Higher Snack Costs in Vending

Consumers today seem to be the constant victim of rising prices and the dropping value of the dollar. As a result of this the consumer will be more wary of vending machine purchases. Therefore vending operators are left with the burden of developing new merchandising strategies to combat this, in order to maintain their sales.

As an Antares vending operator you would be reluctant to raise the product prices due to a number of reasons. The only way to combat this price rise is to come up with strategies that will help you maintain your business. The Natural Choice vending program will allow you to do this.

While some vending operators refuse to raise prices, others are waiting for price points of competitors to increase before increasing prices. The aim is to increase prices without much resistance from the consumer market. Some vending operators have decided to reduce the selection of snack vending machines and offer only top selling snacks. There is no need to waste space on your Antares vending machine, on a product that that hardly ever sells.

From the sales that are made from your Antares vending machine you can get to know which products are selling more than others. Once you have this information, it is now up to you which products you want vended out of your machine. This is the only way you can maintain the sales from your machine, without raising the product prices.

New health conscious consumers are demanding healthy products in the vending machines. These changing consumer demands coupled with increased prices will have an effect on your business. You can opt for healthy products in your Antares vending machine so that you can cater to the ever increasing health conscious consumers. The health trends will have a definite impact on the vending industry in years to come.

We will always observe price changes in our economy that will impact our businesses. That is why Natural Choice offers you great vending programs that will work for you at all times. Higher snack costs should not deter you from continuing with your vending business. The price change in products is something that you can overcome.

Vending Machine Parts

Antares vending machines are designed to take years of abuse with little or no “wear and tear”, but a machine is a machine and at one point of time it will break down. You will need to get the best vending parts which would be installed by an experienced repair person.

Machine mechanics must determine the causes of the machines’ malfunction, and repair, build or replace defective vending machine parts to restore service. If the mechanic cannot quickly diagnose which vending machine parts are malfunctioning, they may have to trouble shoot by following procedures developed by the vending machine manufacturers. The Antares Corporation Natural Choice program will ensure that all the procedures that will be required by the mechanic can be easily followed.

Vending machine parts are replaced at individual vending sites, when possible. Mechanics must make quick repairs on the vending machine, because fewer service calls means more profits in the business.

Many people complain about the reliability of coin mechanisms and bill readers. This has proved to be a problem on many occasions. Bill readers tend to get dirty and need to be cleaned frequently. Out of all vending parts, bill readers can at times be the most expensive part to repair or replace. The bill reader on the Antares vending machines are of the highest quality and you will hardly experience any serious problems with them, if not at all.

The older the machine, the more you are likely to pay for the vending parts, because the parts become harder to find. Circuit boards are also prone to a high markup.

When vending machines need major repairs, the mechanics will transport the machine back to the service shop, dismantle and replace faulty parts.

Preventative maintenance is the most important thing a mechanic can do for your Antares vending machine. This will prevent any malfunctioning, before it occurs. All vending parts need to be lubricated at all times for the smooth running of the vending machine. You will be a happy vending machine owner if you follow the above guidelines and take care of your vending parts.

The Easy Way to Raise Profits in Vending

In today’s competitive world, vending machine operators must find ways to increase market share. In the vending industry, you can either add more locations and vending machines or you can increase sales at current locations. Increasing sales at the current location is the easiest and cheapest way for Antares vending machine operators to raise their profits.

Improving sales at current locations incurs minimal costs, so any additional revenue is pure profit. For your Antares vending business you would not need to purchase new equipment, or hire new personnel, or buy a new vehicle. All this would be unnecessary. The only cost would be the price of the new vending machine items sold and the commissions paid to proprietors and drivers.

The effective way to increase your sales for your Antares vending machine is product selection. You need to be selective about the products that you choose to sell from your vending machine. Here are some tips on how you can do that.

1. Follow real world trends. By following these trends you will be responding to consumer choices, there by increasing sales and minimizing warehouse space because they have limited space.

2. Think like a consumer. Don’t categorize items according to size and price; instead items should be defined by texture and taste. This will elucidate product variety and help in product selection

3. Brand new products. New products in your Antares vending machines will keep the customers interested. Once the appeal of the new product wears off, the operator has to decide whether the product deserves a place the shelf space.

4. Don’t be a scrooge. Purchase products that are on demand instead of purchasing them because of their price. Consumers today are willing to pay a high price for quality products.

5. Ride the ad wave. Align products with what suppliers are advertising. This way as an Antares vending operator you will benefit from the work of others.

To improve profits in your Antares vending business, just increase sales where you can. This is the easiest way.

Healthy Vending Machines

We all want to eat healthy products from vending machines. Once you have purchased your Antares vending machine you will need to decide what products you want placed in the machine. In schools healthy vending products are a top priority and it is important to involve both students and staff in decisions on what to vend from your Antares vending machine.

