Planet Antares

Planet Antares Tips: Large Sized Candy And Price Points

2008-05-19T02:38:00.000-07:00

The introduction of larger sized candy in your Planet Antares vending machines means that you will need to increase the price of the candy bar. First of all assume a vending price of $1 and then a $0.57 blended cost on the large size candy and $0.75 on its smaller counterpart with a blended cost of $0.38. you also need to consider the 6 percent commission paid to drivers. This is a percentage of gross profit and usually 15 percent on the large size candy and 12 percent on the smaller size candy.

If the large size candy proposition has to work in your Planet Antares vending business, the product must sell for at least $1. In certain cases, price points above a dollar are required if the larger size line is to be financially beneficial. A positive move will be higher price points for your Planet Antares vending business. Your coin mechanism will suffer with incremental price points of $1.10 and $1.15 but this is part of the vending business as operators strive for higher revenue.
In the short term, the operating expenses for your vending business are fixed. Some of these are rent, insurance, depreciation, amortization and interest. You need to find a way for your Planet Antares vending machine to produce more with each route driver stop.

The introduction of large sized candy in your Planet Antares vending machine will provide you with this opportunity. This, of course, would not be without a few concerns. The proposition that the candy companies are promoting is almost identical to what we have heard before from salted snack companies and bottlers.

For vending operators who are willing to change, the conversion to the larger product has been favorable. This has not been easy for everyone. Those who plan to become market leaders will expose themselves to the possibility of lost business as the competition overtakes their accounts with the traditional programs.

All About Full Line Vending Machines

2008-05-06T02:05:00.000-07:00

In terms of physical appearance as well as functionality, full line snack and soda vending machines are top of the line. Vending machines differ in terms of size, structure and their potential for returns. They can be used seperately or as a group in order to maximize profits and utilization. These machines can also be customized at additional costs making the machines suitabel for almost any location.

For Planet Antares vending operators, the vending machines have the advantage that many locations recognize their need for such machines. In fact, many locations will take the initiative to contact a vending company to request installation of a machine. Many of these location owners also recognize the difficulty in moving the machines and are less likely to request removal, unless the operator does not provide satisfactory services.

Usually, the soda and snack vending machines have vend counters to track how many items are sold, making it difficult for an employee to steal money. The machines themselves, being large and heavy, are difficult to syeal without drawing considerable attention towards them.
Planet Antares vending machines stand for quality and innovaive vending equipment that has services to offer like:

Refilling
Cash collection
Cleaning
Repair work
Rebuilding existing equipment
Replacing malfunctioning parts

What’s more, these vending machines are very economical and keep your budget in mind. As compared to other machines with similar features, the operating cost of their machines is much lesser.

How To Develop A Winning Vending Business

2008-04-29T04:05:00.000-07:00

If you want to start a great business and considering vending opportunity for the same, there are several things that need to be kept in mind. Firstly, you would have to decide on the type of vending machine that you want, the location of your vending machines and the number of machines that you will be able to operate.

Planet Antares offers great vending machines as well as a vending program that can help you get started in this field. Here are some steps that you need to follow when beginning with a vending business:

a. Call up locations like hospitals, universities, businesses and schools in your area and ask them if they have any vending machines in their premises and if yes, if they are happy with the service and commission that they are getting.

This will allow you to know whether you have found a potential location for your Planet Antares vending business or not. Meet the owner of the premises and try to convince him that you can do better than the previous vending operator.

b. Avoid buying coffee, fresh food and ice cream vending machines unless you are also supplying a snack and beverage vending machine to the same location. The most profitable vending machines to buy are snack and beverage vending machines such as provided by Planet Antares Inc.

c. Focus on purchase of good quality vending machines and be careful to inspect the features of the equipment before buying it. This is especially important in case of refurbished or used vending machines.

d. Consider joining the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA), a neutral industry trade association.

e. Subscribe to the vending industry’s leading trade magazines that carry a lot of information about the vending business.

The success of your vending business depends on research and sheer hard work. This should always be kept in mind when you are establishing a vending business. These steps can enable you to develop a good vending business.

Obtaining And Retaining Vending Business Customers

2008-04-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

There are important similarities between the operations of a machine shop and a full line vending machine business. Both of them depend heavily upon expensive capital equipment that seems to last forever. For any business, growth and customer satisfaction are really important.

Commonly, Planet Antares vending operators associate growth with the acquisition of new locations. Firstly, they will hire expensive salespeople to seek out new customers and alos they would be prepared to invest substantial sums and take additional debt to pay for the new state-of-art machines to equip the new account. Moreover, the vending operators sit back and look at their existing customers as cash cows.

Remember that your vending machines will last long only if the vending equipment is maintained in a proper manner.

The average vending operator keeps worrying about the competition offering his locations the same deals with new equipment that he is offering or even better deals. All this can be a worthless exercise as there are too many vending operators sitting on warehouses full of older equipment that they have taken from locations they have lost to aggressive competitors. The cost of acquiring or preserving a location can never be too high.

You should understand that the existing customers are more valuable than the future customers. With existing customers, you have already dealt with the cost of obtaining and equipping the customer and enjoy a certain level of credibility with them, based upon the quality of product and service offered by you.

New vending equipment can provide benefits for the Planet Antares vending operator as well as the location. It also requires fewer service calls. Higher capacity vending machines produce lower route labor and vehicle expenses for the operators. In the end, this will result in higher sales for the Planet Antares vending business.

How To Profit From Vending Machine Rentals

2008-04-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

A large number of people have established successful vending businesses by starting with rented vending machines. Everyone may not have the capital for investing in new or used vending machines. There may also be people who are not sure about the potential of vending business and want to try it with as little cost involvement as possible. In such circumstances, rented vending equipment is the best option. Store owners and businesses are usually offering vending machines on rent.

To setup a vending business as a long term venture, you will have to make enough profits that enable you to buy your own vending machines in the future. Initially, you can begin with rented vending machines. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to settle for any kind of vending machine available in the market. It is imperative to go for quality vending machines like Planet Antares equipment only. Basically, you want your business to be profitable, be it with new or rented vending machines. So, renting Planet Antares vending machines can be highly profitable for you.

With the boom in vending industry, the demand for vending machines is quite high. However, vending machine rentals can be found almost everywhere. All that needs to be done is to get in touch with the right people that can provide you with quality vending machines. Vending machines are rented by shops and business offices alike for their customers and employees refreshment as well additional income. This means that you can use rented vending machines as a tool for making extra income.

Make sure that your rented vending machines are placed in the right locations and have the right products for meeting customer demand. These products must be popular, branded items to ensure continuous sales and profits. If a product becomes slow in performance, you need to switch it with something new. It’s always best to stick to branded products. You must also observe your vending machine sales pattern to discern which products are to be included or not in the product mix for your vending route.

If you have installed software to do this task, it will not be an issue. Otherwise, you will need to hire someone to supervise the product sales and observe the trends in order to place only winning product selections in the Planet Antares vending machines.

Renting of vending machines can be extremely profitable, if you have the right vending machines and the right products in them. The most important thing for any business is to generate good returns.

Complete Vending Service With Planet Antares Vending Machines

2008-03-28T08:32:00.001-07:00

So far, the vending industry has accomplished a lot in offering customers the best service that they can but are yet to improve the way they market themselves. This area is still not explored and needs development. At one time, convenience stores had to overcome a stereotype as an overpriced outlet to one that offers great convenience. A complete service of convenience and affordable rates of products if provided by Planet Antares vending.

Customers no longer price shop between a supermarket and a c-store because they realize that c-stores are selling a convenience. The vending industry can change consumer perception too. Many Planet Antares vending operations should have an entire division committed to marketing.

A great way to promote your vending business would be to educate customers about the vending services. Once the public is educated about the vending industry, they will be more willing to pay for it. If vending operators keep competing on the basis of price alone, the vending industry will not be able to move forward. As a Planet Antares vending operator, you need to keep looking for ways to move your vending business forward.

Category management is a system to simplify selection as the route and warehouse levels and enables a vending operator to control the machine menu. To do this, the vending operator must be able to track individual product sales accurately. This can be done by investing in handheld computers.

Both vending and c-stores are retail outlets with limited selling space. The common factor consists of a product being sold, but more importantly, a convenience. This is something common in both vending and c-stores. The vending industry has limited space and it requires all vending operators to treat this limited space like gold.

Importance Of Sanitation In Vending Machines

2008-03-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

As a vending operator, you must know that it is important to keep the vending machines and surrounding areas clean at all times. After refilling your Planet Antares vending machines, remember to remove all the trash, empty soda cases, boxes and other components. Make sure that the immediate area of the vending machine is well lit and has a covered trash receptacle. Moreover, the area must be protected from overhead leakage or water condensation, waste or sewer piping.

The vending machine should be mounted on a stand so that it is at least 6 inches above the deck. This will make it easier for the vending operator to clean under and around the vending machine. It is imperative to ensure that the surface of the vending machine inside or out is free of dust and not sticky.

Check whether the door and panel to the Planet Antares vending machine and any other opening for food is tightly fit. Any worn out material must be replaced to prevent dust, or any other foreign particles from entering. Workers need to be provided with adequate hand washing facilities near the vending machine.

Vending machines that provide potentially hazardous items must be provided with refrigeration or heating units and possess thermostatic controls to ensure the maintenance of safe food temperatures. Also, automatic controls must be included to prevent the machine from vending food in the event of a power failure or a mechanical failure.

A tight fitting, self closing cover must be provided for the vending stage of a Planet Antares vending machine. Take care that the vending machine exteriors are designed and fabricated in order to minimize the entrance of insects and rodents. Effective screening must be provided for ventilation louvers or openings in the vending machine. For microwave ovens, it is a must to clean the cavities and door edges at least once a day to keep them free of grease deposits and other accumulated soil.

You should also maintain a record of the vending machine operations and keep them with you during inspection and servicing. It is important to provide vending machines and the food contained inside with the same protection as provided by any other food service facility.

Impact Of Power Disruptions On Vending Business Costs

2007-12-19T02:11:00.000-08:00

Vending technology has come a long way from the traditional mechanical equipment. Now, most vending machine components are electronic and consist of digital elements. This has made electronic vending machines very popular among vending operators.

However, there is a serious problem with electric vending machines that may not be considered by many vending machine businesses. The electronic vending machines are more prone to power failure. Power disruptions, lightening and energy surges can result in hindrances in vending machine operations as well as sales. This, in turn, will have a negative impact on your vending equipment and revenue earning potential.

Thus, it has become imperative to protect your vending equipment against power breakdowns to enable smooth performance and business profitability. The vending business infrastructure consists of different vending machines, digital software and sensitive equipment for effective operations. All these require quality power backup to enable reliable performance.

For proper safety of your Antares vending machines, there is need to invest in various power protection tools or products. One of the best techniques for achieving this will be the use of a power protector. It reduces disruption of machine operations by cutting down on harmful electrical noise and interference. Make sure that your vending equipment is protected against any sort of damage. This is necessary to make it more durable, reliable and also, ensure safety of your investment in vending business.

You can choose from a wide range of power protection products available in the market according to your vending machines and your budget.

With growing competition in every field, even power protection companies are offering many services to beat the competition. Some manufacturers may offer extended warranties on equipment that covers all costs of repair up to the full replacement value if a filter fails. While selecting a power protection company, it is a good idea to compare several ones to get the best services and additional programs for your Planet Antares vending machine business.

Remember that power protection is a vital part of your vending business. As competition becomes aggressive, you cannot afford to incur high cost of repairs, breakdowns and ‘out of order’ equipment. This means that you must choose a power protection program offering safety of machines, computer systems and digital components to ensure optimal productivity and profitability of vending business.

Essential Vending Business FAQs

2007-12-07T02:07:00.000-08:00

Many people enter the vending indutry with the goal of makin great profits from this lucrative business opportunity. Unfortunately, most of them have very little or no knowledge about the various aspects of this industry and end up losing their hard earned money by making faulty decisions and wrong choices.

Herer are some of the most common questions asked by a novice vending business owner while starting the “all-cash” income generating business.

#1. What are the risks involved?

If you choose a reliable vending machine distributor or supplier for buying the equipment and products as well as getting help in locating the machines, there will not be much risk involved. The Antares corporation provides excellent vending program tht have a very high success rate without any overheads. You will just need to work for a couple of hours every week to start earning cash income from the vending machines.

#2. How much time does it take to get a return on investment?

On an average, most reliable vending machines will offer a financial return on initial investment within the first year of starting the business. It depends on the products, and locations chosen by you.

#3. Are there any locations left for new machines?

Yes there are. The market may seem to be saturated but it isn’t. there are a lot of locations that can be tapped for placing your vending machines and generating sales. Keep an eye on the sites under construction and even the areas near your location.

#4. How will I know if the machines are reliable or not?

First, you must choose a reputable vending company like Planet antares Inc to buy vending equipment. Second, make sure that they provide a warranty on machines.

#5. What are the legal issues that need to be taken care of?

You will have to check with your “state comptroller” to know about the license or permit required for setting up a vending business. These provisions differ from state to state. Do enquire about the taxes levied on the chosen line of vending also.

How To Benefit From Small Vending Locations

2007-11-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

Most vending operators prefer high-end, large scale vending locations for their vending machines. If you are one of those people, this article may help you grasp the benefits of getting small locations. With technological advancements, it has become easier to create new efficiencies and reduce the cost of selling vending products.

But you may wonder how implementing new technology can help you reduce cost when it will require additional investment. This is only initially but later on, the benefits of using new techniques help in minimizing operational costs. In case of small vending locations, operators can have a profitable business.

The small locations for vending have not been fully tapped as yet. Usually, a place with population of about 10-50 people will be called a small location. If you have a limited capital base or overhead bearing capacity, this is a very lucrative option for you.

The first thing to consider will be the quality of vending machines that you buy. If you go for reliable equipment like Planet Antares vending machines, there is wide choice for getting the right vending machine with appropriate size, design and capacity. For selection, you must keep in mind various factors like the target customer needs, floor space available at locations, ease of servicing, etc.

For small vending locations, electronic and preloaded shelf systems can enable you to overcome the challenge of generating substantial ROI (return on investment). As product prices rise and competition becomes ever more aggressive, vending operators have starting using this technique to keep their profits at a sustainable level.

With time, you can also adopt new options for the small locations so that you can have a good turnover for your vending business. The economy doesn’t provide much help in account downsizing so that vending locators are forced to explore small vending locations as potential income sources.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that small vending locations are easy to gain or be successful income generators. In the beginning, you will have to put in a lot of hard work, commitment, planning and creative strategies to be successful.

With growing retrenchment by corporate organizations, it should not be very difficult to find locations with about 50 employees. The more innovative and latest the vending machines better will be the chances for your small vending business to provide financial rewards.

Knowing About Newspaper Vending Machines

2007-11-06T04:23:00.000-08:00

If you want to become a vending machine operator, a newspaper vending machine business is a lucrative option. it is a great way to sell a popular product, newspapers, and earn adequate returns on your investment.

Basically, newspaper vending machines are used for the dispensing or sale of:

• Newspapers
• Commercial flyers
• Periodicals

Most machines include a currency detector. The function of this component is to verify the amount of money for being enough to purchase the desired newspaper. Also, you can find vending machines with different capacity to suit your needs and budget.

Before you actually start looking for a newspaper vending machine, you must study the different aspects of this business and estimate the amount of time, money and effort required to establish and operate it. The advantages of starting a newspaper vending machine business can be listed as follows:

• Reliable
Newspaper vending machines purchased from a reputable company will perform well for a long period of time. Vending companies like Planet Antares Inc offer after sale services like locating, servicing and repair for your vending machines.

• Easy to locate
Generally, these machines are placed in high traffic locations like train stations, restrooms and bus terminals. Most places with busy or waiting people will have a newspaper vending machine. So, it will not be tough to find good locations for your vending machines. If you are creative and careful, you can find many untapped locations.

