The Different Levels of DEX Data

Several years ago, the early adopters that tried to utilize DEX complained that most machines didn’t support DEX correctly. This is a situation that has been remedied. Here is a broad summary of the different levels of DEX in vending machines in the field today.

No DEX support. There are some machines that were designed before DEX was adopted. There are audit boxes available that can be installed in these machines and thus provide DEX support. These DEX kits which are compatible with about 90 percent of the older equipment, can be installed in as little as five minutes, and can cost anywhere from $120 to $200 per machine. If your Antares vending machine doesn’t support DEX then you can have the DEX kit installed.

Cash meter only DEX support. Some of the earliest equipment made to support DEX did not provide all the information needed for a full DEX cash audit. At that time there weren’t too many of these types of machines produced. They are still capable of giving you a cash meter reading via the DEX port. This is certainly better than the driver manually recording a cash meter.

Full DEX cash audit support. All Antares vending machines that are being produced today are capable of supporting a true DEX cash audit. These machines can tell you how much cash comes into the machines, how much change was given out and what coins went into the coin box versus into the change tubes.

Full item –level DEX support. All snack and soda Antares vending machines that are being produced today are capable of reporting item-level sales (and price) by column or button. This information married to a planogram (or product list) in your driver’s handheld can help the driver service the Antares vending machines more quickly. The vending company will also be able to easily collect line –item sales information and make use of this information in a variety of profitable ways

Soda and snack venders take priority. A snack or soda Antares machine that is retrofitted with a column-level DEX retrofit kit is capable of supporting both DEX cash audit and item-level DEX reporting.

Intelligent Vending is a Reality

Antares operators as well as other operators have found that machine monitoring yields real operating efficiencies. In recent years, costs for intelligent vending have fallen while equipment and software manufacturers have improved the DEX standard; as a result more operators are now testing the waters.

If you use intelligent vending in your Antares vending operation, you will find that, you will be able to view the status of all your vending machines on a password protected website. Every night the machines would be able to send their activity reports to a Web server via a cellular phone connection. The system will also let you know about any mechanical problems with any of the machines. This system will alert you on what machines need servicing so that you don’t waste time going to locations that don’t need service.

Technology impact

Computer hardware and software engineers have reduced the cost of intelligent vending in the recent years. These systems are ushering in a new generation of operators with no prior vending experience. And because the technology can work, these operators then have an advantage, because they don’t need to relearn operating procedures, nor must they upgrade their equipment or computer systems. They can service more machines in less time, learn about mechanical malfunctions sooner and know the exact amount of cash in the vending machines. The previous day’s sales activity can let the Antares vending operator know what is and isn’t selling from the vending machines.

Established Antares vending operators who are not equipped with the latest generation of vending equipment and computer systems should study the new technology and implement it slowly. Those who are willing to introduce it will have a competitive advantage.

How successful an operator will be in introducing this technology, will largely depend on his level of commitment. Intelligent vending is a reality and all operators agree that a major time commitment is needed. Most also agree that the technology provides tangible benefits once it is up and running.

The Challenge of Carrying Ethnic Items

The challenge of carrying ethnic items is not an easy one. When you have a mixed customer base, it is important that you don’t go overboard catering to only one group. While Mexican items are popular with Mexicans, the natives usually won’t but them. In general, Mexicans eat much spicier foods that whites.

Immigrants buy more on visual appeal

Glass front vending machines like those provided by Antares Corporation are very important when it comes to serving immigrants, because many immigrants buy based on visual appeal. Make sure that you have these Antares glass front vending machines in the locations with a lot of immigrants, because they buy by color.

Immigrants are more frugal spenders

Another reason it makes sense to cater to immigrant tastes is that in many cases, they won’t buy as much product top begin with. They tend to be more frugal. This means that they are not going to spend the same amount as the other groups.

Catering to the ethnic community is something that Antares vending operators need to do, because the importance of doing so has grown over the years. Vending operators cannot ignore the change. Operators have noted that Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group in their customer base, followed by Asians.

Vending operators have also noted that immigrants are disproportionately represented in blue collar locations, which for many, are their largest accounts. This is the reason why it makes sense for operators to cater to these customers.

Suppliers are taking notice

Several ethnic product suppliers have begun to focus more marketing efforts on the vending customer.

Bilingual text proves helpful

You can target the Hispanic consumer with bright and colorful packages with bilingual text. Bilingual packaging is important in reaching the immigration population because it shows more authenticity.

If you want to make a decision on whether or not to have ethnic items in your Antares vending machines will all depend on the location that you are catering to. If your machines are in a location with a large ethnic community then it would make financial sense to vend these products.

