Whether deciding to add a banknote recycler or to go cashless or to integrate some combination of payment accepting devices, we are typically asked the same question: What criteria do you use to determine what payment device to invest in and when?

We usually respond with  with three or four criteria such as vend price, but the one thing that we always include is location. The specific location of your vending machine is a critical element in the equation because it affects what is being sold, the volume, the risk for vandalism, and what types of payment are most prevalent. Here are just a few examples: Read the rest of this entry »

Contactless payment in a wide range of self-service retail applications is catching on, but how quickly? A representative of USA Technologies recently predicted contactless dominance in all retail venues, including vending, within just two years. That’s a pretty big statement, considering that the majority of cards in people’s wallets today have a mag stripe…and those people are not yet familiar with tapping. It has taken Americans over a decade to really embrace “swiping” and feel comfortable with the security of this type of payment method. We think a safer bet is the growth of contactless mobile payment, especially considering the fact that most people today carry a mobile device. This is where the opportunity for contactless payment growth lies, yet even so, it may be still too early to make any certain predictions. Read the rest of this entry »

Customers often ask us about the criteria for selecting new payment options such as cashless and cash recycling technology. It really comes down to assessing the following three things:

1) Vend price – the higher the vend price, the more important it is that the machine accept cashless payments or include recycling technology that can accept high denomination bills.

2) Location – the more transient the customer base (eg: airports and theme parks) the more important it is that the machine accept cashless payments or include recycling technology.

3) Clientele – The more customers who don’t have the ability to carry wallets, the more important it is that the machine accept alternate payment methods.

To hear more on this topic, tune in to VendingMarketWatch.com’s latest AudioConnect podcast, “MEI’s Bob Martin Examines Vending Payment Options”  or Ask the Experts here at MEI.

We recently got the above question from an operator, and so I wanted to share my response with the industry…

You have to begin by enabling Dex in your machines.  A few companies including MEI offer a retrofit box, costing $200-$300. Once you’ve done that, you’ve got to understand what alarms your machines can send out.  Not every vending machine throws out alarms, and many such as snack machines throw out very few alarms.  Typically machines with compressors for cold or frozen applications throw off the important alarms related to whether the compressor stopped working.

Curbside polling can tell you what the machine needs but that requires an investment in software to take the sales data from the machine and compare it to what’s in the machine by spiral to know what to bring in.  Again, MEI has this software which we call EASITRAX.  

So you can see there is some preliminary work to do to get ‘set up’. We have experts to help you work thru that process so don’t feel that you would be expected to understand all this from the start.  To get started, tell me a little more about your business in terms of number of machines you service, are they primarily snack and soda, do you want to monitor all of them or just in certain locations, etc….

The technology in the vending community is expanding the ability for vending operators to enhance the user experience, deliver more payment options, keep machines running, and increase the efficiencies of operations.

Much of this new technology lies in the telemetry arena, enabling the use of credit cards and closed payment systems, along with alarm management and dynamic scheduling applications.  While there is a significant upside to having telemetry in your machines, until now, once you choose a vendor for dynamic scheduling or alarm management, you’re effectively locked in.

Read the rest of this entry »

An operator recently asked us what equipment he would need to monitor a 6 vending machine location. I wanted to share my response:

In order to remotely monitor 1 or more vending machines, you’ll need an MEI telemeter in each machine.  MEI is unique in only requiring 1 of the machines to use a cellular modem to call out with all the others networked to talk to the one machine calling out.  You can set the type of alarms you want to monitor and whether you want the machines to call out at a set time or as soon as an alarm is triggered.

Curbside polling, Pre-Kit forecasting, and Dynamic Scheduling each represent an attempt to automate the vending machine replenishment process in effort to increase efficiency, accuracy and profitability associated with machine replenishment activities. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone is going ‘green’ these days and vending customers are no exception.  They are looking for partners who can help their business move forward as a more responsible corporate citizen.  A vending operator can be a clear contributor to this ‘sustainability’ effort by incorporating telemetry technology into how they run their operations.  Read the rest of this entry »

When telemeters are first deployed, they are configured for a specific location/environment. When they move, they have to be re-configured using a similar process. Read the rest of this entry »

I often get asked this question by vending operators, and the answer is “sometimes.” Read the rest of this entry »