• Simple servicing
Unlike food items and beverages, there will be no spilling of products and need for excessive cleaning of machines. Newspapers are a dry item and thus, allow for easier servicing of machines.

• Return on investment
The cost of newspapers will be negligible while you can keep a larger profit margin while fixing the selling price for customers. Thus, you can expect to earn exceptional return on investment within a short period of time.

Most vending machines have technological components with a computerized control and infrared communication transceiver. The copy of the latest edition of newspaper or magazine is displayed at the front to attract customer’s attention. There is provision for automatic thickness adjustment to equip the machine to handle various kinds and sizes of newspapers.

You can also go for technically advanced vending machines that offer in depth audit data including the time and date of sale of newspaper. This enables accurate sales monitoring and profit estimates. Usually, newspaper vending machines are made of stainless steel or tough glass so that they can be placed inside or outside location premises.

Along with regular newspapers, you can also choose to stock your newspaper vending machine with automobile catalogs, horse racing and boat racing newspapers, different kinds of application forms, etc. other features include credit card reader, coin acceptacle, loyalty card option and change dispenser.

Investing In Planet Antares Vending Machines

2007-10-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

You may want to earn some extra money or start a full fledged business with total returns coming to you. Whatever the reason for your entering the vending industry, this presents a good opportunity to earn substantial income. You don’t even need to be highly trained or professionally qualified to get started.

Usually, people have to rent or purchase the vending machines required by them to setup a vending machine business. Your expenses include the vending machine and products price as well as the commission paid to the premises owners, where the equipment will be located. The remaining amount of revenue will be pure profits. The more the number of vending machines, the more money you can earn.

To keep intone with the current trends, you can select a vending machine which dispenses healthy food items and beverages like water and juice instead of soda. If you offer healthy snacks and drinks, your vending machines will be welcomed by many vending locations which were previously using high calorie snack vending machines or unhealthy products. Schools and college campuses are great options for healthy products vending machines.

When you decide to invest in a vending machine, keep various factors in mind. These include the features of the vending equipment, its size, color, stock holding capacity, repairing methods and potential problems which may occur during use. Usually, good vending machine suppliers like Planet Antares Inc offer a wide range of vending machines for sale or renting, branded products and after sale services like locating, refilling and maintenance of machines.

A vending machine can be operated mechanically or run on electric power. Even though using an electrical machine is recommended, you can also go for cheaper models that are mechanically operated. If you plan to buy a used or refurbished machine, look for any broken or non-performing parts before you actually purchase it.

The value of your investment must be ensured. When you go for a vending machine purchase, test the technical support staff for business knowledge and skills. A reliable company will offer prompt solutions and support whenever you face any problems with the vending machines.

An important factor for determining the success or failure of your business will be the location of the vending machines. This in turn, depends on the target customer’s preferences, products being dispensed and the expected business profits. Your presentation must be able to convince the business owners to install the vending machines in their premises. In exchange for that, you may have to pay some commission as part of sales revenue to the premises owner.

Locations with heavy customer traffic and high-end places will enable higher product pricing. If your vending machine is located in a hotel, more money can be earned than a vending machine placed in a convenience store.

All in all, investing in vending machines is a good way to earn more profits with less effort.

Cold Beverage Vending

2007-10-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Cold beverage vending in the U.S. has always been popular. People always have the need for a cold drink, especially on a hot summer day. Vending operators that have placed beverage vending machines in locations always experience high sales. This of course happens if they have placed the vending machine in the right location.

Planet Antares offers cold beverages as well as snacks in their vending machines. This kind of combination works well in most locations because when customers buy snacks, they would usually have a cold beverage with the snack as well. Cold drinks in vending machines have found their way into a wide range of locations populated by just about every identifiable demographic group. There are locations where the customers would like to maybe see diet cold beverages. If this happens in your Planet Antares vending business, it means that you would need to offer regular cold beverages as well diet cold beverages. People in locations always have different tastes and vending operators have responded to this market evolution by increasing the pace of new product development and making better use of sales analysis to tailor cold drink menus to suit a wide scale of tastes.

Having a Planet Antares cold beverage and snack vending business would mean that you would need to offer customers all varieties of drinks, which would include new flavored carbonated soft drinks, diet twists, juices, energy drinks and bottled water options. Offering this mix in your vending machines will mean that you are catering to the masses. Certain beverages would be preferred over other beverages in different locations. To maximize your profits, you would need to make sure that the quantity of the products in each machine matches with the locations demands. Category management can play a significant role in such situations. This system would allow you to maximize your profits by offering a profitable product mix for each location.
A glass front Planet Antares vending machine will also maximize the profits of the merchandise in the vending machine. When you introduce new beverages in the vending machine, the interest of the public will be generated because the new beverage will be visible while in the machine. In order to maintain that interest of the customer, you can continue to rotate new items in and out, although it will always be the core items like Coke and Pepsi, which will always sell the most.

Earn Easy Profits With Planet Antares Vending Products

2007-09-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

Vending machines can hardly make customer happy by themselves. You will need to make sure that you place them strategically, stock quality products and do regular machine servicing. Still, it isn’t hard to make money through vending machine business. Almost every company needs a vending machine in their premises to keep employees satisfied and reduce time spent away from the work desk.

If you choose a reliable vending machine from a reputable vending machine provider like Planet Antares Inc, you can reap the various benefits of vending business. But as I said before, there’s more to the success of your vending business than just buying a vending machine.

Here are some tips for earning easy profits through vending machines:

1: Product Suppliers
You may have a soda, snack or other vending machine but it needs to be well-stocked to fulfill customer requirements at all times. It is best to purchase products from a reliable vending company like Planet Antares or bulk supplier. This enables you to price your products reasonable and induce higher sales.

2: Product Pricing
Check the prices charged by competitors and then decide the prices for your products. However, you must be able to recover your costs and earn a decent profit in the process.

3: Refilling
Set a regular schedule for refilling the vending machines. This includes restocking of popular products and replacement of outdated or low-performing items. Offer a variety of products to keep customers happy and enable larger orders than a single product range.

4: Maintenance
A vending machine which doesn’t work when a customer is waiting for his/her order will have a negative impact on your business sales and reputation. You should keep your machines in workable condition and ensure that technical service is available as and when required.

5: Customer Opinion
Your customer’s happiness is the key to earning higher profits. Analyze customer feedback and preferences to choose the products stocked in your vending machines. For example, there has been a rising customer preference for healthier products. this can be an opportunity to build brand loyalty by offering healthy food items and target new customer segments too.

A vending operator focusing on these aspects of the product will definitely get good returns. Customer satisfaction is as important as creating sales and profits. This will ensure that your vending business booms and proves to be a lucrative venture.

Vending IQ: License Issues

2007-09-12T02:25:00.000-07:00

Setting up a vending business involves more than just buying a vending machine and installing it in a good location. Even though it is essential to buy a reliable, good quality machine from reputable vending machine providers like Planet Antares, there are other important elements for the success of your business.

Most of the time, people ignore the legal aspects of this business which may create problems for their business later. There is not much awareness about such issues but it is important for you to be familiar with every factor involved in the vending business before you actually start one.
You must know the license and permit requirements of your state or region. If your business is spread across different states, these provisions may differ accordingly.

Licenses are available at different levels such as:

Town
If you are operating in your local area, you will need a local business license. Moreover, every machine in different towns may be charged an annual fee. This is a legal provision for the food and service industry.

This may be quite expensive for you and it is better to take this expense into consideration before starting the business rather than paying for unforeseen and avoidable expenses later on. For small businesses, it is very difficult to pay charges on every machine and so, they should cover a small area initially.

State
As a state resident, you may have to pay sales tax on a portion or the entire vending income earned by you. Moreover, you will have to pay:
1. fees for locating your machine with an entity in the form of corporate tax
2. Income tax on revenue generated (if levied by your state)

These charges, especially the income tax may vary from state to state and with time also.

Federal
At this level, you won’t have to pay anything to the government in form of taxes. You just need to disclose your vending income. If you open a savvy account, you can even save your profits by showing losses or setting them off against taxable income.

After taking these factors into consideration, you can select the vending locations for your vending machines. You also have the option of hiring a vending locator or taking the location services provided by good vending machine suppliers like Planet Antares Inc. ask them about the various licensing fees in different regions before deciding to install your machines.

Remember that a little more prudence will help you save a lot of money and effort later on.

Using Technology in your Vending Business

2007-08-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

Planet Antares vending machines are equipped with the latest technology. This technology allows the vending machines to operate more efficiently. This of course has made the vending business more efficient and thus more profitable. Technology is also used in the operation of the vending business. With the increase of competition from other vending operators, you need to find ways of staying on top of your game. When you are running a vending business, it means that you have a limited space to merchandise your products. With that limited space, you would need to maximize sales. Despite the fact that a vending business is very profitable, vending operators from time to time have difficulty achieving maximum profitability. To improve the efficiency of your Planet Antares vending business, you can implement some form of technology in your vending business.

Advances in technology, have changed the vending operations of many vending operators. The sales from these vending operations increased when they implemented technology. The operators were also able to keep track of the sales that were made from the vending machine. Category management helped the vending operators select the right products for the vending machines and they were also able to restock the vending machines on time. There are all forms of technology that can improve your Planet Antares vending business. The size of your vending business is what will determine which technology would be appropriate for your vending business.

Implementing technology in your Planet Antares vending business will allow you to sell more and spend less in your vending operation. The vending machines are already equipped with the latest technology, so all that you would need to do is implement other forms of technology in your vending operation. You can end up saving up to two hours per day per route by employing technology. In addition to this, you will enjoy a higher percentage of sales increases from the same machines through a better understanding of location preferences. Shrinkage will be virtually eliminated by cash audit functionality. To implement technology, you just need to have sufficient capital to finance the innovation.

Using the Internet it in your vending operation would be beneficial for the smooth running of your business. The Internet will only continue to revolutionize the vending industry. With the technological changes that are occurring in the vending industry, it is important that you stay on top of all the new technologies that are coming up.

10 Things To Remember While Stating a Vending Business

2007-08-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

If you think that a vending business means no work and all play, you are highly mistaken. Don’t make the mistake of considering it as a low input, high output endeavor. However, you can make a lot of profit from this lucrative opportunity if you follow a few important tips.

1. You need to carry out research about the product demand and estimate the profit margins you could earn from the sale of different products. Products can vary from candy, toys, snacks and soda to hygiene and digital products.

2. After the product is decided, your next task is to find a good location where your vending machine can be installed. There are various locations like train stations, subways, business offices, restrooms, etc. The location should match the product as well as the business owners’ requirements. Planet Antares provides you with vending locator services to help you to find the best location for your machines.

3. You have the option of either renting or purchasing the vending machine. A new Planet Antares vending machine is not very expensive and will return profits relative to its worth within a year. However, if you want to start with a very small budget, renting a vending machine is a better idea.

4. You can even use used machines which are very inexpensive. Usually, companies sell used machines with rational payment options and guarantee for the machine’s efficient performance.

5. The internet has facilitated real time comparison shopping for anything and everything. Use the web to locate special deals and offers to get the best vending machine at reasonable prices.

6. Verify the ability of your vending machine to work with present currencies and speed of dispensing. If products frequently get stuck in the machine or take a long tie to come out, customers may not want to use it repeatedly.

7. Metal vending machines are usually more stable than plastic ones. The vending machine supplier you choose must include repair, maintenance and replacement services in his contract.

8. You need to be creative and persistent in your efforts to convince a potential location owner where you want to place your vending machine.

9. Be careful about the profit margins which are to given to the location owner as commission for keeping the vending machine.

10. The easiest alternative is to buy an already installed vending machine from its present owner. He can provide information regarding the popular products, machine problems and other important factors.

With a little hard work and serious analysis, you can make a lot of money form your low investment vending business.

Starting Up a Vending Route

2007-07-17T00:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most important things that you would need to do when you start a Planet Antares vending business is to start up your vending route. This is something that is done by securing locations for your vending machines. The vending business can be very lucrative if you acquire the right kind of vending machines, locations and products.

With a snack and beverage vending business, it is recommended that you start with one or two vending machines. When you do this, it means that you will be running your vending business from your home. There is really no need to rent a warehouse, unless you have a large fleet of vending machines. When you are running your vending business from home, it means that the only help that you might require would be the one that your family offers. At that stage of a vending business there is no need to hire outside help.

When you go out to look for your first location, equip yourself with information on all types of locations that would suit your Planet Antares vending route. This would prove to be useful to you when you are acquiring the locations on your own or even when you are using a locating service. This is because a good locating company should allow you to inspect the location on your own before finalizing on the location on your behalf. Setting up you own vending route is preferable because it will teach you all that you need to know about finding locations, so that the next time you would want to upgrade your Planet Antares vending route, you will have all the useful tips that will make the process much easier.

When you approach a location, make sure that you speak to the owner of the location. Offering the locations some of the products that you are planning to vend, for free can be a good way of getting the location to be familiar with the service that you are offering them. When speaking to the location owner, make a good presentation of your Planet Antares vending machines. This is important, because the location would probably already have vending machines in that location. If you can convince the location owner that you can provide a better vending service, the owner will definitely want your vending machine there.

When the one or two vending locations have been running successfully and your vending business has experienced growth, it will then be time for you to expand your vending business. This can be done by adding more vending machines in the same locations or by acquiring more locations. Once you have an established vending route, it will be very easy for you to expand your vending business by acquiring more vending machines and locations.

Being Brand Focused In Your Vending Business

2007-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

To run a successful vending business, you need to make sure that you have the right products in your vending machines. The products that you place in your Planet Antares vending machines play a big role in the success of your vending business. Before you place products in your vending machine, you will need to carry out research on which products are popular with the public. This is information that you can get from moving from location to location and watching what people buy from the vending machines that are there. Asking kids questions about which products to place in the vending machines will also help you to know which products are popular.

Placing branded items in your Planet Antares vending machines will save you all the trouble of advertising your products. Branded items are already popular with the public and of course they are always being advertised on the media. When you have these kinds of products in your vending machines, they just literally sell themselves. Even though branding is one of the factors that contribute to successful merchandising, it has long been underutilized in vending.

Retail competitors, such as c-stores and supermarkets have long been marketing their branded products. They are way ahead of the vending industry when it comes to that. This is something that the vending industry can learn from the retail industry.

Planet Antares vending machines sell items such as sodas, juices and all types of snacks. These are products that should always be branded. For example Coke and Pepsi are branded beverages. When you place them in your vending machine, they will always sell. They have been around for a very long time and they are always being advertised on TV, radio, signboards and other forms of media. This is why you will not have any trouble selling these brands in your vending machine. All you have to do is place the machine in a strategic vending location, then let the branded products sell for themselves.

You can have all types of products in your Planet Antares vending machines, but always keep in mind that brand always sells, so make sure that you keep the branded products as well. Try out new products in your vending machines. Don’t only sell branded products. You never know which product can become popular with the public. You can find this out by placing new products in the vending machines. If the product is marketed well and it becomes a hit, you will end up increasing your sales revenues. Just keep in mind that brand always sells. In addition to this, you should also keep an eye on product trends so that you know which products to vend from your vending machines.

The Advantage of Vending Branded Products

2007-07-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Brand power is something that cannot be denied. If you have branded products in your Planet Antares vending machines, you will find that these are always sure sellers. This is because branded products are recognized faster, which makes their selling power higher than other products. Popularity of branded products is prevalent in the retail industry as well as the vending industry.

Snack and beverage vending businesses are popular with entrepreneurs because these are the products that the public love buying. When you have a Planet Antares snack and beverage vending business, it will be necessary for you to place branded snacks and beverages in your vending machines. These are items that sell with no difficulty since they are easily recognized. Branded products are usually advertised nationally on a large scale, so there really is no need for you to promote the products for your vending business. Customers will buy the branded products from your Planet Antares vending machine because they are already familiar with the products and they know everything about the product. They already trust in the branded name, since it is something that has national recognition.

