Extra Large Firms Gain Share

The worst part of the 2001 recession appears to be over, but Antares operators continue to face a challenging economic environment. The industry’s traditional industrial customers continue to minimize payroll through better management, automation and outsourcing.

Vending operators also faced higher costs for fuel, employee health benefits, petroleum based products and paper goods.

During the recession, the extra large operators increased their share of vending industry sales. Extra large operators expanded into smaller work sites more aggressively when the recession began to compensate for downsizing in larger accounts. In 2004, these extra large operators increased their total market share at the expense of other operators.

The larger operators had the advantage of being able to invest more resources in new equipment, training, marketing and technology. Technology has proven to be a particularly important advantage when it allows operators to deliver good customer service at less cost

State of the art tools such as DEX handhelds will allow an Antares operator to account faster and more accurately for cash. These handhelds will also give an operator more control over what products are placed in the Antares vending machine. They will also get to know what is selling and what isn’t. In addition to this it allows for route vehicles to be preloaded in the warehouse based on prior sales which results in faster filling of Antares machines at less cost.

Greater financial resources also allowed the larger Antares operators to capitalize on more product categories, thus enabling them to maximize their return on overhead.

Weak sales growth snagged investment not only in cashless systems, but also in other technologies designed to improve the vending industry’s ability to compete against retail channels. There has been little change in the number of operators using handheld computers.

This software will allow the operator to keep a track on all the sales, thus catering to their customers more efficiently. This is important as customer preferences have become more diverse.