Ways To Make Your Planet Antares Vending Machines Profitable

Purchasing a Planet Antares vending machine can imply that you will be investing in a profitable venture. When you plan to buy a vending machine, the price factor will determine the kind of vending machine you purchase. Amongst the most reasonable vending machines are Planet Antares snack and beverage vending machines. These are worth investing in because within a short period of time, you will be able to pay off the vending machine cost.

What’s more, these machines will hardly ever let you down because they are reliable and durable. In other words, these are the best machines that you can buy from the market. If you have good vending equipment, these will be frequently used by customers who will keep on coming back because they find the machine easy to use and reliable.

This means greater cash inflow for your business. You won’t have to think twice before spending money on quality vending machines as your money will be returned with even greater profits. Focus on buying quality vending machines that will never let you down and hardly ever experience any downtime. That will satisfy both the customers as well as location owners.

A vital factor for the success of your vending business is the location of vending machines. Choosing a location also depends on a number of factors. The kind of machine you have purchased as well as the products to be dispensed will determine the kind of location that you should go for.

Planet Antares snack and beverage vending machines will do well in all sorts of locations, especially high traffic locations. If you find a vending location that does not have a vending machine, don’t think that it is a great catch. Perhaps, it is not suitable for vending machines and that is the reason for no other vending machines being placed there. Take your time in searching for strategic locations that will be profitable for you.

It is equally important to service your vending machines on time. After setting up a vending business, you must monitor the product activity on a regular basis. As soon as the vending machine is empty of a product, it should be refilled. An empty machine is highly undesirable and indicated potential for loss of sales. So, you must practice preventive maintenance and keep your vending machine in top condition to make them profitable.

Value Pricing In Planet Antares Vending Business

The Planet Antares vending operator has now become empowered to track product turns with minimal labor with the help of management tools such as handheld devices and planograms. As a result, some of the operators are evaluating their pricing strategies.

Since a long time, Planet Antares vending operators have complained about not being able to raise prices to the same level as other retail channels. Generally, vending prices are determined by competition and by consumer contracts, not consumer needs. To improve profits as well as sales, a more scientific pricing strategy will be required. In the past, only a few operators have possessed the resources to track results in a manner that would provide them with the necessary information to do this.

Several theories have evolved ways to improve product pricing. One theory states that by discounting secondary products, operators can improve customer choices and they enhance customer satisfaction. It also states that if managers considered the suggestion, it would result in higher profitability.

Planet Antares vending operators are of the view that simplicity continues to be important in pricing, in terms of driver execution and sales accountability. They think that the benefits derived by strategic planning would be minimal in relation to the risks associated with more complicated pricing strategies.

In the current economic situation, it is a good time to experiment with value pricing due to many reason, such as:

1) Greater price consciousness among customer who pay a lot of attention to special offers.

2) Decline in location sales due to downsizing, making it the ideal time for buying less from established suppliers.

Looking At Route Commission Systems

Route commission systems are most suited in environments where the employee has a lot of control over the rate of production, based on his ability to work harder, smarter, faster and longer.

In industries with employees having less than total control over the rate of production, commission systems can be less effective. One of these industries is the vending industry with its unique vending route environment. For example: a route person who is paid on a commission basis knows that he will earn more by collecting more money on his route.

A vending route driver will learn how to refill and clean the Planet Antares vending machines at a fast pace. He must also reduce the amount of time spent at every location on the vending route, with the hope of saving more time to service machines and collect money on each trip. According to a survey, most vending operators pay drivers some incentive and not a straight salary. While some pay only commission, others pay a combination of commission and salary.

In contrast, there are several drawbacks of the commission systems as well. A route driver, in his haste to service more Planet Antares vending machines, may:

1) drive too fast
2) perform less than complete sanitation operations to meet the mahcine’s requirements
3) ignore simple, mechanical issues like removing a paper clip from a coin acceptor
4) ignore the activity of making sure that the mahcine works after refilling and servicing

All these factors can create conditions that lead to serious problems than the problem the commission system was designed to solve in the first place.

In itself, a commission system will not teach you how to schedule the route. The trick is to schedule the route person to service a Planet Antares vending machine after it has made enough sales to profitably justify the cost of service. This will go a long way in improving route productivity.

Suggested Serving Size For Bulk Vending Machines

Once you have setup a vending business and got your vending machines installed in different locations, it’s time to start fulfilling customer desires and requirements for different products. For Planet Antares bulk candy vending operators, it is important to determine the right serving size.

Even though different vending machines have different serving size capacity, it is important to have an outline of the suggested size. This can help you in knowing the cost of each order and fix the price accordingly. On the other hand, the customer is happy when he gets adequate amount of candy in a reasonable amount of money.

The following can be used as a general guide to fix the serving size for your bulk candy vending machines:

--Peanut M&M's: 8-10 pieces

--Plain M&M's: 12-14 pieces

--Runts: 10-12 pieces

--Skittles: 12-14 pieces

--Reese's Pieces: 12-14 pieces

--Mike & Ike: 6-8 pieces

--Chiclets: 10-12 pieces

--Cashews: 10-12 pieces

--Hot Tamales: 6-8 pieces

--Pistachios: 10-12 pieces

The above are the serving sizes for the most common types of bulk candy products. These are very popular among different segments of the vending customers, be it toddlers, children, youngsters or adults. Mainly, kids and their family members form the majority of the customers for bulk candy vending machine products.