Glass front vending machines like those by Planet Antares work well for branded products, because the products in the vending machines are visible. The aim of your vending business is to make as much profit as possible. The only way that you can do that is by placing the right products in the right machine and in the right location. When you have combined all these, there really is no way that you can go wrong. People would prefer to buy branded products from your vending machines since vending machines are known to be cheaper and faster than retail stores. When you are running a vending business, it doesn’t mean that you should only sell branded products. You can sell other products as well. The only difference is that you will need to promote these products in order for them to sell well. The best thing that you can do for your snack and beverage vending business is to keep both branded as well as non branded products in your vending machines. Branded products are usually more costly, but you can rely on them to make a good profit for your vending business.

The supplier that you use should be able to provide you with all the branded products that you require. Remember that the products that you sell, all depends on what the location wants. Just keep in mind that you need to have branded products so that you can maximize your profits. All locations would definitely demand branded products. The supplier that you engage should provide you with branded products at good rate, so that you can profit from them.

Innovations Used In Vending

2007-06-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

There are numerous innovations that are being used in the vending industry today. Today we even have vending machines that can accept credit and debit cards. There is also technology that allows you to monitor vending machines from afar. These are the kind of innovations that you can place in your Planet Antares vending machines, so as to make your vending business more efficient and profitable. Recent innovations also include improved coin and bill validation and the rapid adoption of sense-and-feedback systems that verify the fact that a vend sale took place. This innovation has improved the shape of the vending business.

When we talk about innovations, one very significant innovation that we must mention is telemetry. Reliable, affordable wireless technology has made telemetry practical and provided the means through which cashless payments can be authenticated. Research has shown that 50% of consumers will not make a purchase from a vending machine if there is a “use exact change only” light on. If you have a Planet Antares vending machine that is equipped with telemetry, it can transmit sales and inventory data to a route truck in the parking lot. This will help the driver know exactly which products to bring in for restocking. The data can also be transmitted to remote headquarters for use in scheduling a route stop, detecting component failure or verifying collection information. Telemetry is considered to be one of the most significant developments in vending technology since the invention of the bill changer.

Consumers today want quick and convenient access to competitively priced products. This is why technology has played a very significant role in providing consumers with the kind of service that they would expect. Vending is a multi-billion dollar industry that is still growing everyday. Planet Antares offers entrepreneurs a quick and profitable way to start vending businesses, which can grow quickly. Snack, beverage, candy and food items continue to be the most lucrative and stable business in the market. Technology has allowed customers a more convenient access to vending machines.

Modern vending machines like those that are provided by Planet Antares are equipped with spirals to hold products near the access door at the bottom. When an item has been purchased, it has to pass through a laser beam, if it fails to do so the spirals will turn three times to ensure that the product drops. If it still doesn’t drop, the customer will be asked to make another selection or the money will be refunded back

Innovations in the vending business have definitely improved the way vending operators conduct their vending businesses. They also give vending operators an edge of their competitors. More often than not you are bound to find a vending operator vending the same products in the same location as you. If you have installed a few innovations in your vending machines, you will attract customers to your vending machines.

A Professional Vending Operator

2007-06-19T12:12:00.001-07:00

When you are looking for a vending operator, you need to look for one that will provide you with services that come with professionalism, warranties, promptness and the ability to adapt to your particular needs. A Planet Antares vending operator can provide you all these qualities and characteristics. There are clients that have used Planet Antares vending operators and they have been satisfied with their experience.

If you are looking for a vending operator for your business, you need to make sure that the operator understands exactly what your needs are. Having a Planet Antares vending operator place a snack and beverage vending machine in your business can be a great way for you to make some extra income. As a business owner, you should understand the value of a vending machine to your business. Vending is all about convenience - based sales. When customers are in your business, they can make use of your services and also decide to have a snack or a beverage from the vending machine in your business. This would be a convenience to them, since they don’t have to go out of the business to avail that offer. This means that you can have the price of the snacks and beverages increased in the vending machine, knowing that the customers in your business will still buy from the vending machine. This is why vending is a great way of increasing profits in your business. A good vending operator will offer you a substantial percentage of profits from the vending machine sales.

Looking for the right vending operator can be done using the Internet. This is where you will find vending operators advertising their businesses. Some of them have websites which carry information about their vending business as well as testimonies from other customers that have used their services. You can follow up these testimonies so that you can hear for yourself all about their experiences. A good vending operator should have all that information on their website. In addition to this, their website has to be regularly updated.

A Planet Antares vending operator is associated with a reputable vending company, so you can be assured of receiving quality services. A vending operator should service the vending machines on time and keep them well maintained. As a location owner you wouldn’t want customers who are in your location to suffer any inconveniences with the vending machine, just because of a lazy vending operator. If there is any mechanical problem with the vending machine, the vending operator should be able to reach the location within a short period of time, from the time of the call.

Make the right decision when you are looking for a vending operator because having a vending machine in your location financially beneficial.

Generating a Second Income with a Vending Business

2007-05-29T04:26:00.000-07:00

The vending business can be a solid and reliable second income if you already have a regular job or are running another business. With a Planet Antares vending business, you can choose your own working hours, so that means that if you have a regular job you can comfortable fill in the hours when you will take care of your vending machines. Servicing of the Planet Antares vending machines can be conducted in the evenings and during weekends.

If you want to start a vending business while still working at your regular job, you would only be able to start with a few vending machines. Since it is only a part time business, you should not take on more than you can handle. A Planet Antares vending business can supplement your regular salary by allowing you to earn a handsome second income.

To generate a second income, you should pick locations that will be profitable for your vending business. Locations with a high traffic are ideal for a snack and beverage vending business. These can be locations such as shopping malls, subways, motels etc. Picking locations that already have vending machines can prove to be profitable. These locations are considered profitable because vending machines have already been placed there. If the location was not profitable, there would have been no vending machines in it. There are also locations that have no vending machines in them that have the potential to be profitable. Such locations are ideal because you would have no stiff competition to face. With the right location, making a second income will come easy.

Having the best kind of vending machine is also very important for the success of your vending business. Vending machines can be bought new or used or they can be rented. Either way, for a vending business to be successful, the vending machines have to be of the best quality so that there is hardly ever and downtime. Downtime results in loss of sales, thus potential revenue. A customer should never find a vending machine out of their favorite beverage or snack. Since your Planet Antares vending business will only be a part time business, it means that you will not have as many vending machines as someone who is running a full time vending business. Those few vending machines have to be serviced on time and they have to be kept in good working order. The vending machines being few, they are easier to maintain.

Generating a second income would mean that you will now be able to afford the kind of luxuries that you probably never enjoyed before. With a regular job, there might have been a number of luxuries that were out of your budget, but are now affordable because of the second income. With this income you can even choose to expand your vending business by buying more vending machines. As your business grows, you can easily decide to make your vending business full time because of the higher revenues that you will earn.

Vending Industry’s Innovations

2007-05-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

The vending industry has gone through significant changes over the decades. Vending machines are still evolving and today we even have vending machines that can accept credit cards and there is also a technology that allows you to monitor vending machines from afar. These innovations can be placed in Planet Antares vending machines, so as to make your vending business more profitable.

Recent innovations also include improved coin and bill validation and the rapid adoption of sense-and-feedback systems that verify the fact that a vend sale took place. This kind of innovation has improved the state of the vending business.

When we talk about innovations, one very significant innovation that we must mention is telemetry. Reliable, affordable wireless technology has made telemetry practical and provided the means through which cashless payments can be authenticated. Research has shown that 50% of consumers will not make a purchase from a vending machine if there is a “use exact change only” light on. If you have a Planet Antares vending machine that is equipped with telemetry, it can transmit sales and inventory data to a route truck in the parking lot. This will help the driver know exactly which products to bring in for restocking. The data can also be transmitted to remote headquarters for use in scheduling a route stop, detecting component failure or verifying collection information. Telemetry is considered to be one of the most significant developments in vending technology since the invention of the bill changer.

Consumers today want quick and convenient access to competitively priced products. This is why technology has played a very significant role in providing consumers with the kind of service that they would expect. Vending is a multi-billion dollar industry that is growing everyday. Planet Antares offers entrepreneurs a way to start businesses which can grow quickly. Snack, beverage, candy and food items continue to be the most lucrative and stable business in the market. Technology has allowed customers convenient access to vending machines.

Modern vending machines like those that are provided by Planet Antares are equipped with spirals to hold products near the access door at the bottom. When an item has been purchased, it has to pass through a laser beam, if it fails to do so the spirals will turn three times to ensure that the product drops. If it still doesn’t drop, the customer will be asked to make another selection or the money will be refunded back.

A Few Things You Need To Know About the Vending Business

2007-05-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

The vending business can be a repetitive lull of day to day operations. Nevertheless, in the constantly changing vending machine industry, you cannot allow your vending business to remain stagnant. The vending business is very competitive, so you need to find ways that can keep you ahead of your competition. Here are some five tips that you can use to help you avoid falling into a vending machine business rut.

1) Having a secured vending machine location does not mean that you have a safety net. If you have a Planet Antares vending business, you will need to give your locations the attention and service that they deserve. Good customer service is key to the vending machine industry. This is because it is based on reputation and word of mouth advertising. The reputation of your Planet Antares vending business must be excellent so that the word of your vending services can spread. If the clients of your vending location are not satisfied, a vending business competitor will take over the vending machine location. This will mean a loss of a location for you.

2) As a Planet Antares business owner, you must extent your oversight beyond your company office. The first thing that you can do is to get into the field and get to know individual customers at the locations. This is something that you can do by carrying out periodic location visits. Talking to vending machine users and keeping an eye on vending machine purchasing trends will help you in the tailoring of menus and services to specific vending machine locations.

3) Sharing information and vending machine business tips with other vending machine business owners can help the vending machine industry to move forward as a whole. This does not mean that all secrets have to be divulged. Sharing of information will benefit everyone because new vending machine trends or changing consumer demands are responsible for steering the vending industry.

4) Openly slandering your vending machine competitors is not encouraged in any way. Fair play and mutual respect is important to the vending machine industry. Healthy competition will only foster growth in the vending industry. Undermining the competition will only give the vending industry a bad rap.

5) Keep your mind open to new vending technologies like cashless payment options. This technology has proved to be quite popular and financially beneficial to vending businesses. Times have changed, so having this technology in your Planet Antares vending business would greatly change the face of your vending business.

With a vending business it is crucial that you keep the goal of progress in mind. A static vending machine business will not survive in this competitive industry.

Health Oriented Vending

2007-05-09T05:18:00.000-07:00

Traditional snack foods are being shoved from vending machines to foster more healthful eating habits. This is mainly with schools and employee-dining operations. These are places where soft drinks, candy and fried snacks are giving way to bottled water and juices and lower-fat baked snacks and crackers.

Obesity is a huge issue right now and vending operators have also began to notice that they need to make changes in the products that they vend in certain locations in order to cater to the needs of the health conscious.

Schools are undergoing healthy-vending changes which have been brought about by the prodding of nutritionists, parents as well as state legislatures. Snack and beverage manufacturers are also on board by offering more healthy versions of traditional snacks, such as crème filled sandwich cookies and fried cheese flavored snacks. These are all products that can be vended in Planet Antares vending machines. Vending operators have also taken note of the attitude changes towards healthier foods, so you can engage a Planet Antares vending operator to provide healthy vending services to your school or business.

The only problem with healthy vending options is cost and availability of appropriate food items. Organic and lower-fat choices can cost twice as much as regular items. This is why you need to get a Planet Antares vending operator that can provide you with all the best health products at reasonable rates. This factor is what has stopped vending operators from vending healthy products. They fear losing their base business. This is not always the case. When it comes to vending healthy products, the location that you pick would be of utmost importance.

Locations such as schools and hospitals would make a good location for healthy vending. These are the kind of locations that people would want to buy only healthy products. A Planet Antares vending operator that places vending machines with healthy products in such locations stands to make a good profit.

Business executives also view the healthy vending program as one part of an overall health and awareness education program for employees. They have also recognized the need to have healthy vending machines in their offices. They can also eliminate the commission on healthier snacks and beverages in order to make them available to employees. This of course all depends on the agreement that you have with the vendor or if you own the vending machines. For businesses and schools to succeed with healthy vending programs in the future, vending operators and packaged goods companies will need to work together more closely.

A Complete Vending Service

2007-05-02T04:56:00.000-07:00

Having a vending service in your business is a great way of catering to your employee’s needs as well as your own. At the same time, you also stand to make some profit from the sales that will be made from the vending machine. This of course all depends on the understanding that you work out with ending operator. Satisfaction with your vending services is of primal importance. The vending services that you engage should not lack in any way. It should be a complete vending service.
When looking for a vending service provider, look up the information on the Internet. This is where you will find companies such as Planet Antares listed. They offer a complete vending service that will not leave any room for dissatisfaction. Planet Antares Inc. provides facilities with state-of-the-art vending machines, as well as servicing of the vending machines on a regular basis.

When vending machines are placed in your location, you don’t really have to service the vending machines on your own. The service provider is the one that will take care of that part of services. With Planet Antares, all that you have to do is provide the location for the vending machine. Once the vending machines have been placed, the service provider will provide the products for the vending machines. Most of the vending service providers usually allow location owners to pick their own menu, so that the machines can carry only the products that are needed by the people in the location. This is a great way of ensuring that the vending machines carry desired items. It will increase the sales of the products, which will be beneficial to both the vending operator and the location owner.

Providing the vending machines and products is not a complete vending service. Planet Antares for example, will make sure that the vending machines are serviced on a regular basis. In other words, the vending machines will never run empty. Snack and beverage vending machines will probably need to be services once or twice a week. Some even require daily servicing. It all just depends on the location and how well it works with the vending machines in terms of sales. The vending service provider should make sure that there is never one product missing in the vending machine. This will keep you and your employees happy.

The vending service provider should also clean the vending machines whenever they are attending to the machine. On top of this, they should also carry out preventative maintenance on the vending machines, so as to avoid future malfunctions. Incase of any malfunctions, the vending service provider should have a technician on call. Any repairs or replacement of parts should be carried out within 24 hours.

Having a complete vending service in your business would mean that your employees don’t have to go out for snacks, beverages or food items. This will make them more productive. An excellent vending service is something that every business needs.

The Impact of Cashless Vending

2007-03-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Cashless payment options in Planet Antares vending machines will help increase the customer of your vending operation. The customer base will see an increase because there will also be improved consumer satisfaction.

The Federal Reserve Board stated that electronic transactions exceed payments made by check or cash. In addition to this, credit card and debit card purchases continue to grow at an annual rate of 7% and 27% respectively.

Consumer comfort with cashless vending
Some years back, the public were a bit reluctant about using credit and debit cards for small dollar transactions. However with the prevalence of cashless transactions, having a cashless payment option in your Planet Antares vending machines will be extremely beneficial. Today small dollar cashless transactions take place in coffee shops and gas stations. These sectors have seen an increase in their sales as a result of this. A cashless payment option in your Planet Antares vending machines could mean that you will experience an increase in your sales.

Improved convenience and accessibility
With cashless payment options in vending machines, there will be a significant increase in convenience and accessibility. This is something that will make the vending machine industry more profitable by encouraging impulsive vending machine purchases. It has been noted that the public is inclined to make impulsive purchases when paying with a credit card. Increased impulse buying will result in improved sales and profits. Planet Antares vending machines are usually impulsive decisions, mainly because the vending machines are glass front vending machines. In this regard, the presence of a cashless payment option will serve to increase the sales of the snacks and beverages. If a person has the option of using a credit card or a debit card in a vending machine, he/she may be inclined to buy a soda.

Ground-breaking technology
The public is becoming increasingly attracted to self-service vending machine technologies, as well as cashless vending machine payment options. This technology has changed vending industry. With the coming years, we will only see future advancements where it will be possible to make purchases from vending machines using contactless RFID technology, as well as biometric payment options.

