What is vending in simple words
Vending in simple words is the sale of goods and services using automated systems. That is, when goods or services are sold without the direct involvement of a person. Yes, the 21st century, cars, robots – it’s all from there.
Vending machines are vending machines for selling something. You definitely saw them and most likely even used them. The most popular version of vending machines is vending machines for selling coffee in plastic cups. In general, today there are a huge number of different options. Vending machines print photos from your personal Instagram profile, vending machines prepare pizza for you. Vending machines even provide you with parking spaces.
But about what types of vending machines exist, we will talk later. In the meantime, an interesting fact – the first vending machines appeared long before our century.
When did the vending appear
Archaeologists have found vending machines from ancient Rome
No, this is not the heading of the yellow pages where they talk about aliens and the world conspiracy. It’s true. The fact is that in ancient Rome there were already simple mechanisms that poured a small amount of blessed water for one coin. They had little in common with the automated computer mechanisms of today, but it was then that the history of vending began.
Some more interesting facts from the past:
In 17th-century England, they began to install mechanical machines in taverns that could fill your pipe with smoking tobacco in one penny.
In the same England, but a century later, a saturator was invented – a device for saturating water with gas. Since then, the history of vending has made a sharp leap. Because after some time there were also machines that began to pour this sparkling water. And it was they from all past inventions that most resembled what we see now.
Great Britain was generally a storehouse of ideas in the vending industry. And in the 19th century, too, was able to excel. In 1888, it was there that the first apparatus appeared, which for money gave out chewing gum to customers.
And only then, the USA took the baton of development of the vending. More and more new formats began to appear. Automatic machines began to sell not only sparkling water and chewing gum, but also other goods.
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If you think that as usual everything came to Russia later, you are mistaken. Already in 1898, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in St. Petersburg, an apparatus for selling chocolate was installed. But as a business then they did not perceive it.
Well, the machines known to everyone in the USSR, pouring sparkling water with syrup into faceted glasses that became an element of an entire era – nothing more than vending machines, just the name at that time was still unknown.
New time has painted the vending industry with completely different colors. In some countries, it came to the point that there were more vending machines than human sellers. In robotization of public life, Japan has distinguished itself as always. There, for every 23 people, there is one machine gun – such a huge amount of this equipment is located in a small country. For comparison, this is one machine for 2000 people.
What types of vending machines exist
Their diversity is great, and ideas continue to appear and run in the business environment. But in a general sense, all vending machines can be divided into several main categories.
Hot drinks (coffee) vending machines
Drinks in such machines are made from coffee beans and instant ingredients. Cocoa, cream, tea are used. This is the industry standard that has received the most massive involvement. Now such machines are put everywhere – in any shopping center, in stores, in office centers, in any place where the client has to stand in line or wait. Even in stores that have nothing to do with products. At gas stations, in car services, in hairdressing salons. Everywhere.
There are both options for rooms and street vending machines. They differ both in filling (in some they sell only hot drinks, others add new tastes and cold drinks), and in volume.
Snack machines
These include those that give you various kinds of fast packaged food for money – chocolates, drinks in plastic bottles or aluminum cans, chips, sandwiches and other “snacks”.
Such machines differ in the method of delivery of paid goods to the buyer. The simplest – augers – are those in which the product is literally pushed from its shelf and falls into the tray. In such machines, it will not work to sell fragile and breakable goods.
More complex versions of the mechanism – with elevator feed. In them, the mechanism with a quick and deft movement of an automatic hand itself brings the goods from its place to the window where it can be picked up. Such machines are more functional and allow you to diversify the menu.
Such kind of devices are used not only in the grocery niche. Through them you can sell perfumes, light bulbs and various souvenirs, for example.
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Automatic machines selling soda, cocktails, juices and kvass
Immediately, we note that kvass in machines is a feature of the Russian direction of vending development. Well, about the machines with filling soda in the USSR, we have already said above.
Now these machines have gone further. They make freshly squeezed juice (yes, the same fresh) from fruits. Or they can use concentrates to make fruit drinks, drinks with vitamins and even oxygen cocktails.
Water vending machines. Aquavending
These devices are allocated in a separate category. And again, most likely you use these yourself. These are the same machines on the streets of sleeping areas that pour “clean” water (tap water purified by filters) into your container. There are also variations that, following the example of a simple cooler, pour water into glasses.
Food vending machines
Again – a separate category. Because these machines cook food with you, or just heat up the workpieces. There are many of their options. Vending machines for pizza, hot dogs, pies, sandwiches, cheesecakes and even full breakfasts and dinners.
Non-food vending machines
These cars sell everything that is possible – toys, perfumes, household goods …
For this part of the industry, alteration of machines for specific types of goods is characteristic. A good example is the flower shops, which are additionally equipped with a refrigeration module.
Mini vending
For the most part, these are simplified devices, often even mechanical ones without electronic saturation. They trade in capsule goods (i.e. small goods). The machines themselves also have compact dimensions and fit even on the shelves, or are mounted on the wall. Often they sell items of urgent need: chewing gum, tampons, napkins, shoe covers, condoms, small toys.
Variations of such machines can be found at the exit of grocery stores. They have a bright “appearance” that attracts children, and a unit of goods in them costs an average of ten rubles – so that it would not be a pity to throw a coin, which, for example, remained from the change. Usually they sell round chewing gums or mini-toys – jumping balls or figures.
