Author: Phil Masters

Phil Masters has witnessed and shaped the convenience services industry for over five decades. Since earning his associate's degree in Marketing in 1970, Phil has played a pivotal role at Vending.com and The Wittern Group, Vending.com’s parent company. He’s been a key contributor and leader in evolving vending solutions. His impact surpasses the typical roles associated with sales. He has pushed boundaries and embraced change by spearheading new stylings for Vending.com’s vending equipment line and pioneering corporate partnerships and branding campaigns with iconic companies like Harley Davidson, John Deere, General Motors, Ford, and others. Phil is fortunate to be a part of driving the success of Vending.com and looks forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2031. He’s thankful for the opportunities to introduce new programs and provide innovative and tailored solutions to help individuals and companies reach their vending goals and thrive in an ever-evolving market.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

The Dos of Coffee Vending

More and more customers recognize and appreciate quality coffee. That’s good news for those who own drink vending machines. An educated and enthusiastic clientele means a profitable business.

To ensure the best sales, always offer your customers the best products that you can afford in your coffee vending machine. In a recent survey, daily drink customers said that they know who their coffee comes from. Give them an excellent experience with quality brews and well-maintained machinery, and they will repay you with their loyalty.

The most profitable machines are those that offer specialty drinks. Over half of all respondents said that they’d consume more coffee from their office’s vending machine if they had options that included espresso and lattes.

And, don’t neglect your coffee customers other desires. In the afternoons, many customers prefer cold drinks to hot. One of the most requested options is cold bottled water. If you have space for a cold drink machine, your customers will enjoy having that option available to them during times when they would prefer a cold drink to a hot coffee. By recognizing opportunities to upsell, you can increase your profits while keeping your customers happy.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Mobile Apps to Help Your Vending Machine Business

Vending.com loves the following three apps for your vending machine business to help keep track of financials, inventory and more.. They each offer a different service that will be valuable to you in your day-to-day life:

Mint:
Mint.com, which was name one of TIME Magazine’s “Top 50 iPhone Apps” in 2011, is the perfect free mobile app for business owners on the go. Since your vending business keeps you out and about for hours each day, this app will help make your life a lot easier. The app allows you to set a financial budget for your vending machine business and enter transactions while on the go. You also can get real-time fund availability. In addition, in case you lose your phone, the app has a password to keep any unauthorized persons from viewing your financial information.

Evernote:
This handy app gives you the ability to instantly take notes on your mobile device no matter where you are. You can then easily access this information later. This app is ideal for making notes of vending machine inventory needs, writing yourself a daily to-do list or just jotting down your latest brainstorm for your business. Thanks to Evernote, you don’t have to worry about keeping a paper and pen handy at all times.

Dropbox:
This app is available on both mobile devices and tablets. It works by storing your business documents, photos, or videos to access on the go. Imagine being able to pull up all your vending machine business marketing materials on the app no matter where you are at the time. After all, potential clients are everywhere, so why shouldn’t your most impressive business information be as well.

Any of our recommended apps for vending machine businesses will help you take yours to the next level.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

3 Ways to Find the Perfect Vending Location

Whether you are new to the vending business or a veteran, you are likely open to suggestions on how to make your business more profitable. Since a huge part of a vending businesses success is the result of the machine’s location, learning where to put your vending machine is crucial. Read below for three tips from Vending.com on how to do just that:

Go where the people are:
As a vending machine owner, you want to find locations to put your vending machines where there is a great deal of foot traffic. Examples of such places include airports, malls or busy offices. It only stands to reason that the more people who walk by your machines each day, the better your sales will be.

Be the focus:
Although it is wise to put your vending machine where there is lots of foot traffic as listed above, you can also find success when placing your machine in a more subdued environment. Your machine will often times become a source of entertainment when people are bored. Great examples of these locations that are less busy yet highly profitable include doctors’ offices, nail salons, car repair centers or barber shops.

Don’t avoid competition:
Some vending machine owners do not want to place their machines near other peoples’ machines. However, that can be a mistake. If you place a well-stocked, attractive vending machine next to a machine that is poorly maintained or rarely stocked, you will end up doing well even with competition present.

By incorporating the three tips listed above and remembering to match the type of vending machine with your clientele, you can ensure you are placing your machine in the most profitable location possible. After all, just as in real estate, location, location, location is the means to success in the vending business.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Eco-Friendly Customers and Coffee

Vending.com has learned that what makes a cup of coffee delicious might depend on more than just the beans used and the coffee and hot beverage vending machine it’s made in. According to an article by the Los Angeles Times, a research team ran an experiment in which participants were presented two cups of coffee, one that was “eco-friendly” and one that was just a regular cup of coffee. What the participants did not know was that both cups of coffee were made from the same beans and in the same standard coffee maker.

