The choice of vending machine locations is an extremely important factor in sales results. If you already have locations on your eyes, make sure they are suitable for the type of vending machine. The vending machine, the location and the products are key elements that need to work together for sales to be successful. Find out what to avoid when choosing a vending machine location and ensure you don't make common beginner's mistakes.
What vending machine locations to avoid?
Very high or low temperatures, high humidity
When choosing the location of the vending machine, try to avoid places exposed to very high/low temperatures and humidity. Snack vending machines are rather airtight and are not affected by ambient temperatures, but coffee vending machines are more exposed to external factors. Moist loose products can clump together, which significantly reduces the quality of the drink or even makes it impossible to sell.
An example of such a location is a car wash. A vending machine that is not adapted to harsh conditions may not work efficiently and its parts may be damaged. Therefore, if you do decide to place the machine in a location exposed to moisture, make sure it is adequately protected, e.g. by a vending machine enclosure adapted to the conditions.
Hard-to-reach places (although they may not always be a problem)
Places that are hard to get to, where delivery can take a long time, can be problematic if you don't use a vending management system. Imagine you have a vending machine at a viewing point where the only way to get there is by cable car, and the drive-in itself takes 40 minutes. You have to load products that are often quite heavy, such as drinks in bottles or cans, into the carriage. If you don't know exactly how many products are missing, delivering and refilling such a vending machine can be a challenge. In addition, after refilling the vending machine, you have to take the products that no longer fit and load them back into the carriage. The whole process could take a lot less time if you knew how many products to take.
A similar example is the location of a vending machine or several machines on a university campus. A large area involves greater distances between vending machines. Entrance to the campus is often restricted for people from outside. Crowded corridors and long distances are problematic when you carry cartons of products on a large trolley and need to get them to the vending machines.
In these difficult cases, a vending monitoring system is extremely helpful. Now imagine that before you leave the warehouse you know exactly how many products are missing from that location. You take with you only what will go into the vending machine. You take the cable car to the vending point, replenish only the missing products and return, without any additional luggage. You only have what you need on the trolley, which makes the whole job much more efficient. You only go back to the place if products are missing. You don't waste time on unnecessary visits when the products have not yet sold out. Sounds better, right?
You can read more about vending telemetry in this post: What is vending telemetry.
Rarely visited sites
When looking for locations, pay particular attention to places where selling may not be profitable. Consider whether a seemingly busy place such as a train platform would be suitable for a vending machine. People who come to the platform tend to spend little time waiting for trains, especially in autumn and winter, and often already have their provisions or products bought in the station building. In such a place you can expect low sales, much lower than in a good location.
Products in such places often expire, the vending machine does not sell out, and it is, therefore, less frequently visited and cared for. Instead of a vending machine on the platform, it is better to place it in the station building - a place with a large and continuous flow of people and a longer waiting time. We would rather buy a snack or a coffee waiting for a train in the station building than freezing on the platform when the departure is in a few minutes.
Machine downtime
Remember that every minute your vending machine is out of action, it harms sales. If the building where the vending machine is inserted is temporarily out of service, or its opening hours are short, don't expect big profits. Location closing times are a common reason for vending failures. Provide constant access to the vending machine so that it can work for you.
Security
Modern machines have come a long way in terms of safety and security, but they can still be damaged. Most cases of dangerous situations are theft or physical attacks, caused by frustration over a fault in the machine. A hard push or pressure on a vending machine can cause it to topple over, crushing everything in its path. Pay attention to location security when looking for a place for your vending machine.
How to choose vending machine location?
Once you know what to avoid when choosing a vending machine location, check out How to find vending machine location to find the best spots for your machines!
