in such a way that the goods are not too expensive for the buyer, but also think about the bills that a person will pay, and, of course, calculate how the change will be issued.

There are many nuances - vending machine advertising, rent, provision of resources for trade, protection, cash collection and logistics… All these processes create additional problems in one way or another. Vending machines (vending in general) have a wide range of settings that need to be managed in order to start making a profit.

Activities

Of course, in addition to the usual coffee machines and terminals, there are many other types of devices for automated trading. We can initially divide them into two categories - those that are engaged in the sale of goods, as well as those that provide services to the end client.

The first group is divided into three more industries (according to their specifics) - this is the sale of ready-made food or drinks (coffee, soda, popcorn, and so on); sale of snacks (products in packages - bars, cookies), as well as the sale of any other product (flowers, shoe covers, etc.).

The second group that vending consists of is coffee machines for rendering services. It is difficult to make any divisions here, since there is a huge list of types of services,provided through terminals. The first thing that comes to mind in most cases is replenishment of mobile phone accounts, the Internet and other things. Also, through the terminals, you can pick up parcels (postomats), pay for parking, take a queue, and so on.

Now let's briefly characterize the features that each of the categories has.

Terminals

Probably the busiest industry in this area due to its profitability. If the terminal costs at the level of 50-60 thousand rubles, then it is able to recoup the invested funds quickly enough (you just need to choose the right operator with whom you will work and receive affiliate deductions). The main trick is to place the device within reach of a large audience. And since today terminals appear like mushrooms, another nuance is competition. It is necessary to make sure that people close to yours do not use other terminals (of which there are probably quite a lot), and this is vending technology. What it is? These are all sorts of so-called chips. For example, set a minimum commission, or equip a more convenient place to work with the machine than competitors. Figure out how to get the attention of a passer-by, and still get him to make a replenishment.

Coffee machines

In the coffee trade market, too, the situation is not very simple. Coffee machines have appeared on our streets for a long time, and after them large networks of companies serving several thousand devices have grown. How do you understandit is useless to oppose them on the issue of purchase costs - such structures can set lower prices while offering a high service. And the price of a coffee machine is higher than for the same payment terminal. Therefore, be prepared to work hard and apply new original ideas to attract customers. Choose the right coffee for vending (what kind of varieties they should be, you can only find out after some practical tests and experiments).

Snack machines and other products

A less occupied niche is the sale of bars and other packaged products. However, again, the cost of devices for trading them is an order of magnitude higher than in the case of coffee machines and terminals. And when launching such a business, you will have to compete not with other vendors, but with cafes, canteens and buffets - depending on where the device will be installed and what it will sell.

You can make money here, but only after applying a number of settings for the entire business. And it’s not so difficult to figure out what to trade (besides bars). For example, you can start selling contraceptives in places where young people gather (clubs, bars and pubs); or offer disposable shoe covers on the first floors of hospitals. Each of these examples has been working for a long time, but if your city does not have one, you simply must try it!

Services

The service sector in a business like automated trading is just an unplowed field (especially in Russia). Everything you are intorest - this is an idea and the corresponding vending equipment. And so you can come up with and develop a project for an apparatus of any direction. From the most innovative, we can recall, for example, terminals for printing photos from Instagram: the user enters account data, finds the desired picture and prints it.

Abroad, there are thousands of such cars on the streets, while in Russia only the first timid steps in this direction are observed. It is difficult to say whether they will develop enough for a “revolution of vending machines” to take place in our country. The original installation (vending machine) is tens of thousands of rubles for production and, possibly, hundreds for the creation of a structure and the development of all kinds of drawings. Not everyone is ready to allocate such funds for an experimental industry.

Profit calculation

We talked about the most common, basic concepts and categories that are used in the field of vending. Now let's pay a little attention to how you need to calculate your possible income in this business. For this, you need to write a business plan focused on vending.

It should include: approximate sales volume (per day), number of workers for the device of the day, cost of raw materials and maintenance of machines, rental rate, final cost of the finished product. Adding all these indicators, you get a sales plan for the next time. Following it, you will have the opportunity to recoup your investments for a certain period (which is also customary to specify in business plans).

For example, we have a coffee machine worth 120 thousand rubles. We put it in the business centerwhere the cost of rent is another 500 rubles. In addition, we take cups, coffee, sugar and stirring sticks - let all this cost at the level of 4-5 rubles per glass; we plan to sell at 20. Maintenance of the car will be, say, 400 rubles per month. We believe: with 25 working days and 30 sales per day, we will be able to earn about 15 thousand rubles (total income). Of these, about 3,750 rubles will be spent on raw materials, 500 on rent and 400 on maintenance (10,350 rubles will remain). Minus another 2 thousand taxes, we will have about 12 years of payback for one machine. We increase sales, achieve a reduction in the purchase price - and the indicators change significantly.

Prospects

Does the vending market have a future? Undoubtedly. The further, the more relevant is the issue of automation, process simplification, attraction of less energy-intensive resources. With all this in mind, business in this area becomes an opportunity for everyone to show their ability to analyze and predict and, thus, begin to show their entrepreneurial abilities. And who knows, maybe your vending machine success is just around the corner!