The Winning Products in a Vending Machine

The products in your Planet Antares vending machine have to be popular with customers, because that’s the only way that they will be winning products. For a product to be a winner it has to have quality, name brand recognition, catchy packaging and a good profit margin.

There are various factors which tend to influence the customer’s perception of the value of vended products. Customers usually make their buying decisions based on how products are perceived in the convenience stores and in other retail outlets. Consumers are oriented toward value, and that means that they compare pricing with what they see and buy in c-stores. Vending machines mostly sell the same products for lower prices than c-stores and other retail outlets. This is one the reasons why when you place vending machines in the right location, you can be assured of having high sales.

Right product mix
The right product mix in your Planet Antares vending machine is very important for the success of your vending business. Associate your self with a local supplier that will provide you all the products that you would require. A good supplier usually knows which products are popular at any given time, so they should have a supply of those products at that time. Branded products always do well in vending machines because they are easily recognized. These are products that are already in other retail sectors and they are always nationally advertised. If you have them in your vending machines, there would be no need for you to promote the products in order for them to sell. Since they are branded, they will sell themselves. There are products that are popular for only a period of time and usually lose popularity after some time. When that particular product is popular, you should ride the wave by placing the product in your Planet Antares vending machine. When its popularity is over, you can replace the product with the next popular one. This will ensure that you have only wining products in your vending machines.

Packaging
Many vending machine purchases are made on impulse, which means that the packaging of the product has to be appealing to the customer. Vended product packaging must be colorful and unique, and the graphics must be positioned in such a way that the item can easily identified from the purchaser’s position. Customers can’t pick up and handle the product before they buy, so the display of the products in your vending machine must sell the products. Glass front vending machines like those provided by Planet Antares would be best suited for that, since the customer can easily see the products.

Software for your Vending Business

Vending software is designed to make managing a vending business simple and easy. If you incorporate vending software into your Planet Antares vending business, you will find it easier to manage your locations, vending machines, products and practically anything else in your vending business. There are different kinds of software in the market, so you need to pick one that is easy to use and understand. At the same time it should be easy on your pocket.

The vending software that you decide on for your Planet Antares vending business should have a complete inventory system. It will enable you to view products by code, name or type. Such a system would automatically calculate inventory levels and notify you when you need to restock your vending machine. It will calculate your average cost in addition to the total inventory value. You will also get to know which products were sold in which lanes, at what price and the number of units sold at your last visit.

The vending software should maintain a list of all of your locations and contacts. This will help you know when the Planet Antares vending machines were placed in their locations and the date that they were last serviced. Vending machines need to be stocked as soon as they are empty or else you can end up losing potential sales when the customers aren’t able to find the products that they are looking for.

Detailed information about locations in your Planet Antares vending business will now be easily accessible with vending software. The products in your vending machines can be categorized. This will allow you to analyze your business to determine which category makes the most or the least revenue. If there is a product that is not selling well, you can easily decide to replace the product for something new, since you would know about its poor performance.

Whether your vending business is in the beginning, growing, stagnant or declining stage, vending software can offer an important tool for an overall improvement. The features that can be improved are, inventory control, location, machines, product inventory management, route management and so much more. When all these features are improved on, your vending business will be bound to be efficient and thus more successful.

Finding Snack and Beverage Vending Locations

Snack and beverage vending machines are big in size because they are full line vending machines. This is one of the factors that will make it difficult for you to find locations for your Planet Antares vending machines. The locations for these types of vending machines have to have a high amount of foot traffic in order for it to be financially beneficial for your Planet Antares vending business. On an average, it takes about 300 calls to businesses to find a qualified snack and beverage vending machine location.

Looking for a location for your vending business is something that can be done by you or you can decide to use a locating service. It is always recommended that you look for a location on your own since you are the one that knows what you are looking for. If you don’t have the time to look for a location on your own, you can use a locating service to do the work for you, just make sure that you inspect the locations on your own, after the locator has found a suitable one.

A locating service usually makes calls to all potential locations when they are looking for a suitable location. If you are using a locating service, they would make a call to a potential location where they will make a telephonic presentation of your Planet Antares vending machine. They can even decide to fax pictures of the vending machines, as well as describe the type of snacks that the vending machine sells. If there is a location owner that is interested in having your vending machine there, an appointment should then be set by the locator, for you to inspect the location. Make sure that the location is suitable and that the location owner knows what he is expecting before it is delivered. The locating company would charge you a fee for their services, so find one that will charge you a reasonable fee.

Before looking for locations, carry out some research on your own, on what type of locations are ideal for a snack and beverage vending machine like that that is provide by Planet Antares Inc. Visiting locations that already have these type of vending machines would provide you with some helpful tips. Locations that have high foot traffic or where people have to wait for 1-15 minutes would be ideal locations. These can be places like shopping malls, subways, bowling alleys, cafeterias, motels, companies with more than 50 employees, and lunchrooms. Finding the right kind of location will make your vending business very profitable.

How Do Small Vending Operators Flourish?

Small vending operators can be categorized into three categories, namely start-ups, hobbyists and specialists.

Start-ups
If you are starting a Planet Antares vending business, you choose to make it a one person start-up business. This is a business that you will run form your home with the help of your family. Most established companies began their operations as start-ups. If you like the business, you can decide to grow because start-ups usually don’t intend to stay small. They want to expand as soon as they are able to. The critical moment for your start-up Planet Antares vending business will come when the business needs to hire someone from outside the family or when a truck needs to be purchased. This would be critical because you will not be able to do without them for the expansion of the business

Hobbyists
These are people who have full time jobs and decide to start a vending business on the side. They don’t run their vending business as their primary source of income. Planet Antares has a vending program that can show you how to control your time while still making a handsome profit.

Specialists
Specialists always identify a niche opportunity and target locations within the niche. Specialists have a profit goal and a plan for attaining it with a small client base. They believe that they can do it by over servicing their accounts with the personal attention that a larger operation cannot provide.

If you want to start a Planet Antares vending business, you can decide on how you want to start the business. With full line vending machines it is advisable that that you start the business with one or two vending machines. When you start the business on a small scale, you will slowly get to know the feel of the business. As you learn the business, you can come up with great ideas for expanding your business. If you start a large vending operation, your lack of experienced knowledge can cause you to make some mistakes that will set you back.

As a small vending operator, you will slowly get to learn about locations, products to offer and consumer behavior. These are fundamental factors that you will need to know about.