Entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized businesses look for different ways to attract more traffic and generate sales. Their main aim is to reach the breakthrough point at the earliest and gain a higher gross turnover. Any physical business, be it a retail shop, a new cafeteria, or a small-scale IT office, uses different ways to satisfy the users/employees and keep them sated.
And one of the best ways to achieve this goal is by installing a vending machine within the premise. Vending machine business owners earn a handsome amount every year by installing a snack machine for hundreds of people in profitable locations like amusement parks, industrial parks, office buildings, train stations, or even a public library. The vending machine industry has immense growth capacity and is estimated to reach $27 Billion by 2027.
If you are a business owner or a struggling business owner, the following article about vending machines will help you gain more clarity about this unique marketing method to increase sales. In the forthcoming discussion, we will discuss several vending machine location ideas, places where a vending machine plays an important role, its types, and several relevant facts. You can also read Benefits of Using Vending Machines in Your Work Place
What is a vending machine?
Before going forward with our main discussion about the top vending machine locations, it will be best to learn what this machine is in reality!
A vending machine is quite extensive and comes with multiple rows and column pockets. Each column is filled with a particular food item, mainly dry foods, and small juice pouches. Based on the type of vending machine, its operation will vary. But the overall function remains the same. There are various vending machine suppliers in the market that can help you get a ground-breaking smart healthy vending machine.
Users will enter a note or coin based on the value of the item they want to get. Once the machine accepts the money, you will have to make a selection. These selections are based on the alpha-numeric combinations dedicated to every column in each row.
After the choice is made, the vending machine will produce the concerned item you can collect from the below counter integrated into the machine’s body. Most vending machine business owners put out healthy options and follow vending laws to fully optimize such perfect opportunity. The average vending machine cost can lie anywhere between 1500−1500−1500−1500−10,00, depending upon the items.
Benefits of installing a vending machine
- Financially efficient cost
Believe it or not, having a vending machine installed within your business premise will reduce the overhead cost by a considerable limit. Vending machines are self-operable. Hence, you won’t have to hire a special employee, which will further reduce your total expenses. Brands involved in the vending machine business have seen a jump in their sales after installing a quality vending machine that requires no human vending operator.
- Easy management
Vending machines are very easy to manage as you won’t have to clean them regularly or repair them frequently. The only thing you have to take care of is restocking the machines and collecting the money. The vending property owner has to select an ideal location for vending to accelerate its profits. Most vending machine manufacturers take this as a priority to simplify the process of vending.
- No time restrictions for having a snack
If we consider vending services inside a business/office premise, it’s clear that no employee will ever have to deal with restrictions on having a snack. As the vending machines are either placed in canteens or on the respective floors, they will have easy access to small food and beverage items. You can set up healthy vending machines on the premises to provide healthier options for employees.
- Engages customers in food businesses
If you run a food business like a grocery store, a cafeteria, or a restaurant, placing the vending machines will help you a lot. It will keep your customers engaged until the food arrives or their orders are delivered successfully.
- Increases the sales dramatically
Another significant advantage installing the product selection machines in one of the best vending locations will help you increase sales. You won’t have to spend extra time meeting the needs of your customers or employees. They will be able to buy their snacks without going outside. Many reports have claimed that the demand for vending machines in UAE is going to expand between 2020-2026. These stats have led to increased vending machine companies in Dubai and other parts of UAE.
Types of vending machines
Before learning about the top vending machine locations, you need to understand their types. Based on this knowledge, you will choose which particular machine type your business will need at the earliest.
- Beverage vending machines: Some machines will dispense only coffee while some are mainly for tea. However, you can also find a hybrid vending machine having options for both tea and coffee with milk and hot water as add-ons.
- Snack vending machines: These are loaded with small snack packets like biscuits, cookies, chocolates, chips, pringles, and several other food items.
- Drink vending machines: In these machines, you can stock juice pouches, small bottles, soda cans, and other such drinks, which can be dispensed easily without spilling the liquid.
- Chocolate vending machines: These are ideal for any business place, be it a commercial shop or an office building. You can stock it with various types of chocolates, starting from choco biscuits to bars and candies.