An Economic Way of Establishing a Vending Route

2007-03-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

The vending route that you establish for your Planet Antares vending business is paramount to your success in the vending business. The best and most economic way to establish your route would be to do it yourself. This is of course something that you can do after you have carried out your own research on the vending industry. There is no way that you can establish a vending route unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

By establish a vending route on your own you will save on money that would have otherwise been used on a professional location company. There is really no need to pay someone to look for a location, when you can easily do it on your own. The people who feel that they don’t have any free time to go location hunting on their own are the ones that should hire a location company.

When you look for vending locations on your own, you just need to call on different locations, till you find the one that is willing to host your Planet Antares vending machines. The advantage that you would have, is that snack and beverage vending is popular in most locations. This usually leads to location owners looking for vending operators that can offer them the service, on their own. Nevertheless, since most locations already have vending machines, you need to be good in convincing them to host your Planet Antares vending machines. There will be many locations that will probably refuse your vending service, but you just need to keep on looking. When you get the location that will suit your vending needs, you will then need to negotiate on the commission that you will pay the location. The amount of the location should be according to the products that you are selling and the type of machine that you have. The amount that you offer the location owner should be reasonable. The location owner should not take a large percentage than is necessary. After paying your commission, you should be able to still make a profit.

The supplier that you engage to supply you with snacks and beverages should give you a great deal. If you get a supplier that can provide you with products at a lower cost than others, then he would be the best person to engage. This is because when you are buying the products cheaper, you will be able to sell them for more profits.

When you set up your Planet Antares vending route on your own, it will be more economical and at the same time, it will prepare you for any future acquisitions that you may want to make in the future.

Preference for Cashless Vending

2007-02-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

The vending industry has changed in so many ways since it was first introduced in America. Vending has always been a cash business, but with the role of technology playing a significant role, the vending saying, “no cash, no purchase” is being replaced with “no cash, no problem!” This concept can also work well for your Planet Antares vending business.

With the public’s increased attraction to self service technologies and online applications is a growing interest in the implementation of alternative payment options for traditional cash based transactions.

There is a section of the vending industry that already accepts card payment systems. Innovative payment technologies that are designed to reshape vending transaction are being adopted at an extraordinary rate. If you have a sizeable Planet Antares vending business, this system can be very profitable for your vending business.

In the past there was a slow adoption rate for cashless vending. This can be attributed to customer reluctance to use cards for low value dollar transactions, a lack of operator experience with new technology, and its perceived high costs. This is something that is changing, as more vending operators are becoming aware of the impact that cashless transactions can have on a vending operation.

With more than 8 million machines, the vending industry can be described as the largest cash business in America and certainly the most pervasive retail in terms of number of locations.

The costs of hardware, software, and transaction processing have declined to render cashless a much more appealing payment option. This is something that is changing with each year. As the popularity of cashless payment options increase, more and more operators are trying it out, which is leading to a decrease in the costs of installing the system. If you have the system in your Planet Antares vending operation, you can be assured of making huge profits since customers have a preference for cashless vending over the traditional form of payment. At first the public were reluctant to use this form of payment, but that all changed when they realized the benefits that come with having the choice of using this form of payment.

Cashless vending on the rise
To date the vending industry, which is dependent on convenience and service, remains the only major retail channel that does not universally accept cashless forms of payment. It is estimated that 2 to 3 percent of U.S. vending machines offer a credit card payment option. This capability is projected to be 50 percent by the year 2009. This is the right time for implementing this technology in your Planet Antares vending business

Improving the Image of your Vending Business

2007-02-15T04:38:00.000-08:00

When acquiring new Planet Antares vending machine location, you should constantly optimize the products and pricing of your vending business. However there are vending operators out there that neglect to update their vending machine business image. Updating your image would help you secure more locations, since doing that will allow you to possess some quality which can set you apart from competitors.

One way of updating the image of your Planet Antares vending business would be by hiring professional marketing help. This takes time and money but would be very beneficial. Giving your vending business a facelift will help you win bids for new locations and of course getting more referrals. The three main goals that you should set for your Planet Antares vending business are as follows:

1. Improve and update the logo, website and brand identity of your vending business. This will make you more competitive.
2. Raise the awareness of the capabilities of your vending business.
3. Increase the locations of your vending business and the networking potential.

An easy step that you can take to improve the image of your vending business would be to create new printed materials. Printed materials are usually the first impression given to potential vending machine clients, so this means that your Planet Antares vending machine brochures and portfolio should represent your vending business fittingly. New vending machine materials should include new graphics and updated soda machine content. Try to also create a new logo for your vending business. These kinds of changes would give any vending business a more professional appearance and it will make you or your representatives more confident when going out to secure locations.

Another great way of revamping your vending business would be by creating a new business website or updating your old website. When you are doing this, you can use search engine advertising to attract potential locations.

All in all, even though you can make the changes on your own, hiring a marketing professional to make these changes would be the wise thing to do. An outside person can offer a fresh and objective point of view which would be exactly what you would need to improve the image of your vending business.

Brand, Variety and Efficiency are Key to the Success of a Vending Business

2007-02-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

A vending business can be successful due to a number of reasons. If all of these factors work together in your Planet Antares vending business, you can be sure that success will easily come to you.

Brand
Offering branded snack and beverage items in your Planet Antares vending machine, will result in quick sales. This is because these are products that are already recognized nationally. Placing these items in glass front vending machine can increase your sales. Branding in vending can be considered as more important than in most retail; channels. You simply can’t underestimate the power of a strong brand name in a Planet Antares glass front vending machine. In the retail industry you can do different things with merchandising to draw people, but in vending you are limited with space and its brand that is the main attraction.

Variety
A wide selection of snacks and beverages is important in a vending machine. People want to find variety when they buy from a vending machine. This means that they will have more to choose from. In order for you to place variety in your vending machine, you will need a high capacity vending machine like those that are provided by Planet Antares Inc. Healthy products can also be place in vending machines so that you have a wider selection of products. By placing these products in the vending machines, you will be catering to the health conscious section of the society.

Efficiency
Improvements in technology have enabled vending equipment to offer more variety, reliability and more effective merchandising. Technology has made it easier to capture item level sales data and analyze it to maximize sales by optimizing customer satisfaction. Advances in technology have also introduced cashless payment options in vending. This of course has led to more efficient vending, where you as the vending operator will be more pleased and the customers will be more satisfied. With this kind of technology, you can keep a track of all the sales that are made from the vending machine.

When you started a vending business, you did it for it to be successful. This means that you should ensure that all the factors in your vending business compliment each other. Make sure that you have brand, variety and efficiency in your vending business and success will surely follow.

Repairing your Vending Machine

2007-01-31T21:45:00.000-08:00

When you are running a Planet Antares vending business, you have need to have some basic knowledge of how to repair your vending machines if anything were to ever go wrong. The knowledge would come in handy when there are minor repairs to be made. There is no need to always call a repair man every time something goes wrong with the machine. Calling them would cost you extra money that you can save by doing the repairs on your own.

Maintenance of your Planet Antares vending machine is the best way of ensuring that the vending machine runs smoothly without any mechanical problems. Make sure that all the parts are always well cleaned and oiled. Vending machines usually have problems with coins jams or the bill validator being unable to accept money. There are also times that a vending machine fails to deliver the product chosen by the customer. These are some of the problems that can frustrate a customer. When a customer gets frustrated by using a certain vending machine, it means that they will try to avoid that particular vending machine in the future. This is why your Planet Antares vending machine should always be in good working order.

When your vending machines have been placed in a location, you are not going to be standing by your vending machine, watching it at all hours. The location owner is the one who will be watching over the machine. If the location owner is always present at the location, he or she can watch out for any miscreants that will want to vandalize the vending machine. This is why the location that you choose has to be in a good and safe neighborhood, especially in locations where there is no one to watch over the vending machine. Vandalism can cost you a lot of money in repairs. This would be an extra expense on your part, since it is unexpected. The damage cause by vandalism is usually extensive, that means it would need a repair man to fix the problem.

When you buy vending machines from companies such as Planet Antares Inc., you will be provided with all the necessary details about the vending industry and vending machines. These companies usually have wonderful vending programs that will show you how you can make minor repairs on your vending machine.

If there is ever a problem with a vending machine, it will be the responsibility of the location owner to alert you about the problem so that you can reach the location within a short period of time. In the case that your vending machine is in a location where there is no attendant, you can have a phone number placed on the vending machine, where a customer can get in touch with you whenever there is a malfunction. The vending route that you have established should be near your base, so that you don’t have hard time reaching the vending machines for repairs or servicing.

Packaging Challenges for Vending Machines

2007-01-29T02:10:00.000-08:00

When buy products from vending machines, they usually want quick service. Access to the products in your Planet Antares vending machine has to come with comfort, convenience and ease to that person. When you think about what products will be ideal for your vending business, you have to think of quick indulgences. These are products that make a busy person’s life easier. Below are some packaging challenges that you would need to consider for your Planet Antares vending business:

• Make it cost-efficient. This should be the primary issue when thinking about vending packaging. If potential sales are estimated to be 5 percent or more of a product’s total, vending specific packaging becomes a viable option.
• Consider form and function. Confections and most beverages appear in vending machines in as much the same packaging as they do on the store shelf. However, many non-food products and non-traditional food products require vending specific packaging to maximize “appetite appeal” and protect against damage. Most products sold through vending machines need to be designed for a single use. This would not apply to the snacks and beverages sold in Planet Antares vending machines. The size of these items will almost always be the same whether in a retail store or vending machines.
• A third consideration is optimizing communications on the package’s facing panel. Consumers usually cannot handle the product prior to purchase. They can’t turn it to inspect the side or back panels, which may sit obstructed from view inside the vending machine. Key information that will drive the sale must be a clearly visible on the front panel. Consumers should be able to see it through glass from two to three feet away. The advantage that Planet Antares vending machines have is that they are glass front vending machines. This means that the products are visible while in the vending machine. This increases your chances of a sale, since attractive packaging always attracts customers.

In the vending environment, the package has to work both inside the machine and in the consumer’s possession. This of course is what will work in your vending business. There are a number of strategies that you can incorporate in your vending business to drive sales. Effective packaging is one thing that you can do to have a successful vending business.

Health Vending in the Work Place

2007-01-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

Everyone in the vending industry as all too aware that obesity, health and wellness continue to grab headlines. Just about everyday, survey after survey, study after study, analyzes, concludes and calculates just how much fatter our nation’s citizens are becoming each year.

Planet Antares vending operators who are running school accounts are quite familiar with the issue and have been forced to address it by offering a wider array of “better-for-you” products or risk losing the account. There are some operators who think that the issue doesn’t affect them. The truth is that the focus on health and wellness is becoming important to all types of accounts and Planet Antares operators interested in succeeding with all kind of accounts need to address this complex issue.

For a number of reasons, employers and consumers alike are more focused on health and wellness than ever before, so simply sitting back and hoping the issue somehow goes away could wind up putting you out of business.

Issue moves into the workplace
While the issue has been prominent in schools for several years, it is just beginning to move into the workplace. One reason is that there are studies that have outlined the disease’s associated health risks such as heart disease, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and stroke, just to name a few.

There are reports that have shown that obesity alone costs employers approximately $12.7 billion each year in health care costs, paid sick leave and life insurance policies. Employers are increasingly eyeing these costs and choosing instead to implement programs that will protect their employees’ health.

As a Planet Antares vending operator you need to get up on speed on health and nutrition as one of the action steps needed for the vending industry to meet the needs of a changing consumer and new market forces. While marketing healthy products might be challenging for the Planet Antares operators, the demographic momentum of aging baby boomers and continued media focus on obesity are powerful forces.

In addition, promoting programs that protect health of the workforce just makes sense. An organization with healthy employees would mean higher employee morale, a better ability to attract and retain key people, and a more alert and productive workforce.

Using the Right Approach to Vend

2007-01-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

Many people usually need a snack or something to drink at one point of time during the day. Most of these people usually turn to vending machines because they are the most accessible and they are fast. This is the reason why a Planet Antares vending business would be a great opportunity for you to start a business.

Vending machines are money making machines. These are machines that are needed in almost every location that has more than a handful of employees. When you start your Planet Antares vending business, you should always look for ways to encourage sales from your vending machines. This will give you an edge over the competition.

They include:
• Finding good suppliers. Since you are selling sodas and snacks, make sure that you find a supplier that will offer you a good deal for your money. Be certain to find the best bulk purchases. If you buy at a reasonable the rate, the more reasonable your prices will be.
• Fair pricing. Make the pricing of your products is fair. If the store next door is selling a soda at 60 cents a can and you are charging 75 cents, it will mean that few people will buy from your vending machine, if at all.
• Service frequently. Keeping your Planet Antares vending machines well stocked will keep your customers happy. No one wants to find a vending machine has run out of cold beverages on a hot summer day. To avoid this make sure that you check on your vending machines on a frequent basis.
• Stock variety. Always keep your Planet Antares vending machines stocked with a variety of products. People like to see a variety of products when they use vending machines. When new products come out, try them out in your vending machine to see how well it will sell. Place a few healthy choices in your vending machines as well, because there is a growing demand for these products.
• Feedback. Ask the customers what they would like to see in the vending machines and then pay attention to the feedback. There are some locations where you will find that there are more people that drink diet sodas than regular sodas. This means that you will need to place more of the diet sodas in your vending machines.

If you use the right approach to vend your products, the vending business can be very lucrative for you. With vending, you are only as good as your customers’ say that you are so make sure that you keep your customers happy.

Servicing a Vending Machine

2007-01-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

Many operators make a mistake of servicing a snack or soda machine when it is only 30 % depleted, and even when it has just sold out one or more products. This should not be the case. You should only service a vending machine when it is necessary. Below is a strategy that will help you service a Planet Antares vending machine only when it is necessary while still providing good service.

• Double up on the best selling two or three products that are selling out. On a “space to sales” soda machine, reallocate the space to the best seller (s) to accomplish this.
• Monitor the sell outs for the next few services – they should be eliminated.
• Work to reschedule the Planet Antares vending machine aiming for a 40 to 50 percent depletion level. Typically, this will involve scheduling it for service at a 30 to 60 percent longer interval.

If collecting these metrics is difficult, or if a manual system is being used, then you can decide to collect the data and note down the information. There are also some questions that you would need to ask yourself, such as:

• How many products have sold out?
• Approximately how empty is the Planet Antares vending machine?
• Which are the products that are selling well and how many columns of each have they been allocated?
These questions will help you keep track of how well the products are selling. The products that don’t sell well can be switched.
The latest software and technology solutions can automate much of the manual route scheduling process, using the following systems:
• Dynamic scheduling – this automates the delivery schedule each day based on user defined parameters, such as the number of sell outs, percent depletion, or the number of days since the last service. If a Planet Antares vending machine doesn’t require servicing, there is no need to waste gas and the time on a trip. Dynamic scheduling works with non DEX as well as DEX able machines.
• Remote monitoring – this requires DEX, as well as a wireless or hard-wired network to remotely enable the machines. This technology allows the operation to optimize scheduling and merchandising by providing real time sales data. It is most suitable for distant locations that are costly to service.
By using these techniques you can not only have reduced visits, but you can also cut entire routes in your Planet Antares vending business. This means that you can add customers without adding staff, or you can also choose to the reduce staff. This would of course increase your vending profits.

2006-12-27T04:51:00.000-08:00

Owning a Vending Business

Owning a vending business takes work, it is not just easy money. This kind of business is not meant for slackers. There are some people that think that since they are their own boss that it means that they can conduct the business how they want to.

When you start your vending business, don’t just go ahead and buy a hundred vending machines. Starting off with one or two Planet Antares vending machines would be a great way of kick starting your vending business. Once your business picks up and the profits start rolling in, you can then think of buying more vending machines.

When looking for a location, it would be best to go scout out one by yourself. If you use a locator to find a location they might pick out a location that is in a rough part of town. Try asking kids about where they think there should be vending machines. Kids are frequent users of vending machines, so they can provide you with the kind of information that you are looking for. They can also provide you information on which products are popular with the public. When looking for the ideal location, look for places where people have to stop and wait. While they are waiting, they will be more inclined to buy after looking at your attractive Planet Antares vending machines.

