Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Vending Business Details: Knowing The Ins And Outs

It is not a tough task to start and run a vending machine business. If you know its basics, operating a vending business can be a very lucrative investment. To get a better insight into the fine print of vending business, you must analyze its various aspects carefully.

Before selecting a vending machine, you need to know the product which has to be sold to end customers. These may vary from small items like toys or candy to large products like snacks, beverages, stationary or even digital products. Research the products that sell best in a particular location and buy the vending machines accordingly. For example: snack and beverage vending machines are suitable for offices, hotels and airports while candy vending machines are suitable for primary schools, doctor clinics and children parks.

As it is, location is a key component for the success of your vending machine business. Look for the best, most visited places where a lot of people are there. Common vending locations include hotels, restaurants, offices, supermarkets, malls and airports. Explore potential locations for placing your vending machines and try to find untapped locations for installing your vending equipment.

You will need to buy vending machines to become an operator. These may be new, used or rented from a reputable vending machine company like Planet Antares Inc. Pick the best deal according to your business goals and budget. Make sure that the company offers a guarantee on the chosen machines for refund in case of errors or problems in the equipment.
Internet can also be used to benefit from special offers, discounts and great deals on both new and old machines. You can also learn about the vending business through online portals and forums.

Verify the working condition of the features of a vending machine. The coin acceptor, currency detector and product dispenser must be in good working condition. Test the technical support staff of the vending machine supplier before you actually purchase the equipment.
Basically, metal machines are more durable than plastic ones. It is also easier to repair them and prevent wear and tear due to stronger parts. Place good quality machines in accessible, high traffic areas where the target customers can purchase the dispensed product.

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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Exponential Returns From Planet Antares Vending Machines

Have you been longing to become the owner of a profitable, home based business? Even as entrepreneurship rises among common people, studies have shown that 80% of all new enterprises fail within the first year of establishment. Beginners should be very careful about gaining considerable business knowledge and plan according to their business objectives.

With availability of greater variety of resources to guide you towards effective business planning and operations, it has become much easier to start your own vending business. In case of vending, the startup cost is exceptionally low. This is an extra advantage for people who want to be their own boss without investing too much money.

Most people hesitate to start their own business due to the overwhelming cost of operations. The additional renting, advertising, utility costs may prove to be a great burden and result in excessive overheads and business failure.

Becoming the owner of Planet Antares vending machines gives freedom to new businesses from usual costs. While the investment is low, you can earn extraordinarily high profits. Vending products like candy and gumball may cost about $30-$40 for a triple head vending machine. When you collect money from it, the revenue may be upto $300.

If you are unwilling to invest in a full time vending business, you can opt for a passive income generating venture. While the vending machine earns money, you are free to spend time with your family, work on another job or go for a vacation. Once the vending machines are located, the business returns start coming in!

After analyzing your personal needs and ability to run a vending business, it’s time to purchase equipment and products for customer satisfaction and business profitability. Find and compare reliable vending machine providers like Planet Antares Inc for quality of machines, features and price.

Next comes placing the Planet Antares vending machines at good locations with high customer traffic and easy accessibility. This can be done on your own or by hiring professional locators. However, you must see how the locator decides which locations are best for different kinds of vending machines. Learn strategies for future expansion of vending route. Also, make sure that there is a written agreement with the locator to enable high quality of services.

Many people assume that becoming a vending business entrepreneur is just about earning more money and being free of restrictions inherent in a job. In reality, you need to be even more professional and responsible to make your business successful. If you have the right attitude and capability, vending is a great way to earn enormous revenue.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Understanding Planogram Design In Planet Antares Vending Machines

Basically, category management is a system designed to enable you to take advantage of market research in selection of products for your Planet Antares vending machines. There are three main steps for designing a planogram and consist the following:

a) Identification of product categories
b) Space allocation to each category
c) Deciding on specific products for each category

The categories must be identified and grouped into smaller categories. The lesser the number of categories, the easier will be the process of designing a planogram. Still, the more the number of categories you identify, more will be the variety in planogram.