If you implement or try to implement the above serving sizes in your vending machines, your Planet Antares vending business customers are sure to be pleased with your services. This means, higher sales and more profitability for your business.

Vending Machine Technology For Cash Counting And Sorting

One of the greatest issues in vending business is that of accountability. Majority of the vending machine business owners are facing problems regarding this element. Fortunately, Planet Antares vending operators can enjoy more accountability with the help of technical advances in money counting equipment and the ability to interface with management software.

Technical innovations like the newer coin and currency counting and sorting equipment enables operators to track and monitor collections at the Planet Antares machine level on a daily basis. This enables them to handle more business with fewer employees who have been assigned to collection, sorting and bagging of money because these systems have become more versatile and faster.

Every few days, coin and currency counting and sorting equipment manufacturers continue to introduce new features in vending machines. A recent survey of vending operators including Planet Antares vending operators indicated the varying views on the benefits of the different features available. It has been found that some small vending operators are using some of the most advanced counting and sorting equipment while large companies believe that manual counting and sorting is the most sensible decision.

Most of the Planet Antares vending operators agreed that significant progress has been made in the several years that have passed with the ability to interface counting and sorting equipment with management software. Currency sorters can interface with coin sorters and then interface with the main business software. This lets a Planet Antares vending operator to immediately know the total collected amount from a machine.

The need for someone to read handwritten totals from a ledger or a print out and key it into a computer has been eliminated with the help of a software interface. Such an automated process has greatly reduced the chance of human error. It has also given employees the ability to monitor machine collections on desktop computers as the coins and bills are counted and sorted.
Depending on your needs and business objectives, the process can simply interface the currency sorter with the coin sorter or interface with handheld devices and bar code readers.

How To Buy An Existing Vending Route?

You may buy an existing vending route for various reasons. Some people may want to start a vending business this way while others buy a vending route to expand their business. A vending route owner may sell it due to:

• Retirement

• Illness

• Shifting to another area

• Other unforeseen event

It is imperative to find out if the previous owner had a good relationship with the business owners and other location owners. The machines should also be checked for being well installed and established for at least 1-2 years.

Buying a vending route is an important decision and expensive too. The average cost of a vending route may be $100,000. Before spending thousands of dollars on purchase of a vending route, verify that it is worth your investment. Make sure that bulk of the machines is in sound condition and well maintained.

Analyze the kind of equipment you are buying through the vending route. Is it easy to service and repair? Planet Antares vending machines are very reliable and durable without frequent breakdowns. If it needs frequent refilling and repairs, you may have to spend a lot of money later on. Also, examine the sales pattern in the last few years. It may be rising or falling.

Investigate into the reasons for such performance of the vending machines or products.
Don’t forget to review the financial statements of the vending business that you are planning to buy. Take help from your lawyer and accountant for accurate estimates of business figures. Outside verification is essential to make sure that your substantial investment is not going to waste.

It is not sufficient to depend on the previous owner’s description of the vending route. You must visit the different locations yourself to check the suitability of the vending route for your business requirements and objectives. You may be a beginner or an experienced vending machine business owner. This step is a necessity in both cases.

A typical vending route will have a selling price of about 70% of the gross sales per annum. The average sales per machine will be multiplied by the number of vending machines in a vending route to get the total sales per year. A more lucrative vending route will be generally more expensive than a normal, average return generating route.

Estimate the average sales figures to be used as a reference for comparing the price quoted by the seller of vending route with the sales generated by the vending machines in that vending route.

Where Can You Find The Best Vending Machines For Sale?

Perhaps the best way of finding vending machines which have the required features as well as suits your pocket is to go online. With so many vending machine suppliers using the Internet to increase customer base and profits, vending operators can choose from a wide range of vending machines. On the other hand, there’s a great chance of getting ripped-off too.

You may look for new equipment or go for used or refurbished vending machines. Another alternative is to get a vending route. This means that you can acquire already located vending machines from a retiring or shifting business owner. This is by far the cheapest and fastest way to enter the vending industry.

For beginners, used vending machines are a good option. This will reduce the initial investment on your vending business. Reputed vending machine companies like Planet Antares Inc even offer financing and leasing for purchasing equipment in an easy, affordable manner. You can pay in monthly installments and avoid a lumpsum upfront payment. This allows you to put your money in vending products to be dispensed through the chosen vending machines.

Many people don’t start vending as their main business. It is mostly treated as a source of additional income. Before you purchase vending machine supplies, research for a wholesale distributor and go for bulk purchases to avail discounts. Make sure that you have some storage space as well. Used vending machines need to be thoroughly checked for any malfunctioning or broken parts.

The traditional way is to get vending machines from a vending machine company or distributor. Planet Antares Inc offers a wide range of vending machines for both starters and existing businesses. You can even get branded, high quality vending products and benefit from services such as location, restocking, repair and maintenance of equipment.

Your choice of a particular kind of vending machines depends on your business objectives and profit projections. This will determine the amount of money that can be invested in the equipment, products, advertising techniques, servicing, etc. start with a small vending machine and expand as you get used to the business.

In the end, it’s a matter of smart shopping for equipment and supplies and creative locations that ensures your vending business success.