Security for Route Drivers

Planning alternative routes and delivery schedules in advance for your Antares vending business, is very important for the security of the route drivers. Management should also avoid having drivers at the same place at the same time. Drivers should make a mental note of roadside emergency phones and where the nearest police station (or patrol cars) and hospitals are located. This would be the best way for them to get help quickly, when they will be in need of it.

Illumination is critical at night

If the area is patrolled by security or police, the route driver should try to obtain their acknowledgement that he is on the premises. Before getting out of the vehicle, he should observe his surrounding. A route driver should always carry out his work in a well illuminated area.

Plan for contingencies

Contingency planning can be when you do not wait for a situation to occur in your Antares business, before taking a course of action. The panning should include the procedures to deal with both routine contingencies such as lost keys and emergency situations. Procedures should be disseminated in the form of written instructions and through periodic security awareness training. There are some vending companies that print instructions on what to do incase of a robbery on a decal. This can be posted on the vehicle dashboard as a constant reminder to the Antares route driver.

Never resist a gun

Giving the money over to a robber without any resistance, and thus avoiding further confrontation is the best course of action. When confronted by a robber with a gun, it is important that you corporate with the robber by turning over the money, keys, inventory and vehicles. Above all stay calm.

Reporting all incidents

Operators should report all crime incidents to the police. Oftentimes, operators ignore this critical step because it is time consuming. By the operators reporting all incidents to the police, it will mean that they will be doing their part to prevent future thefts.

For the smooth running of your Antares vending business, it is important that all operations of your vending business run smoothly. This of course would also include the safety of the route drivers when they are on their route.

Promotions that Work in Vending

Facing a struggling economy, Antares vending operators are utilizing any resource they can find to try to motivate drivers and create excitement at the vending bank. A promotion that works does so for more than one party. It pleases the end customer or, depending on the situation, the route driver. It also puts new gloss on the Antares vending operator.

Successful promotions range from the most homespun projects generated by the local operator all the way to games and contests involving a whole continent of competing coupon-or box top- mailings to consumers or route drivers.

Promotions that don’t work don’t appeal to the end winner, or the vending operator, or don’t even work for the manufacturer.

Customers love specials

You can offer something special to the customer once in while, because this is something that they love. Depending on the size of your vending operation, you can easily decide what specials to offer the customer. It just has to be something significant that will appeal to the customer.

Employers like incentives

Promotions have really picked up over the past years. There are more promotions now than before. Business owners want to keep their employees happy, so they come up with every kind of program. Many Antares vending operators use planograms systems in coordination with manufacturer promotions, to regularly purge slow sellers.

How much do you empower drivers?

You need to be careful about driver promotions, because the driver should not be the arbiter of what goes into the machines. As far as route promotions for your Antares business are concerned, you should make it easier for them in addition to less paperwork. If you complicate things, the route drivers will loose motivation. In-house promotions work best for the route drivers. Route drivers are motivated by cash. You can try all sorts of promotions because anything that promotes high standards in route driver honesty and exactitude is worth the outlay.

The vending industry has worked hard at creating excitement for the customer, but it has also worked at making vending fun for route drivers as well.

How Competition is affected by Acquisitions

The business entity that is closest to the acquired operator is his competitors. It can then be assumed that the competitor is the first to be affected and feels the most impact of the situation.

For most Antares operators, the first word that comes to mind when they hear that their competitor has been acquired is “opportunity.” Some will quickly target accounts of a competitor who was recently acquired. They don’t care who was in there or who bought the accounts. Their goal is to hit the account when there is instability.

Some Antares vending operators realize that bashing a well respected and established competitor harms every player. In this case it is best to give a new owner a chance to satisfy his new customers before going after the business.

Impact on associations

The shrinking number of vending operators throughout the nation is having a direct impact on vending trade associations as well. This has the potential to affect operator’s ability to protect their interest in the legislative and regulatory arenas.

Less personal but more professional

The bottom line of the impact of acquisitions on the industry is a less personal industry than in the past, but a more professional one. Computerized route management, line item accountability, electronic cash auditing and more versatile equipment have given the industry tolls that improving its public image.

Consolidation is a fact of business in any industry. For the most part, the industry should benefit as companies grow larger and stronger. Competition has to look for new and better ways to deliver products and enhance customer service. This will improve the industry image. Firstly you will need to improve your Antares vending business by implementing new technology and merchandising techniques.

There is a view that larger companies provide better service, but many small and medium Antares operators are quick to dispute that. This is because in so many cases, small and medium size companies provide better service.

Acquisitions are part of the vending industry, so one has to have a successful vending business to take acquire other vending businesses. Always keep in mind that competition is there waiting to take the opportunity.

Wireless Transmission of Data

A well designed system will enable a merchandise manager to stock each Antares vending machine with those brands the location has demonstrated they want to buy. It will do so in real time, with the appropriate number of columns devoted to each brand (space to sales analysis); so that each brand can sell out evenly. Sales (and profits) are thus maximized in relation to route support costs. This will improve gross sales and reduce sold outs.