- Elevator vending machines: In these machines, perishable foods are stored like pastries, cakes, sandwiches, burgers, and so on.
- Smart vending machines: From the name itself, you can understand that these machines have several advanced features like touch screens, digital payment options, and so on.
Profitable locations for placing a vending machine.
Since you are aware of the basic facts about the machine, it’s time to discuss the top 10 vending machine locations which will help increase your business traffic and sales.
Restaurants and cafes.
The first potential location for vending machines would be restaurants and the café. People coming into these food centers often have to wait for a long time after placing their orders. Sometimes, they are such an impulse buyer that they can’t even wait properly to get their food and leave empty-handed. This can create an awful impression on your business which is why installing a vending machine in one corner of your restaurant or café would be a wonderful idea.
If someone is in a rush, he or she can grab a quick snack and leave after paying. And those waiting at the tables for too long can also satiate their hunger by vending healthy snacks or a cup of coffee from Coffee vending machine.
Night clubs
Night clubs have a unique bar counter for alcohol and different types of drinks. But they wouldn’t serve with orange juice or caffeine or any snack. So, what if some of your guests become hungry and they can’t find proper food? Automatically they will leave the club and go to a diner to satisfy their growling stomachs. With the installation of a vending machine, you will easily help them with small snacks or other food items to leave the club only because they were hungry.
Residential complexes
It’s not common, but one can place a snacks or beverage vending machine in residential complexes. This way, people living in the apartments won’t have to visit the markets every time they have a snack list to buy. They can quickly come down and get their favorite food from the vending machine placed at the commonplace.
Office buildings
If you are thinking about profitable locations for vending machines in your office building, the canteen will be the ideal location. As canteens are accessible by everyone, placing a 24-vending machine will help you satisfy the employees and keep them onsite. They won’t have to go outside to buy food and waste their time commuting. However, if the office building is huge, you might have to place the machines on each floor.
Commercial motels and hotels
One of the best vending machine locations in the hotel or the motel. Any visitor can easily access the snacks and beverage services without actually looking for a store to buy them. This will help you make a remarkable impression on your guests and enhance your customer service and engagement.
Gyms and fitness centers
Every gym and fitness center must be equipped with 24-hour vending machines, especially the beverage and juice machines, as liquids are essential during exercises. Anyone can grab a quick soda can in between his exercise and quench his thirst before starting the fitness regime once again.
Factories and warehouses
Often people wonder how to find vending machine locations in factories and warehouses as these places are pretty big. If you want to place a vending machine in a factory, choose a place that is accessible to everyone and where one can relax and enjoy the snack or the juice. It can be the common room, outside the changing room, or in the canteen.
Supermarkets
Another amazing place where you will find the vending machines at several locations in the supermarket. Be it a grocery supermarket like Carrefour or an overall supermarket like the LuLu Hypermarket, vending machines are top-rated at such places. The supermarket owners can attend to more customers and reduce the costs with the help of vending machines as they don’t need any manual supervision.
Academic institutions
Recently, vending machines have been installed in colleges and universities so that students can grab a snack or a drink any time they want. This will reduce their efforts of going outside or to the canteen for buying food.
Malls and shopping centres
Lastly, you can find vending machines in the shopping malls where people can quickly satisfy their hunger without waiting in the food court queues. Moreover, it’s hard to find a shop where you can grab a quick bite snack or a juice carton and consume the food instantly. This is where the vending machines come to the rescue, allowing the people to quench their thirst or curb their hunger with light foods for the time being.
Conclusion
Most people consider a vending machine to be a financial add-on and space-consuming, so they ignore the need to install one. However, several studies and case scenarios have delineated the benefits of a vending machine for any business. We have presented the top 10 locations where you can place the vending machines along with their importance. In addition, we have explained the types of vending machines which will help you get the best one for your business/office space.
Awafi Vending LLC is grateful to be an exclusive vending machine supplier in Dubai, UAE. We are the producer and our gourmet coffees, teas, coffee machines, coffee basics, training, installation, repair, and helpful staff make sure you run a successful business. To know more in detail please contact us.
