Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Product Planning As Part Of Successful Vending

Business success depends on various factors. Like any other industry vending also requires constant planning and decision making. One such decision is keeping the right products in your vending machines for the success of your vending business.

Usually, Planet Antares vending machines sell snacks and beverages, products that sell highly in most locations. Many people like to buy a quick snack or soda when they are passing through a location or waiting there.

During the process of product selection for your vending machines, the first thing to be considered is the supplier that will provide you with all the products that you want to have in the vending machines. Look for a supplier that is based near your area of operations.

The next step will be to check whether the products are fresh and have an expiry date that is nowhere close to the date of purchase. You would not want customers to visit your vending machine to buy products and find out that the snack or soda they bought is expired. Obviously, it will bring negative impact on your business image because the next time the same consumer will not come back to your vending machines.

If you want to be completely sure about placing the right products in your Planet Antares vending machines, you can go out to different vending locations and see people buy from vending machines there. Take note of the most popular snacks and beverages. Repeat this exercise for several locations in your area.

As it is, children constitute a huge portion of vending machine customers. They always know about the latest products in the market and you can try asking them about the products that should be placed in your vending machines. Also, suppliers of products can serve as information sources for the right products to vend as they are always in touch with other vending operators.

For effective product planning and selection, you should buy branded products from reliable companies like Planet Antares Inc. These are easily identified by the consumer and this is the reason for their popularity amongst general public. As these products have already been popularized through national media, you will be saved from the headache of advertising and hence, save a lot of money and time.

Labels: ,

Monday, January 12, 2009

Why Choose Outdoor Vending Locations?

The vending industry is still exploring the idea of outdoor locations for keeping vending machines. These outdoor locations now form an integral part of the business accounts.

Currently, locations such as parks and amusement centers have been successful for outdoor vending. Outdoor snack vending machines perform well in these places and prove to be highly lucrative. In large theme parks, bottlers perform the task of vending but the smaller parks prefer independent vending operators like Planet Antares vending operators.

Such a trend can prove to be highly lucrative as you gain for:
1. Reaching a wider customer base
2. Offering diverse product selection
3. Enhancing vending business profitability

Several elements of outdoor vending locations make them highly attractive. These include:
1. Increased square footage in retail establishments and gaining heavy customer attention and traffic.
2. A rise in the number of housing complexes with common areas has also been noticed.
3. Public parks have witnessed a growth in attendance.
4. National accounts of vending management companies that manage vending services have been persuaded to make better use of the vending opportunities available, including outdoor sites.

Planet Antares vending operators do not face any hassles or maintenance problems in outdoor locations as they don’t get frequently kicked underneath and in the condensers. This is usually a headache for indoor locations.

As far as profitability is concerned, there is a mixed view about the lucrativeness of vending machines in outdoor locations among vending operators. Some of them feel that outdoor machines generate similar returns as indoor machines in same kind of locations. However, vending management companies are of the view that outdoor locations provide higher sales and revenue.

In reality, the cost of maintaining a vending machine in an outdoor location and the returns are higher than any other premises. However, independent vending operators can lease cold drink machines from bottlers, who will bear the overhead of security.

A large number of vending operators, including Planet Antares vendors, have also experienced success with beverage and snack vending machines placed in such places.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

What The People Say About Vending

Till date, health and nutrition form one of the most debated topics related to vending. As a Planet Antares vending operator, you can read about it every day, mostly in relation to schools and college campuses.

As a measure to deal with this, trade organizations are spending huge sums of money to make the media and government institutions realize their role in public health and fitness. They are trying to create awareness that the vending industry didn’t create the obesity crisis and are in fact, part of the solution.

Planet Antares Inc is supporting these efforts, which they view as a price they must pay for being in a business that is involved with the public health. Their aim is to play a role in the well-being of the general public and lessen any negative impact on their health.

No doubt, it is a fact that obesity and nutrition have very little to do with daily business reality for the average operator. Generally, they will be happy to offer products that have high quality and nutritional value if these are desired by the customers.

In the private sector, employee wellness has taken on greater importance and is emerging as a visible movement towards greater efficiency and healthy work force. Employers have been forced by medical costs to consider multi-faceted wellness programs to ensure healthier employees and lower health insurance premiums.

For now, you cannot expect the media to leave the obesity issue because it is a universal problem that has an impact on all sections of society. We all know that many times, issues in the public spotlight tend to become larger than life, media attention feeds itself until the public loses interest in the issue.

Majority of the Planet Antares vending operators have been satisfied to let their national trade association carry the weight of the health issue burden. Still, they are learning that the issue has a direct affect on their vending business as well.

Last year, vendor associations launched a campaign to provide tools that help operators to address the media at the local level and enable them to participate in legislative initiatives at both the local and state levels.

Additionally, the group support from dieticians who are ready to help Planet Antares vending operators work with legislators and other public officials on the behalf of the industry can help in dealing with this issue.

Labels: ,