While the phrase “eco-friendly vending machine” might not make all coffee consumers crave more environmentally conscious coffee, participants were also surveyed on various issues before the study and the results showed that the majority of participants that were concerned about the environment preferred the eco-friendly brew. Those same participants were also willing to pay about 25 percent more for a coffee they believed shared their views on the environment.

When it comes to coffee or drink vending machines, you might not need to change your product offering to continue to be successful, but this is a good example of how knowing your customers and what their preferences are can help your vending machines, eco-friendly or otherwise, become even more profitable.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Vending Machines Help “World Hello Day”

November 21st is World Hello Day. The goal of this holiday is to promote world peace by getting people to say hello to each other and break down the barriers that are created when we do not know someone else well enough. Introducing yourself, or even just saying “hello” to someone can create a positive and friendly atmosphere that will carry on throughout the entire day.

At Vending.com, we love this idea. People have always talked about “meeting at the water cooler” or the modern day equivalent, drink vending machine. To celebrate this holiday in your office, what places could you meet someone new or say “hello” to someone? Food and drinks are the perfect way to bring people together and casual settings like cafes, dining areas or vending machine areas function perfectly as social gather places.

We challenge you to use this entire week as a time to meet new people and create a more positive environment at your workplace just by saying hello and acknowledging the people around you. Who knows, you might meet a new best friend or learn something you would have never known!

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

November Activities, All in One Vending Machine!

November is a month of food, lots of food, and shopping thanks to retail calendar highlights such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Vending.com is here to help you keep your vending customers satisfied for both of these things.

Vending machines tie in both of these November pastimes in one place and at the same time! Vending machines are also much more than just a place to get a quick snack. With our food vending machines’s ability to vend cold and frozen food, there are also plenty of fresh and frozen options available to vending patrons that are looking for a quick Thanksgiving meal.

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending services, financing, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full-range of vending machines, financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Finding the Right Vending Machine Size

The snack vending machine size you choose depend on a lot of factors: the size of your location, the demands of your customers, the dimensions of door frames and spaces allotted to you, and even the amount you have to budget for new machines.

Vending.com has a wide variety of snack vending machines for sale that are able to fit the bill for any vending operator. In this blog, we will break down the benefits of a few of our vending machine sizes.

Our 12 Selection Machine is ideal for locations where space is limited but you still need the capacity and flexibility of a compact, professional vending machine.

Our most popular vending machine, the 23 Selection machine is perfect for nearly every vending location. This machine delivers a lot of value for a great price.

Our 47 Selection machine offers the largest capacity in the industry! The reconfigurable product selection spacing and auger timing make the vending possibilities of this machine limitless!

About Vending.com

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Vending Machine Industry Confidence Index

Vending MarketWatch recently released a new study of the vending industry, the Vending Operator Confidence Index. The aim of this index is to measure the confidence vending operators have in the industry and assign it a positive or negative value. In their first ever index, Vending Market Watch rated the vending industry confidence level at 136.00. The average is 100 so a reading over that indicates various levels of positive outlooks. 136 puts it at a cautiously optimist outlook for the vending industry.

This index will be conducted monthly and give industry members a view of how the overall industry is doing on a more regular basis. The vending industry usually relies on annual reports or smaller studies and the monthly delivery of this survey will certainly give some unique insights into the industry. Having monthly indexes will most likely cause a few unduly high or low points based on industry trends or developments, but it will hopefully draw attention to those developments as well.

With new developments occurring more and more frequently and new vending machines for sale hitting the market, having a way to keep tab on these technological advances and the overall trend of the industry will be very helpful.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Calorie Counts on Vending Machines

Sometime this year, the FDA will announce changes that affect those who own snack vending machines. Part of the Affordable Care Act requires that the calorie count of snacks be easily viewable by customers. This can be difficult for vending machine owners, since nutrition information on packages aren’t visible until the customer has made his or her purchase. Paper signs on older machines are impractical. Many snack machine operators plan to stay within the requirements of the law using digital displays. Lawmakers are taking comments from industry experts into consideration while penning the final requirements. They should be announced sometime this year; business owners will have one year after the announcement to get all of their machines into compliance.

One thing that can help is, as you add new snack and candy vending machines to your route, investing in those with digital displays that make it easy to adhere to the new law. Vending.com has a number of models that can work for you.

How do you expect the new law on vending machine nutrition information to affect your vending business? Do you feel it will be difficult for you to implement on your vending machines?

About Vending.com

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Vending Machines that Don’t Need to Be Restocked

As you expand your vending business, managing inventory gets more and more challenging. When looking at vending machines for sale, consider adding machines that provide services instead of goods and require no inventory.

