Today’s traditional vending machines often hold too much inventory, are serviced too often and don’t do anything but sit against the wall. Enter intelligent vending machines.
An intelligent vending machines (a.k.a. smart vending machine), is an internet-connected device that vends like any other machine, but sends and receives data to help it run much more efficiently and improve vending business.
Chris Goumas, vice president of VE Global Vending, notes the data smart vending machines produce can be simple and obvious, such as sales transactions analyzable by big data to determine the optimal day to fill a machine. They can also be more complex, such as monitoring the resistance of the electrical charge across the condenser motor in chilled machines, which can be used in predictive analytics to determine the likelihood of motor failure before it happens.
“Warm sodas are not a big deal, you just re-cool them. Warm caviar is a disaster that might cost the machine owner tens of thousands of dollars in spoilage,” he says. “Data that a smart vending machine can consume can be live CRM data (customer specific data around purchases or loyalty) to present an offer compelling to the user, or to remind a customer of a promotion that they are participating in.”
According to Frost and Sullivan’ Intelligent Vending Machine Growth Forecast, global shipments of intelligent vending machines are forecast to grow at a 49 percent CAGR between now and 2016, reaching around 2 million units with both the new and retrofit markets combined.
VE Global Vending produces an aftermarket kit that converts standard vending machines into interactive, smart vending machines, which can be installed on virtually any machine made anywhere in the world.
The kit consists of a 46” touchscreen that covers the glass of a standard machine, a computer and a control board. The vending application displaying the items has a shopping cart, can bundle products for a discount, and is all controlled from the cloud.
“Since the glass is covered and the customer cannot see the products, everything is converted to 3D virtual objects and presented on the screen digitally,” Goumas says. “The user can spin/rotate the items 360 degrees for a full view of their intended purchase. Because the experience is on a screen, we can add social media, games, and content like ads.”
Games are typically played after the vend and used to drive a social experience. Ads or other media can be used to draw the user in, or as pure advertising for third parties as an alternate revenue source.
“Monitoring sales and only filling machines when they are empty can cut out up to 50 percent of the trucks and routes a typical machine operator uses to service machines,” Goumas says. “Creating a compelling user experience based on combining games, social media and eye-catching graphics attract media, drives sales and creates a unique event that customer remember and return for.”
Additionally, using dynamic pricing and/or media triggered by the use of video analytics (the machine has a camera to judge the age/gender of users) can create both highly targeted ad opportunities, and drive up sales of promoted items.
The Frost and Sullivan report notes that cashless payments via mobile phones with near-field communication are expected to increase sales per transaction, especially for high-end products, like smartphones and portable media players.
Other features of intelligent vending machines include voice recognition, scent, and gesture-based interaction.
The pros of a smart vending machine are compelling. They bring gamification to the environment, they can generate secondary income via ads, they can alert you to stock outs, broken parts or full bill acceptors, and they can play ads based on user demographics. Expect to see a lot more of them near you shortly.
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