One of the benefits of a national vending program is the ability to generate ancillary revenue from the vending machines at all your properties. In aggregate, this can be a significant source of extra income for your business and add to the bottom line. The amount of commissions each machine generates varies depending on a variety of factors, but nevertheless the extra revenue is just that—extra cash for your company.
However, when reviewing your quarterly commission statement you might come across a sudden drop in vending revenue for a certain machine or several of them. If you're seeing this on your statement, here are three possible reasons for the decrease.
1. Seasonality
Vending machine revenue is generally up during the Spring and Summer months. The reason for this is obvious: it's hot outside and people drink more to stay cool and quench their thirst. But once those colder months hit, sales can tank significantly. Especially if the vending machine is near a pool area. That said, the lower the sales the lower your revenue will be.
2. The Machine is Inaccessible
The amount of vending revenue you receive is directly impacted by how many people use the machine. From a vending management perspective, if you're looking at a recent report of dozens of vending machines, and a few are suddenly much lower, it could be because the equipment was moved to a different location on site, far away or hidden from the usual foot traffic it used to get. This could be due to renovations or some other reason determined by the local manager.
3. Service problems
A vending machine that's not working properly won't yield much revenue. A sudden drop in commissions could be a result of equipment that needs repair, which is a good reason to ensure all property managers are aware of the vending program in place so they can inform the correct entity to have the machine repaired.