Planet Antares Inc. can provide you with vending information about the supplier that you can use in your area. A supplier should be able to provide you with all the items that you would need for your vending business and at a reasonable rate. The supplier should carry branded as well as non branded items.

A vending business is one of the most profitable home based businesses. When you start one, make sure that you have the complete picture of the vending business. With Planet Antares Inc., the start up cost might be low, but you will still need to calculate the total cost of everything that you will need to start off your business.

Once your location has been picked out, it will be a good idea to offer the location owner a flat monthly rent rather than a percentage of the profits. This is something that you would need to negotiate with the location owner at the beginning. The monthly rent will be determined by a number of factors which includes what your vending machine contains, the popularity of the contents and the space taken up by the vending machine.

As a vending business owner, you will need to be involved in the maintenance of your vending machines as well as the business. Servicing your vending machines on a regular basis is very important. No business owner would want a vending machine in their location that runs out of items or breaks down.

When your vending business starts bringing in great amounts of profits in one or two locations, you can then roll over some of the profits into buying other machines.

2006-11-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

Vending Operators and Nutrition Education

With school districts now being required to come up with nutrition education plans, educators are reaching out to private and public health organizations, as well as the vending industry. Antares Corporation vending operators could find it worth their time to become involved.

There is a need for vending operators to take a more proactive stance in their communities, since legislatures and media are continuing to focus on obesity. The issue will remain in the spotlight for some time to come. This means that Antares vending operators will need to familiarize themselves with nutrition information resources.

Competition makes some proactive

Competition can also encourage more Antares vending operators to become more involved with nutrition education. Some will argue that the nationals and the large regionals have been promoting healthy eating programs for many years. The nationals and the big regionals continue to upgrade their nutrition labeling programs.

Vending operators are willing to cater to their customers who are health conscious. To start with they will just need to educate themselves about the kind of nutritional products they can provide the consumers. Since this is an ongoing issue that will not see any end soon, it would be wiser for all vending operators to make some kind of change in the products they provide, in their vending business. Antares vending operators will need to be armed with nutritional information to carry this out.

To make choosing healthy products even easier, many of our product suppliers are leading the way by offering healthier versions of their products for sale in vending machines. The National Automatic Vending Association (NAMA) will be making available a series of static clings aimed at reminding customers to “Burn it off and not forget to exercise.”

In addition to the static clings, NAMA will be initiating a “Balanced for Life” campaign to promote the importance of vending to schools and businesses and how vending can be a part of the solution to reduce obesity. As a vending operator, you will have an important role to play in bringing this message to your customers.

2006-11-01T04:16:00.000-08:00

Defining a Brand

Your brand is a major competitive asset for your Antares vending company. When people hear the term ‘brand,’ they often think it means logo, store sign, package label or website. However, a brand is much more than a symbol. You can view it as everything an organization says and does – the sum of its behavior, the services or products it offers, and its presentation.

Your brand will create an emotional connection conveying value, trust and personality of your Antares vending operation. It will also separate you from others in the market. A strong and well developed brand is a powerful and strategic weapon.

Effective branding

Effective branding requires a disciplined focus, consistency of message and proactive attention. This is a process, not an event. It must be research driven and aligned with your business objectives. It also must also provide a clear direction. A successful approach for effective branding involves a four step process:

· Defining a brand strategy that is relevant because it is rooted in fundamental customer needs, differentiated because it reflects unique value, and credible because it is authentic and true.

· Translating those findings into a memorable and meaningful positioning statement and visual brand identity that clearly articulates the operator’s value and is aligned with their key business objectives.

· Executing the brand strategy through integrated communications that support the positioning and build strong, favorable associations in the minds of existing and future customers.

· Measuring and evaluating progress to gauge changes in perceptions and awareness, while making necessary adjustments along the way.

You can transform your Antares Corp. vending business and place your brand at the center of your corporate strategy. This would mean that you are aligning all your communications, operations and systems to your brand mission and values. At the same time you should make all your employees effective ambassadors for your brand.

Your customers expect attractive, well maintained and fully functioning Antares vending equipment, along with a variety of fairly priced name brand products. Your employees would want to work for a company with a compelling vision. One important thing to remember is that, you should treat your brand as an investment, not a cost.

2006-10-31T01:45:00.000-08:00

The State of the Vending Industry

The vending market has advanced far beyond merely serving a consumer with a growing stomach, who pushes a few coins through the slot to make a selection of a product.

Technology has made the experience of a sale easier, faster and even a little more fun. Improvements that have occurred inside Antares vending machines are making them more appealing. The enhancements answer these marketing challenges.

1. How to best stage packaging to attract when it is imprisoned behind a glass screen several feet from the consumer.

2. How to protect against product breakage in systems where a product may fall a couple of feet as it’s dispensed.

3. How to ensure that there is freshness in an environment which may have wider temperature and wider light variations than a convenience store.

Manufacturing and technology advances are changing the playing field. Stronger plastics and reinforced glass are producing Antares vending machines with broader, clearer windows. New dispensing mechanisms are enabling racks of products to move closer to the viewer’s eyes, inviting closer inspection. The stronger manufacturing materials used are allowing manufacturers to re-introduce glass front Antares vending machines that give consumers a clear view of the package.

Vending lags behind retail

It has always seemed like vending is one step behind the retail industry. For example some vendors have not taken full advantage of some of the faster growing cold beverage product segments, notably bottled water.

Vendors can learn a lot from the retail industry when it comes to marketing. Marketing is something that has not been widely practiced by the vending industry, unlike in retail.

Antares vending operators can do their part to facilitate their growth by investing in new equipment and technology. This is the direction that vending industry is headed. What any vendor wants for their vending business is to be successful, so in order to do this you need to offer newer products and equipment which will enable vending operators to offer a higher level of customer service, which will strengthen the consumer perception of the industry.

2006-10-26T05:56:00.000-07:00

Valuing Vending Operating Assets

The asset method is purposely simplistic. The Antares vending company value will be the book value of the selling company at the date of the valuation. Once the book value has been established, the buyer and the seller can negotiate the final selling price based on criteria they feel is pertinent.

How to organize a list of assets

The first step in using the asset method is to obtain from the selling business a list of their operating assets. This list needs to include a description of the asset, the date the asset was purchased and the purchase price of the asset.

The assets of your Antares vending business should then be grouped according to the major categories in which they belong, i.e. vending equipment, automotive, etc. Once the assets have been grouped, it is important to arrange them in chronological order.

Assign purchase prices to assets

The next step would be to enter the purchase price of each asset, the salvage value of each asset and the depreciable basis. The salvage value is an estimate of the worth of the asset when its expected useful service is over. The depreciable basis is the purchase price less the salvage value. After the depreciable basis has been established, a depreciation schedule needs to be designed. A depreciation schedule requires an estimate to be made on the useful life of an asset.

Determine the book value

To determine the book value of the Antares operating assets at the end of the years that the business has been in existence would require you subtract the depreciation deduction from the purchase price of the asset.

Calculate the business valuation

Once all the categories have been added together, a book value valuation of the business is arrived. This is only a starting point in the valuation process and should not be considered a final buying price for the business. The value gives the buyer an idea of what the operating assets of the company are worth as of the date of the valuation.

The asset valuation method can provide an Antares vending operator a starting point where they can begin to value a vending business. There would then be a need to add additional asset categories to gain a clearer picture of the total assets’ worth at the valuation date.

2006-10-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

A New Beginning for Schools and Vending

Vending in schools has been quite a topic for the past years. Nutrition for the school children is of utmost importance. Most schools have vending machines on their premises. These machines usually vend beverages, snacks and foods. A lot of the young kids buy these products from the machines.

As an Antares vending operator, you can place your vending machines by Natural Choice in schools to cater to the children. One thing that will of course be required will be that you should vend healthy products as well. The whole country has become more health conscious. This is the reason why you, as a vending operator, need to adjust to this new growing trend.

Fighting obesity

Vending in schools has taken a new turn because of the health concern. One can consider it as a new beginning. Vending operators have always had vending machines in schools. The only difference now is that, now there is a new concern and all vending operators including Antares vending operators need to get up and take note of it.

There are several things that a vending operator can do about child obesity. One option is to work with the local chapter of the American School Food Service Association in supporting a Nutrition Advisory Council (NAC). An NAC serves as a link between students, school foodservice personnel, administrators and the community. An NAC is a vehicle that spreads the word about the important role nutrition plays in students’ lives. It also provides important feedback from students on what they like or don’t like about their school foodservice program.

Antares vending operators can also participate in local health fairs and school “wellness” nights. This will keep them well informed about the health issues.

There has been a great deal of focus on school vending in the recent years. Some schools have even decide to ban vending machines altogether. Other schools have seen the necessity of having vending machines with healthy products. By placing Antares vending machines which vend health products in schools, you will be part of the solution in the fight against child obesity.

2006-10-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

Managing Workers’ Compensation Costs

To run a successful Antares vending business, you need to keep your workers’ compensation costs in line. Firstly keep in mind that your primary asset is your employees, and their safety should be your biggest concern. Their safety will benefit your productivity, as well as your operating expenses.

Managing workers’ comp costs begins with establishing and creating a safe work environment. All operations in your Antares business must be safe operating procedures. The company must have effective, formal incident reporting procedures. These procedures would require management to keep a record of incidents and the corrective actions taken.

Incentives should promote safety

Risk management should be part of the company’s operating procedures. You should have incentive programs in your Antares operation to encourage safe operations. Employees will be exposed to back, neck and shoulder injuries from lifting and moving heavy inventory or machinery. Workers’ comp claims can be avoided with proper precautions such as employee safety training programs.

The employees of your vending operation must be trained in proper lifting techniques. In addition to this they must be equipped with proper back braces. The use of dollies for transporting machines and supplies will cut down on accidents. Since this industry requires the employee to move and lift heavy loads, a pre-employment physical should be conducted.

Locations of machines matters

The location and positioning of machines is critical since service and repair work is sometimes conducted in locations where there is high pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Some locations make it impossible for servicers to maneuver equipment and service machines. Servicers and repairers should be provided with protective gear, such as goggles, gloves and back braces. This is to avoid electric shocks, burns and cuts. In addition machines should be bolted to the floor to protect the employee from machine tipping when they are being serviced.

There is not much that a vending operator can do about most of the factors contributing to the recent jump in workers’ compensation costs. An Antares operator can however limit his employees’ exposure to loss by implementing an effective risk management program.

2006-10-13T05:47:00.000-07:00

Enhancing Profits in this Economy

Enhancing profits in the present economy can prove to be quite a challenge for your vending business by Natural Choice USA. Most professionals understand that changes in the economy, up or down, offer opportunities to enhance profits. For the time being, it seems that the economy is moving from recession to recovery.

As an Antares vending operator, you need to find ways of enhancing profits for your business. Here are some of the options.

Staffing: Don’t wait

Some time back, it was impossible to hire and retain a warm body. Employee turnover was so high that you never had time to properly train your people, which made your business suffer. The recession had created a large pool of quality unemployed people to fill the empty slots in your organization chart.

In anticipation of improved sales, now might be the best time to recruit and train middle management and supervisory people. These people are available today at low cost.

Price and commissions

Most operators have some locations where employment levels dropped to the point where it hardly pays to maintain the location. In such a situation, it would be best to visit the customers and request higher prices or lower commissions. It is a lot easier to get a positive response when the customer feels that you are doing them a favor by maintaining the service.

Borrow better

The interest rates are lower than they have been since the Great Depression of 1929. That means that this is the best time to borrow money, if you can find someone to lend it to you at fixed rates.

One way for Antares operators to borrow at fixed rates is to refinance the equity in their buildings. If you have enough equity, use the proceeds to pay off higher priced, non mortgage debt.

Considering an acquisition?

Hard economic times are difficult for everybody. A competitor who spurned the generous offer you made there years ago may now be hurting badly enough so that he is forced to accept any offer. Even if that company is losing money, things will change when it gets folded into your Antares operation. A whole set of costs disappear and that can make the business extremely profitable for you.

2006-10-11T05:38:00.000-07:00

Today’s Market Place Calls for Change

Most Antares operators have agreed that the vending business has changed in such a way that better control of inventory, in conjunction with more complete accountability, are needed. In the past, gross profit margins were high enough to offset both operating inefficiencies and pilferage.

Category management produces savings by reducing the number of stock keeping units (SKU) inventory. In addition to this, it also yields higher sales due to better production selection choices and more frequent product rotations.

Key development: line item tracking

Several Antares operators noted that because line item accounting creates the ability to manage product categories more efficiently, it makes sense to take advantage of this opportunity. Teaching drivers how to use handheld computers may take time, but the data that is collected can be eventually be used to manage the product selection process better.

Once the operating systems are set up to support a category management program in your Antares vending business, there are usually some ongoing tasks needed to maintain the program. Most agreed that these tasks are not cumbersome. Someone in a managerial capacity must analyze data regularly and make product selections. The amount of support work will vary depending on how detailed the planograms are. Planograms are usually organized according to the location type (office, factories) and/or machine configuration.

Ongoing support functions will vary

The amount of support work will depend on how frequently the planogram changes and also how much of the planogram changes. “Core” products do not change, whereas “cycle” products do. Most planograms are on a monthly to quarterly basis.

Another ongoing support task involves inputting data into the system and merging it with outside data. Some Antares operators have found databases provided by product suppliers helpful. Some rely strictly on internal data, while others receive regular updates from their computer software company.

Most operators choose products based on sales, not profitability. Even though there are some systems that provide profit information on individual products, this aspect of the system has been more challenging.

2006-10-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Honor Box Market

With profits squeezed ever so hard, the honor box market has become the exclusive domain of a unique group of specialists.

There are some owners of honor box companies who don’t have high hopes for midsize accounts. It’s a hard market segment. Midsize locations have too many people to make an honor box manageable. In other words the bigger the employee group, the more problematic an honor box becomes.

An honor box can be manageable if you find the right Antares vending machines to place in the larger accounts. These machines have product variety because of their large capacities.

Questionable labor force

Mismanagement of honor box operations is the biggest threat to business. Being in the honor box business is like walking on a tightrope, you need to stay focused. Part of this focus needs to be on account turnover, new sales, cash flow and labor.

What you need to make any Antares account successful is a good driver. You can rely on honest drivers to keep the locations accountable for the snacks. If the driver is able to establish a relationship with the account, that account tends to be more willing to make up for shortages. Problems can arise if the account doesn’t trust the driver. The driver should be expected to service between 65 to 70 accounts per day. An average driver can do up to $7, 000 in gross sales per week. This is what can attract the Antares vending company to taking up an account in the honor box operations.

The honor box operator can also find success partnering with a charity organization. This helps with marketing because it can give additional motivation for people to try the boxes in their businesses.

Name brands a must

Having name brand products in a well frequented honor box is very important. Just like in an Antares vending operation, brand is of primal importance. Variety is also very important. A challenging product mix with new offerings and new manufacturers’ names is needed, because people get easily bored with what they are looking at if the mix never changes. Consumers will always pay for name brand products.

Established operators have agreed that there are very few large honor snack businesses starting up. This can be due to market saturation and higher prices.

2006-10-07T05:23:00.000-07:00

The Honor Box Market

With profits squeezed ever so hard, the honor box market has become the exclusive domain of a unique group of specialists.

An honor box can be manageable if you find the right Antares vending machines to place in the larger accounts. These machines have product variety because of their large capacities.

Questionable labor force

Name brands a must

Established operators have agreed that there are very few large honor snack businesses starting up. This can be due to market saturation and higher prices.

2006-10-05T05:33:00.000-07:00

Cashing In on PET Bottles

PET bottles have made the case for dedicated beverage routes stronger than ever. Investment can be simplified with a plan that phases in dedicated routes.

The introduction of larger-sized PET beverage bottles has complicated the life of the typical Antares vending operator. Plastic beverage bottles account for the majority of single service sales in supermarkets, while in full line vending they account for a smaller percentage. This shows that the Antares operator needs to offer customers the products that they have clearly demonstrated that they want.

