The State of the Vending Industry

The vending market has advanced far beyond merely serving a consumer with a growing stomach, who pushes a few coins through the slot to make a selection of a product.

Technology has made the experience of a sale easier, faster and even a little more fun. Improvements that have occurred inside Antares vending machines are making them more appealing. The enhancements answer these marketing challenges.

1. How to best stage packaging to attract when it is imprisoned behind a glass screen several feet from the consumer.

2. How to protect against product breakage in systems where a product may fall a couple of feet as it’s dispensed.

3. How to ensure that there is freshness in an environment which may have wider temperature and wider light variations than a convenience store.

Manufacturing and technology advances are changing the playing field. Stronger plastics and reinforced glass are producing Antares vending machines with broader, clearer windows. New dispensing mechanisms are enabling racks of products to move closer to the viewer’s eyes, inviting closer inspection. The stronger manufacturing materials used are allowing manufacturers to re-introduce glass front Antares vending machines that give consumers a clear view of the package.

Vending lags behind retail

It has always seemed like vending is one step behind the retail industry. For example some vendors have not taken full advantage of some of the faster growing cold beverage product segments, notably bottled water.

Vendors can learn a lot from the retail industry when it comes to marketing. Marketing is something that has not been widely practiced by the vending industry, unlike in retail.

Antares vending operators can do their part to facilitate their growth by investing in new equipment and technology. This is the direction that vending industry is headed. What any vendor wants for their vending business is to be successful, so in order to do this you need to offer newer products and equipment which will enable vending operators to offer a higher level of customer service, which will strengthen the consumer perception of the industry.