How to Sustain Competition in Vending Business

None of us would like to be bossed over by others and hence few individuals seeking self employment take up vending business. With increasing number of players, vending is becoming a very competitive industry. You would like to be a part of this billion dollar industry and make a mark for yourself, then the best thing would be to offer quality service.

Create a niche for your business by designing competitive and effective strategies. Various steps that can guide you in this process are discussed below:

• Involvement: Rather than taking the help of agencies or any other third party, involve yourself completely right from doing market research to identifying locations and products. It is always a good idea to visit the premises where you want to install your machine and ensure that it is a safe place to operate. Try to convince the premises owner by disclosing the benefits of placing your machine in their premises.

• Personalised services: In order to have a competitive edge, try to offer personalised services to your customers as well as location owners. As a beginner you need to establish yourself in the hearts of customers by building strong customer relationship with them.

• Refilling stock: Have a pre-planned schedule for stocking your vending machines at different locations. Try to monitor the moment of products across counters. This will help in determining popular ones and thus replace unpopular ones. Try to vend only fresh products. All this analysis is required in order to prevent wastage of products.

• Maintenance of machines: It is imperative for an operator to keep his machines in good working condition. A broken down machine can not only affect your sales but also damage your reputation among customers. Try to print your contact number on the vending machine so that customers can inform you in case of a breakdown. Try to get the problem fixed as early as possible.

• Variety: Modern customers prefer using latest and new products. So try to offer them something new every time they visit your machine. This will not only boost your sales but also increase repeat customers. Besides new products, try to use latest technology and software that can make vending simple and easy for customers.

In short, vending operator who can understand customer needs and fulfil them even before they are expressed can survive this competition.