You will also need to allocate space in the Planet Antares vending machine. a minimum of one facing should be available for every category. The number of facings will depend on the category sales and how the products fit into the shelf.

An important but difficult task is product selection. This needs consideration of:
  • Core products
These are items that sell consistently in all machines and represent 20% of the total product mix.
  • Cycle products
These are filled in each machine during the menu cycle but changed between such cycles. Majority of the products constitute cycle products.
  • Choice products
These are items that can be provided for a particular location to meet specific requirements. These are usually less than 20% of the product selection.

Separate planograms are created by certain vending operators for different accounts according to their nature. As it is, a planogram allows you to control the products to be included in the vending machine. Otherwise, there will be no efficiency in operations as drivers will use personal preferences to save time.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Latest In Planet Antares Vending: Milk Dispensing

In recent times, there has been an emergence of a new alternative for soda vending machines, particularly milk. As more and more people go for healthier food items, the soda vending industry has launched new products like juices and milk to face this challenge. No doubt, this has been a smart move with respect to the rise in consumer demand and new regulations for healthy vending products in schools.

In fact, milk vending machines began as part of the food vending industry. Later, it has moved on to become a part of the soda vending industry. Now, many of the vending machines include different beverages along with milk. As a Planet Antares vending operator, you will benefit greatly by adding milk to the range of products offered by your vending machines.

Most of the locations prefer milk vending machines over the conventional soda vending products. With such a trend, almost 40% of the total vending machine operators in the United States offer milk items. Not only schools and colleges but even factories, c-stores and industry locations form a significant part of the milk vending market.

You must create a balanced product mix of the traditional soda items and the milk items. While some operators can switch to milk vending completely, others can maximize profits by effective combination of traditional beverages and milk. With time, new milk products have been designed for soda vending machines. You can pick from a variety of milk flavors and packaging to stock your vending machines.

Good vending companies like Planet Antares Inc are observing this trend and utilizing it for their advantage by providing new milk products along with the existing range of braded products to the vending machine operators at affordable prices.

Overall, there has been a rise of 900 million units in the sale of milk units in the past year. As more and more people take part in this relatively unexplored market, you can gain rewards from milk vending like never before. There is great potential for growth and development. In secondary schools, milk vending machines have still not been used much. Thus, it is an untapped location for newcomers in this field.

Contrary to popular belief, healthier food and soda options are not a challenge for the vending industry, rather, it is an opportunity that allows scope for growth in new areas and gives a chance to vending operators to aim for even higher levels of profitability.

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

The Role Of Software In Successful Vending

If conducted properly, wireless transmission of data can enable a Planet Antares vending operator to solve most of the problems faced in the course of vending operations. Moreover, the operator gets to enjoy all the benefits that come with the use of software.

Planet Antares vending machines that are equipped with an automatic transmitting device make it possible to reap the benefits of dynamic scheduling as the operator comes to know instantly when a machine is out of order. However, real time transmission of data is not essential for operators and suppliers to gain advantage of recording and reporting brand preference analysis, by individual machine.

Changes in individual consumer brand preferences take place over a long period of time. Thus, the brand preference data obtained from a Planet Antares vending machine through a handheld computer when the machine is being filled and later downloaded into a host computer is a valuable resource of your business.

With the help of this software system, a driver won’t have to make repeated trips to the Planet Antares vending machines. This leads to vending operators feeling that the system meets their needs when it comes to effective vending operations.

In many ways, the office functions of Planet Antares vending operators have been improved with the help of software. These benefits include:

1) Data entry errors due to driver counting or writing errors are eliminated.

2) Accountability reports and sales analysis reports can be made available as soon as the cash is counted.

3) Management can directly impact the level of sales at each Antares machine by using cost effective brand preference analysis reports.

One of the biggest problems with existing accountability reports are errors caused by counting or writing errors on the part of the driver. With this system, human intervention is deleted and reports are available in real time, usually by the next business day so that they can be acted upon in timely manner.

Brand analysis by Planet Antares vending machines is primarily conducted to increase sales and thus gives you an opportunity to improve profits for your Planet Antares vending business.