A few examples of vending machines that require no inventory:

Massage chairs: Give customers the chance to pamper themselves for a few minutes during days shopping at the mall or walking through amusement parks.
Payphones: While mobile phones have largely made these anachronisms, there are still times that they come in handy. Do you have vending space in a place with poor cell phone service? Do you operate machines in an area where people are likely to leave their phones behind such a pool or water park? Your clients will be glad to have a payphone available.
Lockers: The Stuffit storage system is a great vending machine solution for venues that range from skate parks to gyms. Give your customers a safe place to stash their stuff while they enjoy their day out.

Vending.com has a vending machine for sale that fits your route and your business’s needs. Contact us today.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Unexpected Benefits of Drinking Coffee

When considering vending machines for sale, opting for a coffee vending machine will automatically be passing along an array of potential health benefits. More than two dozen of those benefits were outlined by Complex City Guide , including coffee’s ability to reduce the risk of various health conditions and diseases. Three health benefits of drinking coffee especially stand out as big pluses for office workers who would be likely to encounter drink vending machines serving coffee.

Work pain relief

Sitting at a computer all day can wreak havoc on the shoulders and neck, but a cup of coffee before work can help alleviate common pains of the typical office job. A 2012 study out of Norway found 40 percent of folks who drank coffee enjoyed a lower level of pain than those who skipped the Joe.

Lower blood pressure

Although the initial effect of coffee’s caffeine is to give your blood pressure a short-term boost, it can actually help lower blood pressure for the long term. France’s Preventative and Clinical Investigations Center found those who regularly drink coffee can enjoy significantly lowered blood pressure than those who don’t. It also noted regular coffee drinkers have blood vessels that are more elastic in nature, which helps decrease the chances of developing high blood pressure.

Cavity prevention

Any candy vending machine manufacturer may want to consider adding coffee vending machines to their lineup. Certain elements found in coffee may reduce the formation of plaque, such as an element known as the tannins. This compound is found in coffee beans and has been shown to halt the plaque formation process, stopping plaque buildup before it even starts.

While most drink vending machines aim to serve up a refreshing beverage, drinking coffee can be especially refreshing for its health benefits: its ability to alleviate pain, lower blood pressure and leave you with fewer trips to the dentist.

Benefits of Drinking Coffee Regularly — (source: happytoserveyou.com.au)

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Know Your Options – Vending Machine Financing

When you start looking at vending machines for sale, one thing that is a major hurdle in purchasing a machine you need or want is the cost. Luckily, there are a number of financing options available. This is especially good since snack and drink vending machines can be a great investment opportunity for many businesses—paying for themselves several times over in just a short amount of time.

Credit Card

If you have a credit card with a high limit, this can be a great option for paying for your machine. This is simple and will allow you to pay your normal credit card bill each month with no extra bills. However, the interest rates can sometimes be higher than other options.

Manufacturer Financing

Check with the vending machine manufacturer. It could be that they offer private financing or perhaps they work with another financing firm to give you options. Quite often, you can get a lower interest rate than you would pay with your credit card and there are flexible payment terms.

Concerns

Before you jump in and finance one machine or several, it is important that you look through your current financial situation and make sure you are not getting in over your head. Do you anticipate that your machines will bring in enough each month to pay your loan? If not, do you have a backup plan? Talk to someone who knows the vending machine industry in your area and get a better idea of what you can expect.

As you can see, finding financing for your vending machine investment may not be that difficult. Make certain you do your research and find a finance and payment plan that will serve you well now and in the future.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Improving Your Vending Machine Display

Your vending machine may seem like a “set it up and forget it” type of investment, but you need to give a little attention to the display if you want a large return on

investment. With the right vending display, you can even turn an old vending machine used at one time for out-dated products into a thriving, lucrative income generator. The key is to create an eye-catching display that will cause people to stop and take a closer look.

The goal for your snack machine display is to make it catch the eye of the passer by. Bright colors and images of favorite brands work well. If a brand you stock has a new packaging, use that to gather attention to your vending machine display.

Look for appealing images that will trigger a craving for what you sell. A soda can or bottle dripping with ice and water droplets will cause thirst on a hot day and increase people’s desire to buy a drink from your drink machine.

Make sure your vending machine display is not outdated. If it looks like the machine has been sitting untouched for years, your customers will be skeptical, and your chances of making a sale are low. Make changes regularly to increase interest and give customers variety, and you will see a greater return on your investment.

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending services, financing, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full range of vending machines, financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Stocking Your Vending Machines

Snack vending machines are often the subject of jokes, with disgruntled customers pounding on the machine in hopes that their purchased snack will fall. Yet if that vending machine is yours, the way in which you stock the snacks is crucial to your profits.

When people don’t get the snack they paid for, they will get upset, and may not use the vending machine again, in spite of any vend guarantee you provide. The next customer may get more than one item with just one purchase due to snacks stuck in the machine. This cuts into your profits. As a result, you need to ensure that you are stocking your vending machine correctly to avoid this problem.

