How come we can't get a vending machine for every location? It's one of the most common questions we get from customers in our vending management programs. If our agreement is to manage vending for all the properties in a company's portfolio, then every property should have vending, right? The answer isn't necessarily clear-cut. It's actually a bit of a gray area that involves a variety of factors.
Why Vending Companies Decline to Install a Vending MachineThe biggest reason a vending company will decide not to place a soda or snack machine somewhere is because of sales. Vending machines cost a lot of money, and it's even more to manage a route. So if there's not going to be enough people purchasing items, operators stand to lose money. The first question any operator will ask is how many people are at the location. If it's too low (below 40 employees), they will quickly turn it down.
But there are other factors that go into why some locations will get vending and others won't, such as the market. They're not all created equal. What works for vending companies in Ohio might not work in California.
State and local taxes are usually different.
The weather can be an issue if the vending machines will be outside.
Even the demographics of the area plays a role. An upscale high-rise building (despite having lots of people) might not yield a lot of sales in a vending machine, while a student housing facility location could do well.
Vending machine companies have to take all of this into account in order to make sure they will profit from placing a machine at a property. These differences between each market may result in some properties not qualifying for a vending machine.
We have a soda machine, why can't we get a snack machine?
It's the same concept whether we're talking soda machines or snack machines. However, soda always sells more. They also have a much longer shelf life compared to most snacks, so they can sit in the machine longer without expiring. A snack machine that gets hardly any use will only result in out of date products.
But our other property across town has vending machines. Why can't we have one?
Sometimes it's more than just the market. When installing a vending machine, suppliers take into account everything that would have an effect on the equipment. For example, what kind of other businesses are in the area?
If your location is within a short walking distance from a gas station, convenience store, or some other option that employees or residents can choose over a vending machine, it won't be a good place to install the machine. Everyone will decide to go to the store where they will have more variety to choose from.
From our perspective, we get to see a birds-eye view of all the different markets and territories within the vending industry on a national scale. Operators have to take a lot into consideration when deciding to install a vending machine somewhere, and those factors may vary depending on their market.