PET bottles sell for much higher price points than 12 ounce cans. When operators refuse to offer these products, it means that they are depriving their companies of the higher gross profit dollars. They end up loosing sales by forcing their customers to purchase these products from c-stores and supermarkets.

Most operators have complained that PET bottles produce a lower gross profit percentage as compared to 12 ounce cans, and in addition to this, these bottles decrease space in their route vehicles.

Even if PET bottles produce a lower gross profit percentage, you need to keep in mind that you don’t take percentages to the bank; instead you take dollars to the bank.

Larger vehicles are available

Antares operators face a big hurdle in solving the space problem in their route trucks. Many operators replace route vehicles usually every 8 to 10 years. PET bottles have achieved a sizeable percentage of market penetration with full-line operators. This goes to show that many operators have solved the space problem by purchasing larger route vehicles.

The proliferation of brands in beverages and snacks has forced operators to purchase larger vehicles for mixed product routes. Running a dedicated beverage Antares route has a number of benefits. PET bottles are generally heavier than a case of cans, so it would be an added advantage for you to have a dedicated beverage truck where you can use a forklift to load or unload the cases.

2006-10-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

Growth in Potential Outdoor Vending Locations

Leisure locations such as parks and amusements centers have so far been successful for outdoor vending. Leisure locations are the most lucrative type of site for outdoor snack machines. The larger theme parks tend to hire bottlers to do their vending, but the smaller ones often use independent vending operators like Antares vending operators. Opportunities are on the rise as more recreational sites open up.

Consider the facts

The following factors have fueled growth in potential outdoor vending locations:

· Retail establishments that draw heavy traffic have increased square footage.

· Housing complexes with common areas have grown in number.

· Public parks have experienced growing attendance

· Vending management companies which manage vending services for national accounts have persuaded national accounts to make better use of the vending opportunities available, including outdoor sites.

Outdoor machines suffer fewer maintenance problems as they don’t get kicked underneath them and in the condensers. Antares operators offered mixed view on how lucrative outdoor locations are, as compared to indoor locations. Some operators reported that the outdoor machines produce similar returns to indoor machines in similar type locations. On the other hand, vending management companies insist that outdoor locations generate higher sales.

Higher investment, higher returns

The cost of maintaining an Antares machine outdoors is higher, but so are the returns. Independent vending operators, moreover, have the option of leasing cold drink machines from bottlers, who can then assume the additional overhead for security. Other operators have experienced success with beverage and snack vending machines in outdoor locations. This means that you will stand a good chance of receiving higher returns when you place your Antares vending machines in outdoor locations.

While, the market for outdoor beverage machines may be underserved, all the more so for candy/snack machines, which came to the market in the past years. Outdoor vending poses an opportunity for growth at a time when traditional locations are saturated. These locations will be more profitable for your Antares business.

2006-09-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

Operators Call for Uniform DEX Data Standards

Operators are quick to blame the equipment manufacturers for not doing enough to standardize their DEX hardware and software. The manufacturers did not adopt a set of standards, which some now think are too broad. When NAMA said that people needed to send XYZ information, different manufacturers had different understandings of how to do it.

As a result, a handful of operators including Antares operators want to see NAMA adopt, more stringent DEX standards. Even some equipment manufactures agree that standards can do with some improvement. There are some operators that that have had problems when they first tried to utilize DEX.

In some cases, the DEX standards have been too broad. The more stringent ones may be able to solve the problems that some Antares operators are having. Manufacturers point out that not all machines require the same type of data. In addition, not all customers want the same information from the machine. Excessive standardization carries the risk of extra cost without additional benefit.

Will standards fix things?

This is the big question. Standardization will not always assure Antares operators that manufacturers will abide by new protocols. Some manufacturers claim that competitors have not supported existing DEX standards. Such a claim in itself is a judgment based on technical interpretation. Equipment manufactures have further pointed out that the task of gathering data in a useable format is one that should be handheld by the software company.

Even if NAMA adopts additional standards, as it is considering, manufacturers will add to that list for specific equipment needs. Whether minimum standards are necessary to begin with is open to question, since many protocols are already being followed for simplicity’s sake.

There are some DEX data items that tend to be standard in all vending machines, including Antares machines. These include: coin mechanical fields, coin to tube, coin to coin box, coin from tubes, total coins, total cash from validator, total vends and total cash. Machines that report less standard data, such as sales per column, sometimes require extra memory, which not every machine will have. The standardization of DEX data is an issue that will improve with time. The immediate need is for operators to understand the benefits.

2006-09-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Small Accounts: The big challenge

Most operators cannot service accounts with fewer than 50 employees profitably. If you want to do this in your Antares operations, then you can develop a system to do that. To service your small accounts efficiently, service frequencies and sales-per-stop should be carefully reviewed.

With small accounts you don’t get much gross profit dollars to capitalize your investment, but the good thing is you don’t have nearly as much sales volume concentrated with one customer. Even with small accounts, you can exceed the NAMA operating ratio average.

Technology to the rescue

Over the past years, many operators have either given up on the small account market or have tried to use smaller machines and infrequent servicing. Through efficient route management, an Antares small account can serviced profitably through efficient route management. You can use a specially designed flexible route accountability system which would schedules routes based on historical sales data of each machine.

Leveraging labor effectively

Labor, not equipment, is the most critical cost in servicing vending locations. By leveraging labor productivity gains, we are able to capitalize equipment investments with smaller than “industry standard” account sales volume. The accounts are serviced according to sales volume. Sales are tracked for a period of six months to determine service frequency. The optimal time to service the account of closed front machines is at the 60 percent sell-off. This means only 40 percent of the machine needs to be filled at the time of service. A different sell-off ratio is assigned to glass front Antares vending machines, due to the negative consumer perception caused by empty spirals in these machines. Handheld computers are a great help with data tracking. Developing a data base to determine when the account needs service is the easy part; the hard part is route scheduling. You can use a grid map of the Antares service area to come up with the most efficient schedule. This will allow you to get your per-service selling margins up substantially.

Category management and computerized data collection would help you to succeed in the vending trade. In addition, you can utilize technology to profitably serve small. This will keep you competitive in your market.

2006-09-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

Increase your Sales by Building a Website

Each day there are more than 625 million searches are conducted online. This means that there could be prospective customers searching everyday for products to fuel and energize their employee workforce, including your snacks and beverages. They’re using search engines to find exactly what they’re looking for. They can type in words such as “vending and Boston” to help them.

The name of your Antares vending company needs to appear on the first page of the results from these targeted searches. If you do not have a website, then you would need to build one.

The internet replaces phone directory

Your website would be your online pitch for Internet users. Customers are Internet users and the first stop for a consumer in need of a product or a service is an Internet search engine, not the phone book. As is the case with all marketing communication tools, websites should be oriented first and foremost to serve the need and interests of your current customers and your potential customers.

By having a website for your Antares operations, it means that you will increase your chances of obtaining more business. In other words this is just another form of promoting your Antares business. Potential customers can view your website at any time, and that means you can gain a number of new accounts using the website.

In this competitive environment for winning new vending businesses, your website needs to stand out from the crowd and at the same time it needs to be sophisticated and professional. It should attract potential customers and reflect your business.

How a site is designed, developed, written and managed can have a big impact on how easy your company lands first among search engine results and how easy it is to succeed through online advertising. Your web presence would be your home base for your Antares business. It is a critical component of your marketing and communications strategy.

You would be directing visitors to your website as the follow up to offline promotions, and it must effectively handle visitors coming there from traditional marketing sources such as your business cards, cold calling and brochures.

2006-09-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

Technology Advances for Theft Prevention

The control of cash in equipment has been one of our daily tasks since the vending business began. Virtually every week, there have been reports on an occurrence of someone breaking into a vending machine. There have also been steps taken to control the cash from internal theft. Attempts are being made to minimize internal theft to guarantee that all the money made in your Antares operations comes back to the money room.

Fortunately, technology has helped Antares vending operators to control the products and cash on an everyday basis. The refinement of the DEX standards for machines is now enabling us to utilize this technology in any manufactured machine of any age. Technological advances have and will continue to help us get a better handle on where the cash and products are at any time of the day and night.

Today, dollar bills make up the majority of cash versus the coins of the past years. Thieves are now able to obtain a large amount of cash and discreetly walk out the door. Unfortunately the internet has given the thieves valuable information of the equipment and locking systems.

As much as technology has helped Antares operators with internal theft, technology is also helping with external theft. Electronic locks are becoming more and more popular as a method of curbing both external and internal theft.

Minimally secure your bill acceptors

Most Antares machines have easy access to the dollar bill acceptor and stacker by simply prying on the door to gain access to the back bill acceptor bezel and stacker by crashing the front bezel with a hammer. Kits are available that will secure the Antares bill acceptor bezel and stacker to make access impossible. Reinforced steel covers can cover the bill acceptor bezel.

Avoid theft and vandalism

A least costly action you can take against theft and vandalism for your Antares vending machines may be to determine if the machine is at a proper location within your location. If the machine is hidden in a back hallway rather than in a position near the front door, your chances for theft and vandalism will probably increase. Place the machine in a visible area.

Security issues will never go away. Unlike other retail establishments, the vending business is such that both internal and external security issues will remain with us for the long term. To keep your losses to a minimum you can invest in technology, which will really pay off in the long run.

2006-09-19T05:25:00.000-07:00

Large Size Candy Bars

King size bars are costlier than large size confections (LSC), and at the same time, there is less consumer acceptance. LSC are well received in all types of accounts. Antares operators have reported having good sales with them. LSC and king size candy bars have boosted candy sales for a number of operators. You shouldn’t be reluctant to use higher priced offerings in your Antares operations; so far others have experienced success using these offerings.

Some operators not ready to upsize

There are some operators out there that have been reluctant to upsize, because the higher the price, the less people are going to buy. This is not always the case. Upsizing can really work for your operations, since people are willing to pay the higher prices. This all just depends on the location of your Antares operations. Upsizing has proven to be profitable for a large number of operators.

Several operators have noted that $1.00 is the ceiling they can charge for candy, this is the reason that LSC works. King size candy bars do not work, as consumers do not want giant candy bars. The dollar seems to be the right price.

A way to offer added value

LSC can provide a way for you to circumvent a price increase. You can have secondary name brand candy bars removed from your Antares vending machines in response to higher costs. There are some companies that are offering generous rebate programs and other candy manufacturers are developing products to fit the need for less expensive offerings.

The bigger question for most Antares operators is not where they will source candy, but what they will carry. Higher costs for certain national name brand products has forced many to consider upsizing to larger products, which will allow them to offer a greater value for a higher price point.

Will higher prices create place for premium candy?

With vending prices rising, some Antares operators think that there is more opportunity for machines to offer more premium priced products. This move could support a growing consumer demand for gourmet and premium candy. Premium candy remains a small part of the overall candy business. Premium chocolates have posted some growth, while general chocolate sales remained flat in comparison.

2006-09-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Nutrition Concerns Increase

More school districts imposed restrictions on vend products in 2004. While schools did not represent a major customer segment, concerns about nutrition have expanded to other accounts.

While public officials continued to blame poor diets for rising obesity, the aging of the baby boomers also contributed to a higher level of health awareness. In 2004, low carbohydrates diets in particular became more popular, and are still quite popular even today.

Antares vending operators responded to health and nutrition concerns in various ways. They took note of what the public wanted in terms of healthier vend products. Some Antares operators have opted to have healthy products in their vending machines so that they can cater to this growing section of the public.

Some Antares operators simply made customers aware of the fact that many of the products offered in the vending machines already fit into the various “health food” definitions.

Antares operators with state of the art computer systems were able to show account managers what products consumers were and were not buying in the machines. The nutrition issue was cited by many vending operators as an important reason for having the ability to track line item sales.

Operators offered mixed views on whether or not healthier items were actually selling better than they did in the past. In the past health products were not very popular with the public, but this has all changed in recent times. There has been a growing demand for health products mainly due to the health concerns that have come about because of the problem that America has with obesity.

Healthy vend products carry higher price points. This does not really affect the sales made in the Antares operations because the public that demand these products do not mind paying a higher price for these products.

There are some vending operators who have decided to have health products dedicated vending machines in their operations. Depending on the location that these machines are placed, the sales from these machines have been profitable. As an Antares operators, you can place some health vend products in your machine and wait to see how well they will sell.

2006-09-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Changes in the Vending Industry

The vending industry has changed over time, and that means that you as an Antares vending operator will need to change as well. The market place for vending is experiencing more change than most others. Today’s economic conditions and fierce competition have resulted in an environment that is markedly different from that experienced in past decades.

You need to align your Antares operations with the changes that are taking place. To do this, you need to have a strategy in place. In order to survive you will have to make money at smaller accounts, achieve higher per capita sales, open new markets, introduce new products, utilize technology, sell new locations, and most important of all, you must tenaciously hold on to your existing business.

Concurrently, you must operate as efficiently as you possibly can and become absolutely relentless in smoking out waste and inefficiency.

The demise of any business is an insidious process; it may seem you’re just in a slump or just going through a streak of temporary bad luck. However, when this condition continues unchecked, it robs the organization capital.

As an Antares operator, you will have the Natural Choice program to guide you in your vending operations. There are a number of changes that are taking place in the industry and you have to find strategies of coping with these changes. To cope with some of these changes, you will have to invest in certain technologies.

Future challenges for your Antares operations cannot be addressed without discussing profit drains. These days, theft and fraud know no bounds. If you think your business is immune, think again.

No vending business can afford to operate today without strong controls and preventative measures in place. Smaller businesses are more vulnerable because they typically lack the secondary controls and procedures that are in place in large corporations.

Software has given Antares vending operators the opportunity for more control over route and warehouse inventory than ever before. This has allowed the Antares operators to bring in more profits in their operations.

2006-09-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

Does it pay to Buy Used Equipment?

Customer downsizing creates a bigger need for refurbished equipment. Antares operators should start by assessing and prioritizing their locations’ needs.

Given the high cost of new vending and OCS equipment, it is easy to see why operators consider installing used equipment, whenever they book a new location. After all, vending equipment is capital based equipment and real profits are measured as a return on capital investment made in the location. At any given level of profitability in the location, the return on investment (ROI) will be grater with lower cost equipment

In well managed operations, professionals work very hard to ensure that each location is equipped in a manner that allows the company to earn an appropriate ROI. This is the percentage derived when you divide the net profit by the capital investment required to earn that profit.

There is a place for good, used equipment in our industry. As our locations get smaller, it becomes more difficult to earn appropriate returns on the investment using all new equipment. In addition to lowering the capital investment, the use of older Antares equipment will actually increase the reported profitability of the location by virtue of lower depreciation costs.

Consider equipment capabilities

Newer equipment usually offers more product capacity then older refurbished equipment. If you go for a used Antares vending machine, you will find that it has large product capacity that can match any new equipment.

As a piece of equipment ages, it requires more mechanical maintenance. Antares operators can expect to pay more for parts and labor on older equipment than on new equipment.

Modern machines offer more product selections than older machines. Fewer product selections translate into lower dollar sales. The better a machine displays the product, the higher the sales. Both old and new Antares vending machines display the products for sale. They have been designed to invite the customer. The sales made from a closed front vending machine are usually lower than those made from glass front vending machines. Antares vending machines are glass front.

When buying used equipment, go for quality and at the same time save some money on the capital that will be required for the business.

2006-09-06T05:51:00.000-07:00

New Technology Enables ‘Share of Market Strategies’

There are few strategic initiatives that are designed to increase the share of transactions in any retail trading area. This is the logic behind “share of market” marketing. In any given area, there are a limited number of retail transactions for away-from –home sales of food, snacks and beverages. All vending sites compete for those transactions.

Applying the tools of “share of market marketing” in your Antares vending business is necessary because the customer that you are serving has changed and will continue to change. Everyone is time starved and stressed, and they just want to be treated like individuals even as more and more retail businesses take on a homogenized look. You can build an action plan for your Antares business using the following steps.

