Vending Blog #2

[Uncle Sam]

Much has been said and published about the gross sales per month of vending products at a wash whether from drop shelves or from the newer computer-based vending machines. In order to prioritize decisions about what new technology or equipment to invest in at a store site, one should know what each major sales component of the wash store contributes to the bottom line, i.e. bays, vacs, vending, shampoo, mat cleaning, etc.

We are going to confine ourselves here to the vending component of the total store sales. There have been posts on the Forum stating that vending sales from drop shelves as a percentage of total store sales are in the 8-9% range depending on how many drop shelf units are installed and where they are located. Experience has proven that the more drop shelf units one has installed, the higher the total vending sales. Unless these sales are compared to the total store sales, how does one know that the total investment in drop shelf units (especially electronic drop shelves) really contribute much to the bottom line?

The proponents of computer-controlled, see-thru window vending machines have always claimed that the increase in total sales from these machines should be 200-400%; this number has been pretty reliable for those that have made the investment in the new technology. The big concern for these new vending machines has been security in the car wash environment (not that drop shelves don’t have their security issues). New security designs for the machines and video surveillance have made these security issues go away.

We have just received numbers from an operator that has our vendors installed on 3 different store sites that we consider high sales volume stores. Two stores have decreased vending sales (-18% and -14%) and one store had increased sales (+11). Same stores sales were -11%, -6%, and +19%. Translating these numbers into vending sales versus total store sales as a percentage are 14.5%, 9.2%, and 11.8%. Profit margins for vending are 60%+ for this operator

There is good money to be made in vending; one just has to make the proper investments in equipment.

Uncle Sam

 

[Doug P.]

I purchased 10 3 column & 5 - 5 column electronic drop shelfs last year and spread them around to 8 different locations. I had a few mechanical drop shelf vendors left and I finally retired them. I have three vendmasters from DH and 2 D&S 5 column electronic vendors along with these new electronic drop shelves.
I have been very disapointed with the revenue from my new electronic drop shelves. They have been extremely reliable, no jams or misfires they just sit there and work. Most are mounted near a changer but the last 2 I installed I installed at a vac island. It seems that my inbay bill accepters and credit card acceptance have taken a toll on vendors mounted near the bill changer.
My vendmasters are reliable as far as accepting money and making the spiral turn but it is a constant struggle to make most items drop consistantly. My next purchase will probably be a shurvend.
People may still have a bad taste in their mouth from the mechanical drop shelf vendors and just assume they may lose their money in the electronic models since they look so much alike.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Doug,

Regarding your quote "but the last 2 I installed I installed at a vac island." Do these electronic drop shelves do better sales than the others even though they are not near a bill changer? Or do you have another changer near the vacs?

Uncle Sam

 

[Doug P.]

One of these units is a 5 column little tree electronic vendor the other one is a three column that sells wet towels, armorall sponges, and dry towels(paper). The 5 column is doing Ok but the 3 column is very slow. I removed two fragramatics fragrance machines and put these vendors in their place. I have never had very good results with the fragrance machines and they have required a lot of upkeep over the years. This location does not have in bay bill acceptors yet and I have a five column in wall d&s vending machines next to the changers.

 

[Doug P.]

The nearest changer is about 50 ft. away.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Doug,

The distance to the changer can be a problem when you want to encourage "impulse purchases". The "impulse" goes away if a customer has to walk very far to get change to make a purchase. You just have to make it easy for them to spend money.

Uncle Sam

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Uncle Sam can you develope a vendor that can vend (5-10) items back to back and be water proof.
I was thinking about installing a vendor in my wall dividing the bays and have the coins drop into the main safe, with bills and credit card acceptor.
Have one vender that can vend items (5-10 items) in each bay.
I've found that my vending sales have declined since I put in credit card machines and bill acceptors in each bay.
Customers aren't using the dollar bill changers as much.
Maybe call it the quarter pint vendor.
Just a thought.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Mustang,

The best I can offer you is our small 18 selection vendor. It is too big to go into a bay wall. There are already 5 column drop shelf units in the market, but they still use quarters. We can put this small vendor into a secure kiosk type unit and install it in your vac area where vending needs to be for high sales volume.

Here are some questions that came to me after reading your post:
1. Your bill changer is being used less (which is logical)because you have bill and credit cards in your meter lids. I think that is what you wanted.
2. If you put vending units in the bays (even if they could be waterproofed) you would tie up your bays and cut down on the turnover rate in washing cars.
3. What I think you want is to get the car out of the bay and into your vac area where the customer has time to vac and use vending items to clean their can completely. See article on this forum: http://www.autocareforum.com/vending.html

As you can infer in Doug's posts above, as long as operators continue to use drop shelf units that are tied to quarters, these units have to be close to a changer for high sales. The customer will not walk very far to get quarters to buy vending products. And if you want to use credit cards in the vendor, you have to go with the computer-controlled vendor.

A new technology vendor in the vac area is the only way to go for high vending sales volumn. A bill changer and a vending unit are no longer tied together no matter what anyone says!!

Uncle Sam

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Here are some questions that came to me after reading your post:
1. Your bill changer is being used less (which is logical)because you have bill and credit cards in your meter lids. I think that is what you wanted.
2. If you put vending units in the bays (even if they could be waterproofed) you would tie up your bays and cut down on the turnover rate in washing cars.
3. What I think you want is to get the car out of the bay and into your vac area where the customer has time to vac and use vending items to clean their can completely. See article on this forum: http://www.autocareforum.com/vending.html

Uncle Sam I agree with you about vending at the vac islands.
The problem I have at the vac islands is that I don't have the ability to have credit cards accepted there.
I was just thinking that if you had most of your customer purchases at one location (bay) with their ability to use their credit card/bills I might be able to increase my dollars per car because a large percentage of customers don't use the vacs.
Maybe installing a smaller type vendor in the brick columns that divides the walls facing the entrance to the bays might work better.
That way customers entering the bays and those using the vacs would be able to see them and the coins could still be able to fall into the safes.

 

[MEP001]

The problem I have at the vac islands is that I don't have the ability to have credit cards accepted there.

This shouldn't be a real problem - credit card systems use either a phone line or a network cable, either of which can be done wirelessly for around $50 worth of hardware you can find at most electronics stores.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

The time I bought my system from Wash Gear I talked to them about adding acceptors to my vacs and they said they weren't to happy with wireless and they said the cost of adding credit card acceptors to each vac just wasn't worth the cost.
I was/am very happy that they were so honest in their opinion since I was thinking about adding them on when I bought Wash Gear 3-4 years ago and they talked me out of buying more than I needed.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Mustang,

I tried to get David @ Wash Gear to do the interface between my MDB system and their credit card for a couple of years now, but it has not been done. As MEP said putting a credit card out in the vac area can be done with a ShurVend machine either by wireless cell phone or an ethernet connection tied into a router if you have a computer that is hooked up to the internet. You can also have a bill validator and coin/token acceptance.

Besides the overspray from the bay getting the vendor wet and causing customer discomfort, I don't think one can use the existing credit card in your meter lid to run a vendor. (That is if I understand your post correctly) I have a customer that has a vendor a the end of a bay and the water overspray is a constant problem.

Install a vendor out by the vacs with bill and coin acceptance and see if a credit card reader is really needed by your customers. The credit card can always be added later.

Uncle Sam