Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Keeping Vending Machines Well Stocked

To become a successful vending operator, you must always ensure that the vending machines are well stocked. This will require servicing of your vending machines whenever needed.
Basically, vending machines are all about the products dispensed by them. After all, it is these machines that will bring in the money for you. Your products need to sell for your business to be profitable.

Usually, people enter the vending business by purchasing and setting up one or two vending machines. You would not want to go in over your head by taking on more than you can handle. This is a common mistake that is made by vending operators.

Once you have set up your Planet Antares vending business, make sure that your vending machines are well stocked. This is much easier to do with one or two vending machines.
Snack or beverage vending machines are the best for high traffic locations. These locations include schools, hospitals, subways, train stations, shopping malls, etc. generally, you will find high traffic in such places and this makes them ideal for Planet Antares snack and soda vending machines.

Choosing the right location is critical for achieving high sales and profits for your vending business. However, this only becomes possible if your services are up to mark and the machines in top condition. If a customer doesn’t find his favorite soda/snack in stock, they will feel frustrated.

Some products always sell faster than the others in different vending locations. Keep track of such products in your vending machine to ensure that it is filled at all times with the right products.

It is also important that you pick one or several days of the week to service the vending machines. This way, you can get to know how the products sell in your vending machines. When you know how the products sell, it will determine the quantity of the products in your vending machines.

A good idea will be to go to a local supplier for vending products and check his credibility. They must be able to provide you with a bulk stock of products that you want in your Planet Antares vending machines. By making bulk purchases, you can keep extra stocks so that your machines don’t run out of products.

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Monday, December 22, 2008

Reasons For Popularity Of Vending Machines

In the United States, people love to eat snacks and drink soda from vending machines. You can see them everywhere, be it your local store, bus terminal or college campus. Since 1888, America has witnessed vending industry setup and growth till it reached its present stage of a huge, booming industry.

The vending machines that were once manually operated have now become technologically advanced. These can be easily used and provide great services as well. Automated vending machines have gained popularity at a rapid pace and spread all over the country in diverse locations like never before.

Every year, a lot of money is spent on vending machine products by people who don’t have the time to go to a restaurant or convenience store. As a result, profitable vending machine companies like Planet Antares Inc have introduced new and innovative machine technology, products and systems. Planet Antares vending machines are one such type of vending equipment that generates high level of income for vending operators.

Vending machine locations include schools, colleges, factories, hospitals, businesses, etc. everywhere you go, vending machines will be present. These days, people are short of time and can’t take much time out for eating proper meals.

Planet Antares vending machines, being immensely popular, can be found at any and all of these locations. Your thirst and hunger can be instantly fulfilled with the help of a vending machine near you.

With rising demand for different products, vending machines have started dispensing many kinds of products. Apart from the candy, snack and soda vending machines, you can find machines vending cigarettes, tampons, milk, alcohol and even digital products like iPods. As customer preferences change and demand increases, variety of products offered to customers will only become larger and more diverse.

Planet Antares Inc has provided enhanced vending machines and products to operators to cater to the dynamic vending market. Their vending programs have allowed operators to expand business as well as generate higher profits from vending sales.

Success in the vending business comes with the right combination of mechanism and technology. Customers don’t have the time to wait in front of vending machines while they are feeling thirsty. They want a quick and convenient fix for their hunger and thirst.

Potential entrants need to understand that setting up of a vending machine business does not require much investment while the returns can be much more than the initial inputs.

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tackling Resistance To Change In Vending Industry

A few vending operators hold the opinion that cocoa and sugar costs have not been raised enough to justify the increase in candy prices. On the other hand, the prices at retail stores just keep lowering, meaning that other retail channels have not had to pay higher prices.

Planet Antares vending operators have just opted to reduce the candy bars to the top selling standbys in order to reduce cost of operations. As a result, there have been some questions regarding the remaining candy slots.

In the recent past, vending operators bought a variety of candy SKUs with all the stock keeping units from a specific manufacturer falling under one rebate program.

Many vending operators have decreased their candy bar offerings to the main core sellers. They have decided not to raise process on the top sellers, due to the fear of being outdone by competitors. Instead, they have opted for addition of more large size products.

Slowly and gradually, the large sized confections are gaining acceptance since the last two years. Many of these products allow Planet Antares vending operators to make an acceptable profit margin as $1.00.

Vending operators have been successful with the larger size candy and agree that it needs to be used in place of and not in addition to the regular sized version. This strategy has proven effective for large size snacks as well.

The large size candy items have sustained 100 % of the regular size versions, where the king-size bars have delivered at 85 %. As a result, the Planet Antares vending operations will be enhanced as well as offer value to the customers who use the equipment. After all, it is not just a matter of price increases.