1) Simplify the menu. Reduce the number of items in your Antares vending machine. After this you can double on big sellers to increase your sales. Most Antares vending operators that have applied category management have ended up reducing the number of SKU’s they warehouse, once they have identified the top sellers.

2) Promote aggressively. Make your Antares menu your best sales tool. Provide handouts for the regulars at your sites. This means that you’ll need to live by a planogram-so that the customer can find their favorite items easily. Put up posters with attractive machine planograms to promote the products before people get to the Antares machine.

3) Innovate and test new approaches. The younger people in the world today are digital. They are now and future customer base for your Antares business. You will need to keep them interested or they will patronize some other retail source that will make the experience better.

4) Execute “share of market marketing.” Keep a close watch on population changes at your existing accounts and jump on any chances to add to your existing vending bank. Opportunity for increased revenue can come from anywhere the vending bank is. This can cost more in machine investment capital, but this is how you will get a bigger share of the transaction in the area. If you make your services more convenient, you will get more sales for your Antares vending business.

Vending faces increasing challenges from powerful competitors. The convenience stores want to sell the snacks and cold drinks that you are selling. They can be successful in stealing business from you, if you let them.

2006-09-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

Technology Unlocks Profit Potential

With a finite amount of space available to merchandise products, you can improve your Antares profitability in only three ways.

1) Sell more products.

2) Spend less money selling the same amount of product.

3) Sell the same amount of product and raise the price.

Of all these No.3 is the most difficult. Raising prices in your Antares business can affect total sales, but a successful operator is the one who will consistently excel at No. 1 and 2.

Productivity reaches a pinnacle

As a result of advances in technology, we are now the most productive society in the world. As people, we can take pride in what we have accomplished, but individually, there is still much to be done. The same can be said about the automatic merchandising industry.

Technology literacy no longer an option

Your ability to harness technology will allow you to sell more and spend less in your Antares business. You can end up saving up to two hours per day per route by employing this technology. In addition to this, you will enjoy 10 percent sales increases from the same machines through a better understanding of their location preferences. Shrinkage will be virtually eliminated by cash audit functionality.

Internet will revolutionize the industry

You should prepare to use internet in your Antares business, because sooner or later it will change vending operations. This medium will be revolutionary in the vending industry. You need to be well informed about the innovations that are changing the way we do business.

With the speed in which technology is driving our world, understanding technology and applying it to your Antares business may be the most important thing you ever do.

To view technology as a whole is daunting, even to the initiated. It can be overwhelming to someone who has yet to become comfortable with the most basic computer skills. If you want to succeed in your Antares business, then you will need an understanding, appreciation and working knowledge of what information management technology can do for your business.

2006-08-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

Price Point for the Large Size Candy

With the introduction of larger sized candy in your Antares vending machines, it will mean that you will need to raise the price of the candy bar. First of all assume a $1. 00 vending price and then a $. 57 blended cost on the large size candy and $.75 on its smaller counterpart with a blended cost of $.38. You will also need to consider the 6 percent commission paid to the drivers. The driver commission as a percentage of gross profit is 15 percent on the large size candy and 12 percent on the smaller size candy.

Minimum price point is needed

In order for the large size candy proposition to work in your Antares business, the product must sell for at least $1. 00. In certain instances, price points above a dollar are required if the larger size line is to be financially beneficial. Higher price points for your Antares business would be a positive move. Incremental price points of $1. 10 and $1 15 will wreak havoc on your coin mechanism, but that is all part of the vending business as we strive for greater revenues.

The operating expenses for your Antares vending business are fixed in the short term. Rent, insurance, depreciation, amortization and interest are just a few of the examples. You will need to find a way for your Antares vending machine to produce more with each route driver stop.

The introduction of large size candy in your Antares vending machines will provide you with this opportunity. This of course would not be without some few concerns. The proposition that the candy companies are promoting is almost identical to what we have heard before from the salted snack companies and the bottlers.

The conversion to the larger product has been favorable for those Antares operators who have made a commitment to change. This conversion has not been easy for everyone.

Those who choose to be the market leaders will expose themselves to the possibility of lost business as the competition solicits their accounts with the “old” program.

2006-08-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

How to Hire for Your Vending Business

1) Make an investment in time. Finding a good candidate for your Antares business is not a 15 minute chore that can be handed off to an office underling. It is a process that requires effort and commitment.

2) Explore the candidate’s track record. Look for a candidate that with a stable work record. If there is evidence of job hoping, it might mean that the particular candidate is not likely to be satisfied with his or her job for long.

3) Check references. Many employers are lax in this area. Since you want to hire the right person for your Antares business, make a point of checking on all the references.

4) Tap your good employees. Employees often overlook the best source of new talent; their current employees. Ask your better performers to refer candidates.

5) Test their skills. There is no magic test to determine the performance of a candidate. You should carry out practical tests for the candidates. For example, if you are hiring a route driver, ask the applicant to do the math on that day’s route cards.

6) Have them sample a “day in the life”. The best way to show a candidate what the job is all about is to have him do it for a day.

7) Develop “a feeder” system. Your odds of getting a good referral from the unemployment office or newspaper are not good. So, you would need to “think outside the box.” If there is a high school or community college nearby with a good vocational program, you can perhaps get a referral from there.

8) Sell the company to the prospective employee. You are in competition with other employees, so you should give the candidate good reasons why they should choose your Antares vending business.

9) Scrutinize your retention program. Retention is part of the hiring process. The more employees leave the more you have to work to fill those spots.

10) Keep it legal. Management must have a rudimentary understanding of the law relating to hiring employees. For example, you should know what type of questions you can and cannot ask. You should also know the nuts and bolts of wage payment and overtime laws. This will all be important for the smooth running of your Antares business.

2006-08-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

Operators Slow to Invest

The automatic merchandising industry stands at the bottom of a ladder, ready to climb, but barely moving. In 2005, the automatic merchandising industry’s revenue increased by 3 percentage points.

The vending industry will continue to remain challenging unless operators become more aggressive about investing in tools. There are a variety of tools that are available to Antares vending operators to improve sales and profitability. These tools exist to enhance efficiency and improve sales. These tools include: remote machine monitoring, electronic cash audit, electronic locks and cashless capability. In spite of all these, very few operators are able or willing to make the necessary investments in equipment, training and salaries that will allow them to utilize these advantages.

In the mean time, the Antares operator’s fortunes rest mainly on external economic forces, which in the short term can be described as non-threatening, but not generous.

The best news for Antares vending operators in the last couple of years has been the end of employee downsizing that had characterized the previous three years. Vending operator sales posted a 3 percentage point increase in 2005, which pushed aggregate industry sales to $21.89 billion.

Aggregate sales improved a total 4 percent points in 2004 and 2005. Operators took comfort in the fact that locations had stopped shedding employees during that time.

Operators are yet to take advantage of new technologies that offer the vending industry significant growth potential. With these technologies, you can schedule service at the most opportune time, improve customer satisfaction, offer higher priced products and improve level accountability of your Antares vending machine.

Although these technologies offer significant potential, the operator has barely begun to invest in most of them due to the high capital required. With some of these technologies, you will also need to integrate new hardware and software with existing management systems.

If you would like to make a difference in your Antares vending business, you can invest in some of these technologies. By doing this you will see a positive change in the running of your business.

2006-08-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Advantages of Electronic Locks

There are many advantages that exist for various electronic locks versus the standard barrel locks. Here are some of them:

a) Thieves will virtually be unable to pick the locks on your Antares vending machine

b) The locks are very difficult to drill.

c) A thief will be unable to create duplicate keys.

d) The combinations can be quickly and easily changed on an Antares vending machine that you would want to move from one route to another.

e) The operator will be able to control the specific times a key is active.

Many benefits are available for both external and internal theft as well as labor efficiency.

If there is a cash shortage in your Antares vending machine, you will be able to determine immediately who has had access to the machine since the last collection. In the past years this is something that would have been time consuming and at the same time inaccurate.

If a set of keys for your Antares vending machine is lost, you will not need to change the locks on all machines. The electronic keys are normally “refreshed” on a daily basis when the route and service people report back to the office at the end of a day. This means that the keys become inactive once they reach the expiration time that you have set for them. In most cases this would be at the end of the day. When a set of keys is lost, they will be totally useless to the person who finds them. There is nothing that the person can do with the keys. Electronic locks will give you peace of mind. You should use them for all your Antares vending machines because they have more advantages over the traditional locks. When you have left other people in charge of your business you will always want to know that your merchandise is safe. With electronic locks you will not to worry about that since you will be in control.

On a daily basis, you will have an audit trail of all the activities of the route person. You will get to know where they were at any time of the day. This will help you to determine the amount of time the route person is taking to fill each individual Antares vending machine.

2006-08-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

Basic Filling, Cleaning and Servicing Practices

To provide the best possible in your Antares vending business, route drivers must always follow standard procedures for filling, cleaning and collecting cash from the Antares vending machines. Procedures for servicing vending machines vary; depending on the tools the driver has been given. The following procedures that are listed below are for drivers servicing accounts using route cards.

Filling the snack machine

1) Be sure the totes or cartons are full of product

2) Stack totes on the cart in the order they will be used

3) Align the cart perpendicular to the Antares to the machine so that the products can be easily reached

4) After pulling out the shelf, check the code date on each item for freshness.

5) If using a Plano gram, fill the shelves according to the Plano gram. Be sure to tuck the corner the corner of each item into the top of the spiral it goes into.

6) Follow Antares Corporation’s counting procedures for product placement in the machine.

7) As you finish each shelf, replace it to its locked position. Then move the top most totes out of the way. When finished restack the totes.

Filling the cold drink machine

1) Stack your product on your cart in the reverse order that you will use.

2) Fill each flavor into its appropriate column. Make sure the top of the product goes in first.

3) Follow Antares Corporation’s product counting procedure.

4) When finished stack the trash on the cart, close and lock the door of the Antares vending machine.

Cleaning the Antares snack and drink vending machine

The machines should be cleaned at least once a week. Spray down the front of the machine with glass cleaner, inside and outside. Clean out the delivery compartment and the delivery chute of the machine, after which they should be both wiped. The coin mechanism should be cleaned once a month using a damp cloth.

Inventorying

Firstly you need to count the number of items for each category of products in the Antares vending machine and then write it in the appropriate box on the route card for the machine. This should include the outdated products that will be removed.

2006-08-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

Vended Confections and Snacks

The sale of vending machine confections and snacks are determined by the consumer desire for convenience and snack variety. There has been an increase in the assortment of snacks offered in vending machines, which has blurred the distinction between snacks and food items. Many a times, Antares vending machine items often replace meals because people usually are in such a great hurry that they do not have time to sit down for a meal. Demand for vending machines in certain locations was partially due in part to the popularity of “energy,” “breakfast” and “meal replacement” bars.

Glass front vending machines remain dominant and increased in locations. A new trend that has been found is the willingness of consumers to pay a higher price for premium products. As an Antares vending operator you can raise the prices of your products without worrying over the customers’ response.

The percentage of sales for snacks and food products in 2004 was as follows:

Candy Bars and Boxed Candy --23%

Cookies and Crackers --20%

Bagged snacks and pastries --38%

Others --19%

Since then there has been an increase in all these categories.

Technology in vending machines has allowed vending machine operators to automatically collect data on vending machine sales. As an Antares vending operator you will find that technology will help your business to be more successful. Machine and location specific Antares vending machine sales can help operators to monitor the movement and profitability of products being offered. Implementation of technology is one tool that can be used in the vending industry.

America is a snack loving country. Snacks and confections attract all kinds of customers whether young, old, female or male. They all have a fondness for snacks, and will always buy snacks and confections from vending machines whenever they feel like having a small snack.

2006-08-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

National Automatic Vending Association (NAMA)

The National Automatic Merchandising Association, or NAMA, is the American national trade association of the food and refreshment vending, coffee service and food service management industries.

Its membership is comprised of service companies, equipment manufacturers and suppliers of products and services to operating service companies. As an Antares vending business owner, you should be a member in this association. You will benefit greatly. The basic mission of the NAMA is to collectively advance and promote automatic merchandising.

NAMA supports with administrative, logistical and financial assistance, a network of 30+ affiliated State Councils encompassing 36 States, where the vending industries focus on local issues and concerns as well as gathering frequently for networking opportunities. This would be something positive for your business.

NAMA’s policies and programs are established and reviewed by volunteer members who serve on the board of directors and committees. The programs are then implemented by the association’s executive staff.

As an Antares vending business owner, it would be advisable to join the association so that you can improve your performance and eventually be successful. By joining the association you will also network with industry leaders. Once you start your business you might be too busy to keep up with the trends. You will need to stay abreast of trends, technology and education. By joining the association this will always be possible.

The National Automatic Merchandising Association recognizes the obligation to serve its industry and the public which includes customers, clients, employees and communities. They are committed to the highest standards of honesty, integrity and responsibility in the ethical conduct of their business. As an Antares vending member of the association, your conduct in all matters should reflect positively upon the industry.

In other words NAMA will help you to keep an eye on your Antares vending business from each and every angle. This will make your business successful.

2006-08-09T05:54:00.000-07:00

Mechanical Vending Machines

Achieving financial success from mechanical vending machines can be difficult if you have a small vending machine business with the wrong type of vending machines. With Antares vending machines you can never go wrong in your vending business. With the Natural Choice USA vending program, you can succeed with your business with a few vending machines or a large number of machines. This is the reason why you need to get the right machines.

Mechanical vending machines are low cost and are also low-hassle choice, when it comes to the vending products. You can buy an Antares vending machine at a reasonable rate. Antares Corporation offers some of the most reasonable rates in the industry for their vending machines.

Mechanical vending machines have a separate coin mechanism for each vending selection; so if one coin mechanism jams in the Antares vending machine, the other selections will still operate. Selections are dispensed via the turning of the coin mechanism handle. To give change, it requires a side mount dollar bill changer. These machines do well in smaller accounts (less than 75 employees) since they have smaller capacities and are more compact. The sodas are refrigerated using electricity. This is the only place where electricity is needed. These machines are simple to troubleshoot and repair. By buying an Antares vending machine you will save a lot of money. One of the reasons being that you will not you are not using electricity to run the whole machine.

Antares vending machines have a high capacity, so that means making fewer trips to the locations for refills. Antares Refreshment Centers by Natural Choice vend snacks, candy, canned sodas, bottled juices and change for dollar bills.

Mechanical machines are user friendly, since the mechanical design results in trouble free operation. This is important for the customers since no one would want to spend more time than necessary figuring out how to operate the machine. Financial success is very possible with mechanical vending machines. They have advantages over other machines which will be financially beneficial to you.

2006-08-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

Advantages and Disadvantages of Full Line Vending

Full line vending is the business of operating vending machines that sell cans or bottles of soft drinks and/ or small packages of snacks. Antares vending machines sell these kinds of products. A common volume for soda is 12 fl oz (354 ml) or 20 oz (590ml) in North America. For snacks it is usually in the range of 1-3 oz. Soda and snack vending machines go well side by side, for efficient servicing.

Advantages of full line vending

Antares operators with snack and soda vending machines have the advantage that many locations recognize their need for such machines. These machines are very popular in all types of locations. Moreover, companies recognize the difficulty in moving these machines and are less likely to ever ask you to remove the vending machine, unless you do a poor job of servicing the vending machine. Almost all snack/soda vending machines like those provided by Antares Corporation, have vend counters that track how many items are sold, so it is very difficult for an employee to steal money. Aside from that, these machines are heavy and large, thus making them very hard to steal without drawing attention. This is quite an advantage for your Antares vending business.

Disadvantages of full line vending

Soda and snack vending machines are relatively expensive. Those that are provided by Antares Corporation are affordable and this accounts for its popularity. Full line vending machines also take a long time to service as compared to bulk vending machines. If you want to service your Antares vending machine it would not take as much time as other machines, because of its unique design. This is what sets them apart from others. Full line vending machines take up a lot of space. When you are looking for a location for your Antares vending machine, make sure that the location would suit the machine. The machines may take up more space, but they still remain the most demanded machines by locations. The machines are quite difficult to move, so you would require the help of professional movers. In locations such as corporate offices, vending machines need to be serviced during traditional business hours.

