Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Vending cold drinks from Planet Antares vending machines

Cold drinks have been the largest selling product through Planet Antares vending machines, under the beverage category. The success ratio has just kept on increasing in the past years. Whether you are looking for a soft drink, bottled water, juice, isotonic or energy cold beverage, Planet Antares has all that to meet your preferences. Americans love soft drinks over any other drink and that is why they are the largest vended cold drink category in Antares vending machines. Closed front soda vending machines remain in the majority, but glass front vending machines are the favorites of late.

Planet Antares vending machines have a glass front so that you can see the products that you would want to purchase. As a vending operator you should choose vending machines with glass fronts because they allow greater variety and a larger display of eye catching packages. It is important that the customer should be able to see the product in order to make a right choice.

Customers also demand broad package choices for their favorite cold drink. Cold drinks are available in bottles and cans. Planet Antares vending machines can accommodate anything from 5.5 fl oz to 1 liter bottles. It has been reported that 73% of cold drink sales were generated by twelve ounce cans. Antares vending machines can hold over 150 cans which are of 12 oz. This size is the most popular in all vending machines.

The relatively new vending machine category of energy drink products also increased 1% in vending machine sales. Soft drink sales always remain the most popular in all vending machines, followed by diet soft drinks. These two dominate the percentage of sales for cold drink vending products. As Planet Antares cold drink vendor, place these machines in schools, colleges, restaurants, club houses, amusement parks and many more.

Cold drinks in vending machines have resulted in extraordinary profits for vending business owners. The innovative and technologically improved Planet Antares vending machines will pilot your business towards unlimited profits.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

The category concept in Planet Antares vending machines

Category management is a proven merchandising system that maximizes product sales from vending machines. Vending business owners can offer a wide variety of products through category management. Increased variety creates greater consumer demand as they generally find products they want. Identify the categories according to consumer tastes, preferences and product characteristics. Most popular product categories are salty snacks, gums, cookies, chocolate candies, and healthy snacks, hot and cold beverages etc.

Once you recognize the product category for a particular location, the next important step is product selection under each category. Careful selection and rotation of the best selling product within a category ensures both variety and consumer interest. A vending business owner can select products considering the following three categories:
1. Core products - a few key products that deserve placement in every machine, every day.
2. Primary products - a majority of the products that change between menus but are in every machine during the menu period.
3. Flex products – these are specific product options which vary for according to location.

After the product selection, they should be allocated machine shelf space. Every product category should be represented with atleast one product facing. The number of facings also depends on the category sales and how the product fits into the shelf.

Success in category management does not come from putting products on a menu but from having right products in your Planet Antares machine and when your consumers want them. Category management will allow you to make periodic adjustments to menus in your Planet Antares vending machines, by replacing the slowest moving items with others that sell better and fast. Category management has proven to be a win-win solution to increase vending sales.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Overcoming Myths in the Vending Business

Big success in any business gives rise to many myths spread by those who have very little knowledge about it. Similarly, a few myths have been circulating in the vending industry as well. People have established notions which might not hold true in the real world of vending. If you have thought of starting a vending business and have limited knowledge regarding the facts, you may run into many negative people who are not in the industry. Yet, they may provide you with all the wrong information about vending and discourage you from the idea of starting your own vending business.

The first myth that may discourage you a great deal is that the vending business cannot start with a small amount of capital. The fact is that an initial investment in the business only requires a small start-up. Once you begin at a small scale it becomes easy for you to understand even the minute details of the industry and eventually expand the business to a larger scale, making higher profits. The vending industry can also allow beginners to continue their previous full time job along with the part time vending business, until such time that they don’t need the full time job any longer.

Rumors have been that vending doesn’t generate sufficient profits for its operators. Such rumors can be squelched with the fact that the vending industry is today a $40 billion industry offering viable opportunities to a large section of the people. Overhead is almost nothing when you start a vending business on a small scale. As soon as you get established in the industry and grow your business to larger number of vending machines, it allows you to control more of your money and future.

The fact that “vending machines with non-branded products do equally well as with top branded national products” is another vending myth that has to be addressed. Most American consumers identify themselves with product brands. A vending machine will not generate solid sales if it vends non-branded products with which the consumers can not relate. Vending top national brands through your vending machine will gain consumer confidence and make them more comfortable with your vending operation. Companies like Planet Antares stress stocking the machines with top-branded nationally known products to make higher sales and earn greater profits.

Claims of running the vending business without making any effort is not practical. The fact remains that the vending business does not call for extreme hard work, but operators need to make every effort to make and grow a strong, thriving business. Growing the business without keeping records or applying yourself with diligence is just a dream. Tracking your business growth and product usage allows you to understand the trends of the market and react accordingly.

Step into the ever growing vending business with Planet Antares and overcome the myths out there made to discourage the new business owners. Planet Antares provides factual information about the vending industry and helps you establish a successful vending business.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Quality Control – The buzz word for successful vending operations.

With so many success stories around, it is quite apparent that owning a vending business is a gateway to financial stability and prosperity. In last decade, vending business has grown tremendously. As of date, vending is a whooping $40 billion industry. Business experts have predicted the growth to shoot up exponentially in times to come. Taking out your chunk of profits is not a tough task to do. With little planning you can reap substantial earnings out of it. One of the factors that will decide on your vending business success is Quality of products you stock in your machines.

No matter what, customers just want products of top quality. They will get disappointed if they can’t get the foodstuff matching their expectations. After location of your vending machine, the most important factor that will govern your business’s success will be the quality of products that you sell.

For successful vending operations, quality of vending products needs to be maintained at all times. If your machine is stuffed with inferior products, customers will not come back and you will lose repeat business. Not to mention, your business reputation will be affected badly. So your aim should be to maintain the top quality for products you stock in vending machines.

Below are some tips to maintain quality in vending machines.

• Always buy vending machines from reputed manufacturer like Planet Antares. They provide vending machines with accurate temperature controls and tight food unit sealing to prevent food decay.

• Always service your vending machine on time and follow the service manual properly. This will keep your vending machine protected from any faults, which may affect food quality.

• Keep branded products in your vending machine as manufacturers for branded products have strict quality control norms for production. It is very rare that you will find any substandard product in their lot.

• Clean your vending machine regularly. This will keep the food stored hygienic.

• Keep the surrounding of your vending machine clean too.

• Always keep a check on expiry date of products you stock in vending machine and make sure that you replace them before expiry date.

• In case of breakage, always consult the manufacturing company for repairs. Do not get them repaired from untrained personnel.

• Never buy refurbished vending machines as they are generally fitted with substandard equipments, which can fail often thereby spoiling the food you have stored in vending machine.

With help of these few tips, you can provide quality food products to your customers at all times. Serving customers with superior quality food products will not only generate repeat business for you but will also get a good name to your business. If you are planning to buy vending machines, then consult Planet Antares vending specialist, they not only provide state-of-art vending machines but also provide necessary consultation and coaching to make your vending business a success.

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