The system should track the level of unsold inventory in each machine, in real time. In this way the route person can be scheduled o service each Antares machine only when enough sales have been made so that it will be profitable.

The fact is that it costs almost the same amount to service a machine with $10 in the cash box as it does to service one with $200 in the cash box. This will reduce route support costs by 10 to 30 percent depending upon how efficiently your Antares vending company is managing these costs.

Machine function reports

Wireless systems can also tell us, in real time, when a machine door has been opened, and by whom. The systems can also provide information on how often the compressor cycles relative to the ambient temperature (this will let you know if the refrigeration unit needs to be vacuum cleaned), and how many dollars and coins have been deposited in the machine. In addition to this, it can also tell you if the coin mechanism refuses to accept quarters.

In other words, it will reduce downtime, vandalism and embezzlement for each Antares vending machine and at the same time provide input for an effective accountability system. In this way the vendor can respond to an emergency call before the location can get to know that the machine is out of order.

Wireless transmission of data can enable a machine to vend based upon a debit or credit card system

Two way communication

It is possible for each machine to become an interactive terminal because they will be able to send and receive data from each Antares vending machine. For example, it will be possible to provide point-of sale advertising, which will enable operators to charge suppliers for advertising. In short, the supplier will in effect subsidize the cost of the information system.

Building a Better Website for your Vending Business

Internet commerce is evolving rapidly. It is important for your Antares vending business website to be able to attract and retain online visitors. This means that your website must be easy to locate, aesthetically pleasing, logical to navigate, entertaining and informative. The fact that a number of vending operators have migrated to the Web, underscores the need for benchmarking “best practices”

Basic best practices

A website would be deemed more effective if it avoids clutter, restricts extraneous and irrelevant content, and minimizes download time. As some vending companies strive to solidify one to one customer relationships through invigorated marketing programs, websites are beginning to play a central role. You need to create the most efficient site for your Antares vending business. Here are some commonly accepted website operating principles.

Eliminate time sensitive material

Remove dates from all Web pages, unless dates are to be routinely changed as content changes. There is probably little else that informs a visitor of website neglect than a “Last updated” tag that is beyond 2 to 4 weeks old.

No room for clutter

Do not think of the website for your Antares business as a hypertext table of contents. This is what makes surfers most frustrated. Websites are usually poorly organized, cluttered and illogical in content presentation due to a concentration on hyper linking.

Visit counters serve no purpose

Remove all counters at the website. Low frequency indicates a potential problem to those visiting the site. Being the 106^th visitor and returning several weeks later to find that you are the 108^th visitor. This shows that there is no interest in the website.

Easy to remember URL address

You need to have an easy to remember URL for your Antares vending business. There are a number of websites employing unappealing color schemes, small or hard to decipher fonts and long download times. This is all very disappointing.

The Antares vending company website would probably be designed, developed, financed and maintained by the operator or a contracted agent.

Truck Buying for Vendors

As your Antares vending operation grows, you will ultimately face the need to upgrade your delivery vehicle. With gasoline prices rising, fuel economy has become a bigger issue. This concern does not appear to have impacted the type of vehicles most operators plan to buy, according to a survey that was conducted. Most operators expect to buy medium duty, commercial vehicles built by the leading U.S truck manufacturers.

Ease of loading

This has emerged as a more important issue in recent past years as 20-ounce bottles have grabbed a bigger share of the cold drink business, when vending operators were asked about the type of commercial vehicle they prefer, most operators said walk-in vans or utility vans. You need to find the right truck for your Antares vending business. Since you will be transporting both beverages and snacks, you need to find the appropriate truck. To avoid a lot of complications when loading and unloading the truck, you can opt for a dedicated truck for transporting only the beverages and a truck for the transportation of the snacks.

Refrigerated trucks are typically used for transporting perishable products, which comprise a small but important percentage of vendible items. Antares operators do not need refrigeration units to transport perishable products, they can use portable coolers. The only group of operators that reported using refrigerated trucks was the extra large operators. These are the operators that earn $10 million or more in annual sales. Most vending operations would use coolers as opposed to a small group who would use refrigerated trucks for the transportation of their vending products. There is a group of operators that use both coolers and refrigerated trucks for their vending operations.

Buying preferred over leasing

A buying intention survey that was conducted some time ago reported that operators preferred buying to leasing. Gasoline was overwhelmingly favored over diesel engines. Some operators preferred to use both diesel and gasoline engines. If you want to buy a truck for your Antares vending operation, it will all depend on how much capital you have. If you are on a tight budget, then it might just e advisable for you to lease a truck instead of buying one.