Incorporate Vending Machine Technologies

According to a recent CNBC posting, shoppers between ages 18 and 29 years—called variously Gen Y and Millennials—really like to buy from vending machines. The explanation given is that young adult consumers embrace technology. Since those young adults have plenty of future in the marketplace and since other age groups also embrace technology, incorporate vending machines into your business.

• Have vending machines within your brick-and-mortar store to sell certain items. Hundreds of Macy’s stores have had vending machines to sell electronics products. From a shopper psychology perspective, it’s important that consumers be told by signage they can seek advice from sales personnel about what to purchase from the machines. In addition, train your staff so that when a customer asks a salesperson for a product which is sold only from the machine, the salesperson walks the customer to the machine or hands off the customer to another salesperson who will do this.
• Extend your store name and your selling possibilities to locations outside your store by placing vending machines in locations likely to have large numbers of potential customers. Best Buy Express vending machines are located in airports and hotels, each machine selling electronics products with which the customer probably is already familiar. With machine placements outside your store, go beyond allowing customers to return unsatisfactory items to your store. Encourage them to do so. When customers come to a store and problems are resolved smoothly, they are likely to make additional purchases there. You’ll be carrying a broader selection of options than what’s in the machine.
• Make it a point to offer quality items from the machines. Older consumers associate vending machines with stale food and cheaply-made tchotchkes. To change those sorts of barriers to usage, Canteen’s 2bU vending program features local and organic items. Even if you’re selling nutritionally vapid stuff, use technology to add high-class polish. The Vend Ever Cotton Candy Factory produces the confection while you watch, and the output is said to be warmer and fluffier than what you could buy at the fair booth next to the deep-fried Oreos stand.
• Think speed. Your younger consumers are. Kraft Foods and Samsung participated in development of a vending machine which allows your customer to select multiple items rather than make each purchase separately.
• Think credit. Gen Y prefers not to use cash. Use machines that accept credit and debit cards and mobile wallets.

Click below for more:
Position Yourself for Vending Machine Selling