It seems that the rise in candy prices is reason enough to try some of the large size candy bars. However, it is uncertain how much momentum there is behind the bent towards larger size candy.

Several Planet Antares vending operators have pointed out that this trend is contrary to the demand for healthier products by vending machine customers. In fact, large sized candy means more sugar and calories.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Planet Antares Emphasizes Product Flexibility

As a Planet Antares vending business owner, you are free to put whatever the customer wants in your vending machines. For example, some people prefer Coke while others like Pepsi. In this case, you would just need to store both brands.

Customer preferences also differ according to the account type. The more people in a vending location, the more will be the diversity in their tastes. Everyone will not like the same products.

A recent survey classified personal preferences for cold drinks as follows:

• Coke – 38.6%
• Pepsi – 27.4%
• Others – 34%
If you offer only Coke products in your Planet Antares vending machines then that means that 61.4% of the customers will be excluded. A wider range of products must be kept in the vending machines to ensure customer satisfaction. That will lead to repeat business for you.

Ask the contractor engaged by you to provide high quality, fresh merchandise. All products must be removed from your vending machine on the date of expiry of freshness. This will be important for health reasons. You would not want a consumer to buy an expired item as this might be followed by complaints and cause loss of business.

Go for branded products for your Planet Antares vending machine because they are the ones that are popular and easily recognizable. These products are usually advertised on national media, so you will not need to advertise them. Just place them in your machine and the customers will purchase them. Local made items will have to be promoted by giving out free samples or just hoping that the product sells.

To keep your vending customers happy, you need to provide a variety of products that they can choose from. Vend only branded products from your Planet Antares vending machine so that they are easy to recognize and result in quick sales. By taking care of this, you will surely get repeat business for your vending machine.

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Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Smart Planet Antares Vending Strategies

Most of us have heard or read about the all-cash, fun filled vending business. Before you get excited, it’s important to know the pros and cons of this business and understand how to make it work for you and help you earn substantial profits.
Several advantages of the Planet Antares vending business can be listed as follows:

Zero employees
There is no need to employ any staff or labor. Your machines are the only employees.

All-cash income
There are no credit systems in a vending business. There is instant transaction and most vending machines accept cash while some may even provide the option to pay through credit card, smart card or bills.

The disadvantages of a vending business may be as listed below:

Breakdown
If you don’t know how to fix various problems related to your vending machine, your machine will become inoperative and that means losses till you can get it repaired.

Bad locations
You may not be able to get the right locations for your vending machine. This can have a negative impact on sales and profits.

Successful Planet Antares vending business requires you to understand and use a few strategies to have an edge over the competition and earn financial rewards.

It is very important to place your vending machine at a good location. Even though this seems like an obvious fact, you may face a lot of difficulty before any business owners allow you to install your machine in their premises. Don’t get discouraged because there are many untapped places which you can use your creativity to discover and then place your vending machines.

Try to find easily accessible locations for your Planet Antares vending machines, especially where people gather or wait. Think about the kind of people you want to cater and the kind of products stocked in your machine and then, match these to your chosen location.

Another issue which you must take into consideration is the kind of machine you have selected and its suitability for a particular area. Planet Antares offers different machines with different features. Some may offer multiple products while others may offer a single product only. Moreover, you must ensure that your machine is located in stable areas with high theft rate.

Start your Planet Antares vending business with all these factors in mind. If you plan well and execute diligently, you can easily exploit the large potential to earn profits in this business.

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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Sales Trend In Planet Antares Vending Machines

Recent Automatic Merchandiser State of the Vending Industry Reports have shown that the vending industry reported its first sales gain since the recession that began in 2001. As the economy recovers slowly, the vending industry’s total sales is rapidly increasing.

Such a rise can be attributed to the higher product sales being experienced by many vending machine operators. Planet Antares vending operators were also faced with an increase in operating costs along with the increase in product prices.

A study of industry trends shows that consumers are drinking more speciality coffee. The percentage of Americans who drink coffee daily is also going up. Apart from the coffee in their workplace, the consumers are also going out to buy coffee. Planet Antares Coffee vending machine operators can greatly benefit from this trend and increase their market share.

Over the past years, vending operators had to face the challenge of pulling equipment out of large traditional industrial accounts. This resulted in a fall of the manufacturing/warehouse/fabrication accounts below 30% of the total customers in the vending industry. Such shifts in the customer base indicate the changes witnessed in the nation’s workforce.

Moreover, a lot of vending operators have started withdrawing from accounts in schools and correctional facilities. They realized that these accounts were based on commissions and must be periodically rebid.

On the other hand, the school authorities consider these vending machines as direct competition to their schools and not as support service. The nutritional restrictions also compromised the school accounts to a great extent. As a Planet Antares vending operator, you can place healthier food items in the vending machines.

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