Retail Vending Technologies

Vending machines are much more versatile than they were in the past. With new technologies that are becoming more widespread and compact, vending services are evolving from traditional snack and drink vending with coin payment systems to sophisticated POS, or point of sale, systems and retail vending machines that create new interaction, marketing and sales opportunities for businesses. This is especially true in the retail industry, where traditional brick-and-mortar stores are trying to find more ways to connect with digitally-connected customers and online e-commerce sites are attempting to create physical footprints and ways to interact with customers in tangible ways.

A technology that is helping this process along is the use of QR, short for Quick Response, codes. These matrix bar-codes can already be found on anything from business cards to billboards and even on the packages of many items sold in vending machines. For retailers, these QR code vending machines give consumers with smart-phones an easy opportunity to connect with their websites, send text messages to enter contests, or even contact vending machine operators about service issues or questions.

By scanning the code with their phones, customers are immediately directed to take an action with their phone and these actions are often simple and very valuable to businesses. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, as a vending machine manufacturer is always looking for new and innovative ways to incorporate these technologies to help your vending business.

Freshly Fried French Fry Machine

The sight or smell of french fries for most people starts their mouths salivating at the thought of the warm, salty, fried taste of these pieces of potato perfection. A custom vending machine manufacturer in Belgium has designed Belgium’s first frite, or French fry, vending machine that uses beef fat to fry the fries.

For €2.50, french fry fans can enjoy a hot, freshly fried cup of frites that are served with a fork, salt and your choice of ketchup or mayonnaise. While this isn’t the first machine to manufacture fries for customers on the go, this is the first one that uses beef tallow to create what many fry fanatics claim is ingredient that creates the most delicious french fries. Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, and most of you are probably thinking the same thing, wouldn’t mind one of these in our offices!

Belgium is the historical birthplace of this world-wide snack phenomenon and claims to produce the best fries anywhere in the world. A Belgian journalist claimed that a family manuscript from 1781 describes consuming deep-fried potatoes prior to 1680. Since then, fries have become a staple for fast food restaurants and the ideal pair for many traditional and favorite dishes of diners around the globe.

Even in the US, french fries have a lengthy history with records of Thomas Jefferson enjoying “potatoes served in the French manner” at the White House in 1802.

New Report Examines the Life of a Vending Machine

Intelligent Dispensing SolutionsNo matter what you do or where you live, chances are you use a vending machine multiple times a week (or even multiple times a day!). While we all love our respective vending units, chances are we don’t often think about the creation and general lifecycles or how long of these vending machines that we depend on almost daily last. With this in mind, the folks over at The Motley Fool recently posted a new report titled “The Life of a Vending Machine,” which examines the resources that go into our favorite custom vending machines.

The article is accompanied by a video interview with Coinstar CEO Scott Di Valerio, which can be seen below. For those not in the know, Coinstar is one of the biggest names in the dispensing industry, as their coin-collecting machines have given way to the Redbox and Rubi devices that are used by customers everywhere. The interview provides valuable insight on the ever-changing nature of retail, and how the initially high investment of custom vending machines can eventually give way to big profits in today’s market.

If you’re feeling inspired by Coinstar’s success, why not start your own story? Our vending machine manufacturers are ready to build a product that will take your business to new heights. Talk to us today.

Touch Screen vs Keypads for Custom Vending Machines

While there was once a time when the classic 10-digit keypad was the only means of making an order on a vending machine. However, thanks to the vast advances being made in the world of custom vending machines, customers enjoy a variety of transaction methods, between credit card receptacles and futuristic touch screens. If you’re torn between which type of interface to use for your customer base, consider the pros and cons of each:

Touch Screen: By utilizing a touch screen on your smart supply vending machine, you will instant lure in customers who live for the latest technology. After all, who doesn’t want to use the shiniest new device on the block? Not only do touch screens look fancy, but they can put more product selections than ever right at the fingertips of your consumers.

Keypad: While touch screens ooze innovation, few things are as reliable as the classics. While touch screens can be easily damaged or destroyed, a keypad is likely to stand the test of time in the long run.

At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong way to represent your vending product. Thanks to Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, your custom vending machine will be an industry-leading product no matter what accessories it runs on!

Want a Pepsi? All You Need is to Dish Out a ‘Like’

Intelligent Dispensing SolutionsIn today’s ever-evolving age of custom vending machines, there are more and more ways consumers can pay for their favorite snacks and beverages. You probably know by now that you can snag a cola with cash, credit cards, and soon your smartphone, but did you know that you can get refreshment just buy using Facebook? Pepsi seems to think it’s a good idea.

According to BostInno, a new Pepsi social media vending machine is giving out soda samples in exchange for simple Facebook ‘likes.’ Dubbed simply the “Like Machine,” the vending product works exactly how it sounds. All users need to do is access Facebook via either their smartphone or the machine’s built-in touch screen and “Like” Pepsi, which will prompt the machine to give them a fresh cola.

Pepsi tested out this new custom Facebook vending machine at a Beyonce concert in Belgium, and the fan reaction was overwhelmingly positive. After all, who doesn’t want free soda for using Facebook, something used daily by millions of people anyway? Not only does Pepsi’s “Like Machine” represent an excellent marketing strategy, it shows just how advanced the creations of modern vending machine manufacturers have become.

