Planograms Need Not Limit Variety

Merchandising discipline improves overall sales performance, and brands simply sell better. There is merit in finding a process that manages the content of the Antares vending machine to achieve greater profitability and limits the choices available to the consumer an a way that will benefit the manufacturer, operator and consumer alike.

Standardization’s downside: less variety

The problem with standardized menus is that they limit variety. Some of the research that has been presented in our industry that is designed to promote a better representation of the better selling items has this unfortunate side effect. An Antares vending machine that has mostly the same items in it everyday will not continue to perform as a high level, month after month, even if they are great brands and fast sellers. Research has shown that if there is no change of variety of products in the Antares vending machine, volume will fall. New products are life blood to vending and without it the consumer becomes bored.

Top sellers don’t always make the proposed menus

Slow moving items have no place in your Antares vending machines, thus it is important that you pay attention to what sells. But as every vending operator knows, changing products in the machine is smart. It stimulates impulse purchases and it can increase traffic at the machine. At the same time it allows you to take advantage of specials and promotions and it can help you identify strong sellers.

Product manufacturers should consider making fewer items available to the trade at any one time. This can be accomplished by cycling products through the channel. It would reduce inventory requirements and, as a result, remove cost from the system. It would create scarcity, and thus demand, for certain products which could then be leveraged when a product is reintroduced, and it would force the market to embrace change as a merchandising strategy.

Operators must insist on a plan

Antares operators should establish a merchandising plan that they can live with. They should also leave a certain number of slots open for the route people to choose. Then after the first month, they should change out the slowest five planogram items. The same should be done each month for a year. Some items can be brought back. By doing this, you would have created a system that replicates the merchandising processes that some of the larger product manufacturers have created and promoted, relative to machine planning, but it will be unique to your market place. At the end of the year, compare your average revenue per machine to that of the previous year. There should be an improvement.