Vending machines services
This is a large category of machines that do not sell goods, but do something for the client. They can clean shoes, for example. Or print photos, fill in an anti-freeze. Massage chairs that are placed in shopping centers also belong to this niche. Popular now and machines charging the phone.
Entertaining vending machines
It has long been used by the popular category of devices. This can include everything that is found in entertainment centers – air hockey, force meters, boxing machines. These are lottery cars, souvenir cars, where you need to cling soft toys with your “paw”. These are the so-called coin-crushers and jukeboxes. There are a lot of options.
Infokiosks
So far, infrequent guests in our country. They sell various media content or information.
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Unusual examples of vending machines
Deserve a separate category. Here are some species that have not yet gained popularity around the world. It can be machines that do manicures, or a haircut. Or, for example, machines that allow you to virtually try on clothes (Japan boasts).
In general, the time has come when vending machines are so distributed that they can be used for each individual type of product. So, you can find machines selling lego designers. Or just ice. Or bananas. Wine, slippers, meat, furniture, bicycle helmets, soccer balls, medicine and even weapons!
Since this is such a popular industry, is it worth it to consider it as a platform for creating your own business? Definitely worth it. Now let’s talk about this.
How to start a business on vending machines
Business Benefits of Vending
- No need to produce
- No need to open a store
- You do not need to spend a lot of money on renting a room, maximum – renting a couple of square meters of space.
- No need to spend a lot of money on hiring employees and wages.
- No permanent presence required
- You can develop by the number of installed devices
- It can be used as an additional business.
Cons of a vending machine business
- The period for reaching net profit is longer than in many types of business
- It will be possible to achieve great profits only after the efficient installation of many devices.
- Requires technical service and periodic repair
- The most popular vending niches are very saturated with competitors
As we see, this niche has significant pluses and minuses. Therefore, before joyfully throwing yourself into a whirlpool of earnings on vending, evaluate all the risks and your opportunities and draw up a clear business plan.
A few steps to start a business
Step 1. Decide on the direction. You could already be convinced that there are a lot of vending options. And to start, you have to choose one thing. Alas, the most popular areas are very competitive. Coffee comes first. Just because a huge number of people drink coffee everywhere and always. But such cars are on every corner. Therefore, it is recommended either to look for places where this is not yet (but ask yourself why it is not there yet), or to choose unoccupied niches. To implement this step, you will have to analyze such moments as:
- Population
- Solvency
- Demand for specific types of goods
- Prices of potential competitors
Step 2. Development of the project (business plan). After you have decided on the direction, you need to understand how much investment this will require. And how soon they can fight back. And also think over a plan for possible development – the installation of additional machines. The most important part is to understand how much such a machine will cost. Because their prices range from 30 thousand to more than a million rubles.
Step 3. Official business registration. Everything is simple here. Choose a form of doing business. In our case, IP is better. And the form of taxation, we submit documents.
Step 4. Purchase of a vending machine and goods. If you carefully thought out a business plan, then you have already found a supplier of both. Naturally, you need to look for wholesale suppliers in order to increase savings at the start.
Step 5. Installing the vending machine. Again, the installation location you must determine at the stage of the business plan. Since it is necessary to negotiate and conclude lease agreements with the owners of this place.
Step 6. Hiring staff. This is an optional item if you can provide service (restocking, receiving money) yourself. As for the adjustment and repair of the machine, most often vending machine manufacturers provide such a service, first free of charge, and then for a small service fee.
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The important thing.
After toughening the tax legislation, all trading operations are carried out with automatic reporting through cash registers to the tax. The same applies to vending machines. Therefore, when analyzing suppliers, you must necessarily specify how their function of interaction with the Federal Tax Service is implemented in their devices.
Important 2. Most manufacturers of vending machines are interested in promoting their business through constant supply of products and increasing market influence. Therefore, they develop models for starting a business and offer not just to buy devices, but to work under a franchise agreement. What can be a great help for beginner businessmen. Since this can be a solution to many issues that the entrepreneur himself cannot solve simply by inexperience.
We will talk about this scenario further.
Franchising in the field of installation of vending machines
Pros of acquiring a vending machine franchise
- Original ideas
- Experience in installing vending machines
- Projected Business Development
- Franchisee Support
- Verified Supplier Contacts
- Service devices
Cons franchises
- Additional payments (not always)
- Submission to the franchisor
Franchised offers, especially in the industry of installing vending machines, can really be the solution to many problems of a novice entrepreneur. But the choice of franchise should be approached no less responsibly than the preparation of a business plan. We will help you navigate the variety of offers and tell you which ones are really worth paying attention to.
But then it all depends on you. Therefore, we will give advice – if you liked any of the offers, you requested a commercial offer from the franchisor and got acquainted with it. Do not stop there. To truly understand all the conditions and possible pitfalls in working with a franchise, you will need to communicate with its representative and ask questions. Fortunately, now this is not a problem.
Our catalog has tried to make it as easy as possible for you to choose. On the page of franchises there is not only general information about the offers, but also, for example, calculations of net profit – the numbers and terms that the franchisor publishes. You can also directly contact him by simply sending a request from the same page. Therefore, do not spare time – look and choose. The following is a list of franchises to start with.