Chicago schools are expected to loose millions of dollars due to the elimination of sodas in their vending machines. On the other hand some schools are offering mini exhibit trade show events to promote the latest in healthy vending.

If you own and operate an Antares vending machine, there are some incredible product choices that are available for your snack vending machine. This can include items such as pretzels, veggie crisps, bagel chips, yoghurt bars and much more. There are some new introductions every month that you will need to keep up with. As an Antares vending operator, you will need to stock up your machine with these kinds of healthy products, because these days there are a large number of people who are careful about what they eat. These people can avoid vending machines altogether, and would rather eat at home or carry something healthy to eat with them. If you offer them the choice of healthy vending food they will always frequent your vending machine.

Vending operators are shifting towards vending healthier vending products that are low carb/ carb friendly, low fat/fat free and diet/lite. These are just some of the choices that you can try out.

There are strategies that have been developed to increase public awareness of healthy eating and activities, to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent obesity and related chronic diseases. You can enable customers to have a healthier lifestyle by vending healthy food from your Antares vending machine.

When starting your Antares healthy vending machine business you should create awareness about your machine, and the healthy food options that you are offering. You can also give out free samples to promote your products. Any vending machine can become a healthy vending machine if you know where to start. Schools all over the United States are changing their vending habits to vending healthier products, so this would be a good place to start. It would be advisable if you can get all the students and staff involved so that you can know what it is exactly they would like to see vended in their school. By healthy vending, you can make the lives of many consumers to healthier.

Bill Acceptors in Vending Machines

Bill acceptors were developed in the late 1960’s to make the selling sodas and candy bars from the vending machine much easier. They would accept the money that the customer has placed in the machine, for the purchase of product. Bill acceptors are used in vending machines such as those provided by Antares Corporation.

The first generation of machines used a magnetic head, like those in audio cassette player, to read the ink on the dollar bill. The ink used by the Treasury has high ink content so it makes this process possible. For the process to work the magnet heads need to be in contact with the bills. At times the bills would become fouled with grime and lint.

As recently as seven years ago, some people would try to fool vending machines with black and white photocopy of a bill. These days newer magnetic readers float above the surface of the bill and can distinguish between copier ink and treasury ink by measuring the magnetic field and the pattern of magnetic particles within the ink, which serves as a sort of fingerprint. All vending machines, including Antares machines all use these bill acceptors.

There are some problems that your Antares vending machine can face with the bill acceptor, so it’s important that you keep a check on that. The most major problem is poor acceptance. This is because the magnetic reader heads become worn and are unable to read the bills. You can prevent this problem with your Antares vending machine by keeping the bill acceptor clean using Qtips and alcohol. If the bill acceptor is taken in bills without returning change that means that the magnetic heads are so worn that you will have to send in the bill acceptor for servicing. If the acceptor is not pulling in bills, that is caused by a bad front sensor.

As an Antares vending operator you need to take care of the maintenance of your bill acceptor because every time a bill passes through the transport it leaves a trace of ink. A coin leaves a trail of metal flakes. For these reasons you should periodically disassemble and clean the validator, paying particular attention to the bill path, sensors and belts. Inspect the belts for any deterioration and damage.

By keeping a check on the functioning of your Antares vending machine’s validator, you can be assured of smooth running of the device.

Cleaning the Vending Machine

Correct cleaning and servicing practices that relate to your Antares vending machine are a key part of your vending operations. Not everyone has the know- how of perform these practices when they begin a career in the vending industry. These are practices that can be learned with time.

The National Automatic Merchandising Association has produced a handbook that is a basic guide to route drivers who want to become professionals in their work. Antares Corporation can provide you with the necessary tips to becoming a professional in your vending operations.

In vending there are personnel that deal with the handling of the food. They handle the food, cups and other commodities from the start up to the time they reach the vending machine. The personnel have to handle the food in an appropriate and clean manner. Cleaning has a direct impact on the company’s survival and success.

Poor cleaning in the commissary, on the truck or at the Antares vending machine can cause food borne illness, chemical poisoning or customer complaints. This can be followed by bad publicity, lawsuits and customer rejection. This would hurt your Natural Choice vending business. You would probably never be able to recover from that.

Customers today insist on cleanliness in food establishments. The customers want a clean vending location as well as equipment. They would also be happy to see clean looking personnel.

The truck that is used to deliver the food to your Antares vending machine must be clean and the food kept at safe temperatures. Safe temperatures are 41 degrees Fahrenheit or lower for cold food and 140 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for hot food.

The Antares vending machine must also be kept at the right temperature at all times so that the food can never go bad. As a vending operator you are the one responsible for ensuring the quality of the food. Keep your customers happy at all times so that you can have a successful vending business. Happy vending!