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Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report – Intelligent Vending Technology in the U.S.: Reinventing an Industry
- About half of all US vending machines now accept cashless electronic payments
- For the majority of the last decade, only one-third of all vending machines accepted cashless payment
- Conversion of cash based machines to cash & electronic drives sales lift between 10% and 35% per machine
- Low performing machines stand to benefit most from cashless: those with under $2,000 annual sales saw 110% growth over 18 months
- Vending machine sales are losing out to QSRs and delivery services, but they still have the advantage in two scenarios:
- Unplanned purchases when time is limited
- Purchases in restricted areas where delivery is not possible
About the report
Electronic payments moving vending machines out of the gumball era. Roughly half the vending machines in the United States are still cash-based, a commentary on the industry’s slowly modernizing technology. The technology gap extends far beyond payments, however, lagging in user interfaces, machine management, inventory management, merchandising, etc. Exciting technologies and applications are available for vending machines. The question is whether they will be deployed in time to grow the industry or whether some surprising competition will present itself that is better positioned for success.