You can see the machine in action below. Would you like to see more integration between social media and the world of vending?

Getting Creative with Retail This Summer

Intelligent Dispensing SolutionsIf you operate any type of retail business, you know by now that summer is one of the hottest sales seasons of the year, whether you sell clothing or technology. Whether you have a large stand-alone store or are part of a mall, chances are your establishment is going to get flooded as people gain more free time to hit the streets and shop. And while this is certainly a good problem to have, you might find yourself overwhelmed by a high volume of customers if you aren’t properly staffed or equipped.

Fortunately, using a automated retail vending machine this summer can solve many of your retail woes during busy season, as it automates a whole range of tasks that you probably thought only a human can do. Short-staffed? A retail machine can serve as an extra checkout center so that your employees can spend more time providing face-to-face service to your client base. If you want to shorten store hours and enjoy some much-needed summer relaxation, a custom vending machine can sell your goods long after you have locked up for the night. You’ll likely see your shrink decrease significantly once you go custom, as the products built by Intelligent Dispensing Solutions are built with maximum security in mind.

Social Vending Machines: The Trend is Here to Stay

We’ve previously highlighted vending machines that incorporate the world’s ever-popular social media options, and it seems like the trend is here to stay. While vending devices have been long standing favorites when it comes to refreshment, technology has evolved to allow them to become modern, computerized products that keep up with today’s fast paced world. As such, it’s only natural that more and more custom vending machines are going to pop up that bridge the gap between social media and classic convenience.

According to Vending Times, Gigigo Mobile Services plans on unveiling their new social media vending machine platform at the CTIA trade show next week. This new technology is meant to allow machines to interact with brands via social networks, much like a previous Pepsi promotion that allowed customers to send tweets in exchange for sodas.

Social vending is just one of the many exciting trends coming to the industry. While vending machines have always thrived on convenience, they can now be considered a consumer’s best friends. Our machines are getting to know us, and can tap into the things we care deeply about.

If you’re feeling inspired and want to provide this convenience to your own customers, visit Intelligent Dispensing Solutions today. Our custom vending machines are built specifically to your needs, no matter how futuristic.

Book Vending Machines Continue to Pop Up

We previously highlighted the Bibli-O-Mat vending machine in Canada, and it seems that even more book vending machines are popping up all over. Reading is a universally-loved hobby, and it seems like custom vending machines full of books are here to stay.

According to TribLive, a machine at a Pittsburgh YMCA dispenses books and DVDs from a nearby public library. The Northland Public Library uses the machine as a means of expanding their reach, allowing them to do business in a place that attracts customers from all over town.

“I think libraries are really striving to meet people where they are,” said Susan Herman, who uses the machine to find books to read to her two children. Northland is the busiest library in the area, and by extending their business to a popular YMCA they have even more potential for success.

We love hearing unique vending stories such as this one from Pittsburgh. Are you looking to be the next one? Thanks to the vending machine manufacturers at Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, you can turn any of your vending visions into a real machine that does real business. From selling merchandise after store hours to protecting valuable products, we can make the perfect machine for your company.

Vending Machines Could Be Mobile Payment Catalyst

As futuristic as the idea of mobile payments are, people perform them every single day. With mobile apps available for everything from Wal-Mart to Amazon.com, more and more products are becoming available to us at the click of a virtual button on the touchscreens of our smartphones. And while our cell phones haven’t replaced cash or credit cards as one of the primary ways to pay for goods, Mobile Payments Today believes vending machine transactions could help ignite the trend.

According to the report, local or office vending machines can have a significant effect on customer habits. USA Technologies SVP Mike Lawlor chimed in on the industry’s potential, stating “(Vending) is an everyday, everywhere part of your life, and because of that, it is a catalyst for consumer change in behavior.”

In addition to vending products being frequently used by everyday people, modern day custom vending machines encourage new-age payment methods. Companies such as Pepsico have encouraged users to use Twitter in exchange for a drink, and the Coca-Cola brand is currently testing mobile payment methods in Austin, Texas.

If any single product could bring mobile payment to the forefront, it is the custom vending machine. If you are a vending machine operator looking to be at the forefront of the growing trend, Intelligent Dispensing Solutions can certainly help you implement a cell phone vending machine payment method!

French Man Robotically “Reaches” Into Vending Machines

Intelligent Dispensing SolutionsEver wish you had a slippery, slim extra arm that could slide inside a vending machine from the bottom and grab your favorite snack for you? A creative French inventor was likely thinking along those lines when he created a robot that can sneak inside of a vending product and grab whatever it likes.

According to the Huffington Post, the man is no thief, just someone who built a very expensive robotic concept that has the potential to infiltrate the office vending machines of the world. As shown in his video below, the robot can go inside of a vending machine, invert itself, and grab a drink before coming back down. We don’t think vending machine manufacturers have anything to fear when it comes to this robot going public, but it is a nifty innovation that could serve a more productive purpose someday, such as remote machine maintenance.

Even if robots do someday take over the vending machine business, you will never have to worry about theft when working with Intelligent Dispensing Solutions. Our state-of-the-art custom vending machines are specifically designed with loss prevention in mind, so even the craftiest of would-be vending thieves will be hard pressed to take away any of your product.