Vision Vendors

[dbrown2508]

I can't justify the $5k to $10k that it seems like it would take to put a vision vendor into my place. So I'm looking at something I thik I might be able to use as a poor man's version - a vending machine with multiple compartments, which looks like it may vend some supply items (google an Office Deli machine - and may use the deli part to vend laundry supplies instead of the crappy food they try to vend).

That said, do those who have vision vendors find significantly more sales than if it was sold through your attendant? Not sure if I can justify this just from the unattended times. As well, I already have a Vend-Rite soap vendor, and a Coke machine.

[Adamski]

Doug,

I have never offered the larger containers of detergents, bleach, etc over the counter so I have no idea what sales would be that way.

I've had my Vision dual vender about 6 months now. I'm still playing with it ... trying to see what products people want and what they don't want. For example: I'll be eliminating the Monster energy drink soon and replacing that with a lemonade drink.

I'm currently selling about 5 products in the 32 load size bottle (50 oz) but I'm going to reduce that to 3 products soon. I find I can buy Era, Tide and Arm & Hammer in that size On Sale on a fairly regular basis. So I just stock up when it's On Sale and I don't buy it when it's not. By doing this, I can sell it for near the same price as the Dollar stores.

The vender is an interesting focal point for customers with its conveyers and elevators and it works well. The other day we had an interesting situation where a customer selected a vend size box of Tide and the elevator went to that shelf but before the Tide could fall, the movement of the elevator caused enough vibration for a different product to fall into the elevator. The elevator senses when a product is in it and therefore stopped the Tide conveyer before that box could fall. So the customer ended up with the wrong product. That's the first time that happened that way.

If I had it to do over again, I'd buy the same Vision vender system.

[CanCanCase]

I don't have traditional OTC sales to compare against, but at #2, the 12-column Vend-Rite used to do about $300 per month. The commissioned snack/soda machines used to net me around $200-$300 per month, telling me they were grossing between $2K and $3K during the summers.

Now that the Visions are in, I see a steady $2500 (gross) per month PER VISION. At my vend prices, nearly half of that is net. To put it another way, without a huge change in overall revenue, the overhaul of the mat (which included Visions) has nearly doubled the vended sales.

Yeah, I'd buy them again... (and am.)

-Case