As the world and our devices become more and more connected and information flows seamlessly to increase efficiency, it seems only natural that even the traditionally simplest things, will become even simpler.
For almost a century, small entrepreneurs and large multi-national companies have generated Billions in revenue by simply providing a thirsty world with cold drinks through vending machines. For most of the last century, vending was always considered to be the ultimate cash business. That is now about to change.
According to Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, “There has been a seismic shift in consumer behavior and soon, paying with dollar bills and coins will be rare”.
When asked about the effect of cashless technology on vending, Rick Kanemasu , Coca Cola Vending Technology Strategist said “when we add a card reader to a vending machine, we see a 6 percent volume lift on average. That’s because only one in two people who stops by a machine has the correct currency (with either coins or a dollar bill) to buy a drink”
To respond to this new consumer behavior, vending companies large and small are scurrying to adapt their traditional vending machines to allow for credit, debit and mobile payment options in addition to cash. Some of the oldest and largest companies in the vending business such as Coca Cola, Crane, Coin Acceptors of America and Mars Electronics are vying to be the dominant player in this new growth category. Crane has launched Crane Merchandising Systems focusing on seamless conversion to cashless payments for existing operators.
One company, Able Cashless™ thinks they’ve got an even better solution. A cashless only cold drink vendor. Able Cashless™ Creative Director, Roderick Williams says, “No option for cash payment in vending machines brings multiple benefits to customers, locations and operators alike. Our new Cashless Cooler™ will be our first product brought to market that is totally cash free”.
Although other companies will be quick to follow this trend, Able Cashless™ feels that other features of the Cashless Cooler™ such as that fact it’s wall mountable, customizable and easily transportable will keep them well ahead of the pack. Williams says “The key to growing the business is in innovation and design, we constantly look to lead the industry in progressive thinking and implementation. We strive to be proactive, as opposed to respond to our operator and consumer needs.”
For the vending customer that is frustrated with not having enough cash to purchase their desired item or that dreads the battle that is sure to come with
getting the machine to accept their wrinkled up dollar bill, the new cashless systems will be a welcome change.
In addition, most times that a vending machine is out of order it is due to a jammed coin mechanism. No coin Mechanism means no coin jams. The other common customer complaint when it comes to vending machines is products being sold out. The hidden benefit of a cashless payment system is that in order to process payments, the vending machine has to be on a cellular network 24/7. With this connectivity, vending operators are able to know exactly what products are selling and respond to refill machines before a product ever sells out completely.
The pioneers of the vending business would surely marvel at vending machines talking to their keepers and depositing the sales dollars directly into their owner’s bank accounts.