V-Blog #43—A Year’s Experience and Observations on Multi-Vend Vendors

[Uncle Sam]

This is my first Blog in over a year and I want to share some ideas and observations made as I traveled and studied the way Multi-Vend profit centers were used on car wash sites. Multi-Vends, glass-fronts, and window style vendors are all the different descriptions used for the same machine; a new computer-operated vendor with a window now in use at many car washes. I will use the Multi-Vendor term in this discussion. Most operators that use multi-vendors have them installed in locations where they don’t give themselves a very good opportunity to achieve high vending revenue. Whether the location chosen was the idea of the operator or some other professional who was involved in the vendor sale is unknown to me unless it is a ShurVend machine. Even then very few purchasers asked us where the vendor should be installed. Here are my observations and comments about these locations.

1. Multi-vendors are located near the bill changer, usually in front of the equipment room, because that is where the old drop shelf vendors were located, it is very public for vendor security reasons, and the operator thinks their customers will go there as they always have. If the vacuum islands are in front of the wash site, this might make sense, but most vacuum islands are in the back or side of the wash site which means the multi-vendor is out of sight of the vacuum islands where the customer spends most of their unmetered time and may have the impulse to buy vending products. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"!!!! Car wash customers will not walk very far to buy any impulse item.

2. Multi-vendors are built into the wall for security and/or weather reasons; again near the bill changer in front of the equipment room. The multi-vendor in the wall has a low silhouette and can not be seen easily from anywhere but directly in front. If the vacuum islands are in back of the wash site, the in-the-wall vendor is completely out of sight which kills most

Cont'd

 

[Uncle Sam]

impulse buying.

3. Multi-vendors are sometimes installed in recessed areas or alcoves with roll down doors that are locked during the hours the wash is closed. This is very popular in the Exterior Express wash model with free vacuums. Again the alcove where the multi-vendor is available to the customer is 50-100 feet away from the free vacuum area. Not many impulse sales there. In an extreme case I have even seen a multi-vendor installed in the ante-room to the rest room area on a new EE where the door to the ante-room is closed. This was the idea of the operator for the security of the vendor; then the operator wonders why his vending sales are so poor.

In the above examples I gave you my observations on what NOT to do with a multi-vendor installation if you want to achieve a good return on your vendor investment. Operators have preconceived ideas about vending or are very concerned about the security of the vendor, so they install it in a wall where they have room or place it in plain sight of the public. These locations are not optimum places for a high sales volume multi-vendor.

Uncle Sam

 

[Buzzie8]

Sometimes (most times) you need to locate vending where it will fit and still be functional. If I could afford the expense or the space to put a vending machine in each of my bays and additional vending machines near all of my vacs I would do it and I am assuming this is where you think they should be strategically placed. Being that I can't do that, I put one centrally located, near my changer, and put signage everywhere else that states many of the items that are located in my vending machine.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Buzzie8,

I would never ask anyone or recommend that any kind of vendor be put in the bays or near every vac on the site. With a multi-vendor we recommend that an operator install one at the end of a vacuum island near the center of the vacuum island grouping. It is readily visible there and would service 8-10 vacs.

If you are happy with your vendor where it is, so be it. The signage is good to help people find the vendor. All I am saying is that the multi-vendor doesn't need to be near the bill changer to function.

Uncle Sam