As you do when stocking a drink vending machine, when stocking candy vending machines, take your time, and make sure all packages are facing forward. Tuck them into their respective slots, working from back to front, and ensure that every space is filled. Make sure the snacks you purchase are the right size for your snack machine to avoid stuck products. When you are finished stocking, test the vending machine to ensure it is properly dispensing each snack. This will put more money into your pocket and eliminate problems from unsatisfied customers.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

How to Get a Vending Machine License

The licenses and permits that you will need to operate soda or coffee vending machines, snack vending machines, or other machines will vary depending on the state and even county

where you live. Knowing how to get a vending license or permit and how much it costs are details to check into before you purchase machines so that you have them established before installation.

The Small Business Administration has a directory where you can find your state’s webpage for license requirements. If you are are unable to find the answer on your state’s site, call a local office of the SBA. Someone there will most likely be able to help you find the proper forms and information.

Having licensing and permitting in order before you install machines can save you expensive downtime or even fines later on. Licenses for drink vending machines and other types are generally inexpensive. In Alabama, for instance, the fee for a license is only $75 per year for a vending business that has revenue between $60,000 and $80,000. Other states have fees that are in the same range. Some do not require licensing at all.

Are you ready to start or expand your vending business? We have a vending machine for sale that fits your needs.

About Vending.com

Vending.com brings together a multitude of vending expertise through our circle of services. Everything you need to start, grow, or manage your vending business is provided through our easy online access. We provide vending machine financing, services, vending industry news, technical repair, parts and much more. Vending.com is one of the companies under the Wittern Group umbrella. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting your own vending machine business or expanding your current business, Vending.com offers you a full-range of vending machines, financing, location assistance and other services to meet all of your vending needs. As a full-line vending sales company we provide customers nationwide with the right equipment for their client’s location. Our large selection of snack, soda machines, hot beverage, cold and frozen food and other quality vending machines can be configured and customized to fit any size location from small businesses to large factories. Let our network of vending machine companies go to work for you.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Family Vending Business

A family vending machines business can be successful for new and existing business owners. However, it has advantages and disadvantages, and a succession plan is essential.

Advantages of a Family Vending Business

History of working toward common goals at home
Each person is committed to business and family success
Simple and effective organizational structure
Already know the strengths and weaknesses of coworkers

Disadvantages of a Family Vending Business

Lack of openness
Rivalry for leadership, rewards or recognition
Leading with emotions instead of business sense
Mixing personal and business interests
Less rigid about consequences for poor performance

Creating a Succession Plan

From the beginning of any family business venture or three years before a senior leader retires, a succession plan should be put into place. For success, businesses should make new leadership decisions based on talents, abilities, job performance and skills rather than seniority or sentiment. Then, new leaders should be trained to run all aspects of the company, from marketing and sales to bookkeeping and Human Resources.

Operating a family vending business with new and used vending machines for sale has both advantages and disadvantages. Understanding these factors in advance and creating a succession plan minimizes frustration and maximizes success.

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

Vending Help in No Time

Running a business is great, but at times, it can also be challenging, especially if you’re a sole proprietor. Having knowledgeable support at the touch of a button for your vending machine questions can go a long way toward improving your peace of mind and making running your business easier and more enjoyable.

Vending.com takes a lot of the stress out of owning and running a vending machine business by making sure they’re available to answer your questions and concerns about your business so you can maximize your profits and minimize your headaches.

Whether you’re a veteran owner of vending machines or if you’re just considering getting started in business, Vending.com can help you make difficult decisions and they can even suggest options you may never have considered.

What’s more, they make it easy to get connected with online live chat, via email or by calling toll-free: 1-855-727-8363. You can also stay in touch through social media by contacting us on Facebook or through Twitter.

The vending business can be challenging, but it can also be fun–and profitable. We’re here to help you run your vending business with fewer hassles, greater productivity, and success.

About Vending.com

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Phil Masters

How Much Could You Make in Vending?

Just how profitable are vending machines? How much money you can make with vending machines will depend on a number of factors. High traffic locations with a soda vending machine, a candy machine and a snack machine will make more than one or two bulk snack machines. Also, some items sell better in certain locales than others. When you see a vending machine for sale and wish to add it to your route, take time to learn about a location and how profitable it is.

Once you have a sense of how much traffic a spot has, use our online calculator to find out what that site will average over a period of a year.

And, don’t be afraid to sell premium products at high price points. Vending Consultants Co. did a study last year of vending machines with items that had profits of $1 or more each. They found that these items are attractive to customers and sell just as well as lower-margin items, meaning your vending machine drives more revenue over time. The next time you look at vending machines for sale, consider choosing those that can offer those premium items and see your income rise.

About Vending.com