2006-08-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

American Money in Vending Machines

The American money system is logical and very easy to use. It is based on the dollar ($1. 00), on which all cash and coins are dependent. Coins are parts of one dollar, for example: a quarter and a dime. The twenty, ten, five and one are the most frequently used bills in Antares vending machines and other machines

Each type of coin has a specific size and design. The same goes with the paper bills. Vending machines all accept coins and paper money. When you place the money in the Antares vending machine, the machine will read the money to determine the amount and then dispense the item accordingly, depending on the product that you have selected. The Antares vending machine will also return any change if there is need to. This is what makes using vending machines preferable, to going to the corner store. It is more convenient. Antares vending machines also come with changer machines so that they can change for you the dollar bills whenever necessary. This changer machine is mounted next to the vending machine so that if anyone wants to use the vending machine and are in need of change they can use the changer machine.

Many a time, people have tried to insert dollar bills half way, and then pull it out after the machine has read the dollar bill. They use a string to do this. People have also tried to get back the coins that they have inserted. These are just some of the tricks that people use to cheat vending machines.

The quarter is one of the most useful coins. If you are a student, be sure to save these! They can be used in coin operated machine like the Antares vending machine. Many vending machines will take small bills, such as ones, fives, and tens, but the change that you will get back will all be in coins.

One word of caution: vending machines do not take in dollar coins, half dollars, pennies, or Canadian coins. Charge or credit cards are being used more and more, even for buying small things , because many Americans don’t like to carry much cash with them. These cards are easy and safe to use.

2006-08-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

The Growing Trend of Cashless Vending

The Federal Reserve Board reports that electronic transactions far exceed payments made by check or cash. This trend is only expected to increase, with credit card purchases growing at a rate of 7% annually and debit card transactions increasing at a rate of 21% annually.

It has also been noted that customers tend to purchase more products and spend more money when using cashless payment options. This is because there are no exact change requirements, nor are there any limits on their spending. Economists have noted that the public is inclined to make impulsive purchases when paying with a credit card. This would definitely be more profitable for your Antares vending business.

Some time back, the public seemed to express reluctance over using credit and debit cards for small dollar or low value transactions. With the prevalence of cashless transactions everywhere, consumers have greatly changed their attitude towards cashless transactions. Today these transactions are carried out daily when it comes to all kind of purchases. Practically everyone is using credit or debit cards. The increase in their use has resulted in an increase in sales and product units sold.

In vending, cashless vending is a concept that has just began to catch up. Many companies are taking up this concept. Antares Corporation is yet to take up this growing trend. In the near future all vending companies will adopt this kind of payment option. It is more convenient way to handle your business and will ultimately bring in higher sales and more profits for your Antares vending business.

Cashless vending, one of the strategies of v-commerce, is expected to enhance customer convenience, increase sales and profitability, and improve your Antares vending efficiency. The vending technology has been around for over ten years. Only recently, there has been a demand in improving cashless vending technology

In the vending industry, there are only three percent of the eight million vending machines equipped to support cashless vending options. Vending operators are reluctant to take up this new technology because of lack of experience with the new technology and the total cost of the technology. However it is a concept that you should consider taking up for your Antares vending business. All that you need to do is to load cashless vending applications into your vending machines. In the long run it will pay off.

2006-07-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

Legal Liability for Vending Machines

There are thousands of vending companies like Antares Corporation, serving hundreds of thousands of locations annually with dozens of variations in style, products and types of services. These companies offer a variety of vending operations.

It is important to note that liability insurance be in place at all times when it comes to the vending equipment, food products, and non food products. If someone eats or drinks tainted products from a vending machine, it is necessary to have liability protection regardless of whose fault it is. For example, if you sell a popular snack or beverage from your Antares vending machine and someone claims that they developed food poisoning, you need to know what you can do to protect yourself. The manufacturer of the popular snack or beverage probably has insurance, so they will be covered. However the individual may start a suit against the vendor and the location before moving along to the manufacturer of the equipment and products.

As a responsible Antares vending business owner, you will need to cover yourself with insurance. Anything can go wrong at any time. But as long as you are maintaining the operations of vending machine well, you will not have any problems.

If you are preparing your own food and serving it in your vending machines, you create even more reason to have liability insurance because there would be no manufacturer to share the blame with. People especially kids sometimes get their fingers caught in the strangest cavities of vending machines, because they are playing around or not following the instructions well. As a result of this they can decide to sue. Antares vending machines are well designed and you will not have to worry about exposed cavities. They are also user friendly so instructions are easy to follow. In fact there have been incidents where individuals vandalize or rob vending machines and end up getting injured, after which they actually believe that they have the right to sue!

As an Antares vending business owner, learn how to protect yourself, your account, your product and equipment manufacturers and your customers. This is just one wise decision you will make as a business owner.

2006-07-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

A Quick Guide to Snack Vending Machines

Snack vending machines come in different formats and styles. Most snack vending machines are see through or have a glass front. Since a customer will be buying a snack, it is important that they can see what they will be purchasing. If they are unable to see the snacks, they will be reluctant to buy from the machine. If they can see into the machine then they can be able to browse to see what snack they would prefer. Consumers always think with their eyes.

Antares Corporation offers snack and drink combo vending machines. You will find that these types of machines are the most popular in the industry. This is because they are offering both snacks and drinks which are always in great demand by the consumers.

You can buy snack machines that only dispense six types of snacks, or you can go for a machine that offers a wider selection. An Antares snack and drink vending machine offers a wide selection of snacks. For you to decide which size of machine you should get, you will need to consider how much traffic location is in that location. You should also take note of the décor of the room so that you can match up the style of the vending machine with the surrounding. An Antares vending machine has the kind of look that will match with any surrounding.

When buying a vending machine, go for the most current machines, with sophisticated computer chips and mechanisms, sales tracking, ease of restocking and so much more. You will need a machine that will not let you down in your business. In other words you need a machine that is reliable. If you are interested in selling snacks and drinks then you can go for an Antares vending machine which will always prove to be reliable even after a lot of use.

There are a large number of companies that offer snack vending machines but you have to go for a quality machine so that you can match your machine to the ambience. For this Antares vending machines have been the choice for a large number of people. They are compact and reliable and a better choice for your business.

2006-07-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Vending Machine Conflicts

Vending machines were introduced many years ago and have a long and rich history. Vending machines have made life more convenient and have opened a door to a world of technological advances. These machines are operated electronically, wirelessly or remotely. At one time vending machines were offering one product at a time, now they are capable of offering up to 50 selections in one machine like those that are provided by Antares Corporation. These machines offer a number of selections. Way back in ancient times, these machines used to yield profit for ancient governments, but now are used to yield individual profit through wonderful vending programs such as those provide by Natural Choice USA.

The technological advancements made in the vending industry by companies such as Antares Corporation, have been quite impressive, though not more noteworthy than social and economic advancements made, as a result of the introduction of vending machines in societies. In ancient times, vending machines were the catalyst for trade between different countries and regions. This resulted in the increase of food product selection. As societies realized the potential of monetary gain in vending, they have now used vending machines as a vehicle for economic growth. In recent times vending machines have become more advanced. These days you can get practically anything in a vending machine, whether that is in the US or any other country.

One major on going conflict about vending that has been going on for quite some time now is the one about vending machines in schools. Americans have become more health conscious about what they eat. The United States is a country that struggles with obesity and by putting vending machines such as those provided by Antares Corporation in schools; you need to make sure that only healthy products are vended out of theses machines. It is very important that the school kids have access to healthy vended products. Some states have banned vending machines in some schools and other states want to follow suit. Vending companies such as Antares Corporation can provide you with vending information on where you can get your vending supplies. What you will need to do is just opt for healthy food for your vending machine.

2006-07-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

How to Profit from Vending Machine Rental

If you are interested in starting a vending machine business, and are short of sufficient capital, you can temporarily make use of the vending machine rentals that are available in your area. Vending machine rentals can be found everywhere and can be rented by anyone who is interested in starting a vending business.

There are vending companies such as Antares Corporation that have wonderful programs for your vending machines rental business. You will need to look up companies that have vending machine rentals. On the other hand you can happen to come upon an individual who has a vending route and does not want to look after the business anymore. This individual might probably be looking for someone to rent out their machine to. In this case if the individual has an Antares vending machine, then you will be in luck. When renting a machine you will want one that is in good condition and is durable. Machines by reputed companies such as Antares Corporation will be the best choice for you.

An Antares vending machine rental will be useful and profitable for offices that have long working hours. The machine will be able to support the employees with their needs.

Locations such as schools, hospitals, businesses can decide on renting a vending machine rather than hiring a contractor. The only difference is that the location has to take care of the servicing of the vending machine. Individuals within the location can be appointed for this work. Just keep in mind that you need to go for a well reputed vending distributor for acquiring your vending machine rental.

The key to being successful in vending machine rental is choosing the best location and spot for your business. Not all locations are suitable for this business. There may be a lot of vending machines out there, but finding a perfect spot where you can sell out evenly is not impossible. Natural Choice vending program will show you how to make your business profitable in the least amount of time.

Since you are renting a vending machine, you need to make sure that all your expenses give you back profit. All your expenses should be rewarded with benefits that will help your business to grow.

Natural choice vending program will give you the power to control your money and expand your business. Once you have made a good profit you can now own you own vending machine. If you have a dream of owning a vending business, but due to financial constraints are unable to own. Don’t give up your dream; you can opt for renting a vending machine to start off with. Once you do that you will be well on your way.

2006-07-23T22:42:00.000-07:00

How to choose a Vending Supplier

When you want to start a vending business, it is important that you know where exactly to get the vending machine. You would obviously want a quality vending machine like those that are provide by Antares Corporation, so that you can start your business off on the right foot.

A vending supplier is the one who will cater to all your vending needs. There are a large number of different vending machine suppliers all over and they sell all types of vending machines. If you are starting a small vending business, you need to know what kind of products the people in the area would want and need. This is important because you will need to know which product will give you earnings.

The hottest items in the market today are cold foods. People prefer to get something in an instant, so if you place these cold foods in your Antares vending machine, it will be a hit.

This obviously means more business for your vending machine. There are products that are popular among customers. You will need to find out which these are so that you can stock them in the machine.

If you go to a supplier, you should ask for a manual on how to start a vending business. From this you will get to know the different ways you can earn money from the vending machine. The manual can teach you quite a lot about the business.

When your Antares vending machine will be in need of maintenance, there are a lot of different vending machine parts and supplies available that are sold by the supplier.

These are the people that you will need to get in touch with.

There are some fraudulent vending suppliers, so you need to make sure that the vending supplier has a good reputation. In order to avoid this you should check the profile of the vending supplier before buying vending machines and products from them. You can also get additional information by asking previous owners of a vending business. They should be able to give information on vending suppliers that they have used successfully.

Before buying a vending machine from a supplier, have it tested first. This is to make sure that is in good working condition. Antares vending machines will not give you any kind of trouble. Once you have purchased one, you will find that you have made a wise business decision.

When choosing a vending supplier, do it right so that all you’re vending needs’ will be catered for in the right way.

Antares Vending

2006-07-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

Advice on Vending

When you are purchasing an Antares vending machine, you will be investing in a very profitable business. You can successfully learn how to make money from these machines using the wonderful programs that we have. When commencing your research, just equip yourself with the right information and rest assured that you will be well on your way.

First thing you need to do is to find out the prices of different vending machines and compare the prices. You will find that the vending machines provided by Antares Corporation have the best going rates. Different machines operate differently and that means that they will be priced accordingly. Antares vending machines are very profitable and this will be of great advantage to you for starting off your business.

There is software that pertains to vending machine operation. This would help the vending entrepreneur to manage his business. As a business owner you will need to map out your routes, schedule their regular vending deliveries, and keep track of all vending repair costs. The vending software will monitor your Antares business closely, so that you can be on top of your game.

It is advisable to read books on vending during your research. There are a number of books available on vending so you can purchase these books from online distributors. You should go for the start up e-books or complete guides that will advice you on how to conduct you Antares vending business.

There are a number of vending associations that you can become part of considering that you will be a beginner in your Antares vending business. With the resources that are available to you from Antares Corporation, you should start making a significant income from your business.

Information is available on everything that you would want to know about vending, all you need to know is just where to look. Just make sure that you look in the right direction. Antares Corporation is there to guide through each and every step so that you can look forward to a profitable income.

2006-07-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

Financial Success with Vending

A department of commerce study revealed that fewer than 5% of new vending companies fail each month as compared 65% failure rate by the Small Business Administration. It is a very profitable business. If you want to experience financial success then the best way to go about doing this is to start up an Antares vending business.

With this business you can be your own boss, that means that you are free to choose your own hours, whether it is full time or part time. The main motivation of getting into this business is “money”. Vending allows a person to invest 10 to 20 hours per month and get a return on money invested 100% to 200% in the first year. This is 10 times what you would get at a bank with a CD.

Your income from your Antares vending machine starts as soon as your machines are on location. With this cash business there are no bad checks or collection problems to worry about. Over the years the vending business has proven itself to be as recession proof as grocery sales!

Money follows financial independence. Vending allows 95% of start up to go for machines and products. You can use your home as your office which allows possible tax write offs that other people never receive. Here are some industrial facts about the income opportunities in vending:

-50 well located vending machines are worth at least triple the

cash value of the machines themselves.

-Any business broker can sell a route for two to three times the

route’s annual gross profit.

Just about 70% of vendors start off on a part time basis while maintaining their regular full time job. 85% of them turn to full time vending after a couple of years. Money allows freedom. Having money or not having it controls what we do in our lives. Antares vending can give you that independence. The greatest growth of vending is still ahead.

Consumers continue to want their products fast, in a convenient and economical way. Snack, beverage and food vending machines like those provided by Antares Corporation continue to be the most lucrative and stable in the market place.

Vending is a billion dollar industry and still growing. With Antares you will experience financial independence which will allow you to control your time, money and ultimately your future.

Bill changing vending machines

2006-05-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

Quality, reliability and security are the basic requirements of Bill Changing vending machines. Bill changing vending machines change currency into coins. Some bill changing vending machines will change currency into tokens. Bill changing vending machines are popular in laundromats, casinos, and arcades. There are also vending machines that operate by taking coins and changing them into currency or credits. Change machines are a great addition to mechanical and bulk vending setups alike. They do require electricity to operate and can be placed in numerous locations. These machines are available in various sizes and coin capacities. These machines have some optional base and filter kit. These machines possess high security door guard kit and lock cylinder. Regarding special features of vending machines, the machines are controlled by plug-in programmable electronic chip. Antares Corporation provides machines that have secure 3-Point locking system, heavy duty steel cabinet with powder coat finish. For making the service simple, it has advanced 16-character Self-Diagnostic display spells out messages clearly. For better performance, the Bill Changing vending machines must have faster pay dispense system and higher capacity.

Vending Machines and their parts

2006-05-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

Whether one own single vending machine or hundreds of vending machines, spare parts and services are always essential. Each manufacturer provides parts of vending machines and even their services, whether in warranty period or not. Vending machine parts covered under the warranty must be ordered directly through the manufacturer. To keep the machines operating at maximum efficiency, technical assistance is must. Every vending machine either Gumball and bulk vending machine, Sticker and Tattoo vending machines, Specialty vending machines, Mechanical vending machines, Electronic vending machines, Change machines, media vending machines or any other, require their maintenance and service. These service provider companies usually have fully-stocked parts department dedicated to providing fast, reliable shipment of parts. They offer repair facility that is capable of handling everything from electronic circuit board and dollar bill changer repairs to complete machine overhauls. They also provide technical or mechanical questions concerning the vending machines.

Vending Services

2006-05-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Antares has been a long standing and stable location company. Antares Vending offers a refreshing new concept in Vending Management Services. Their clients enjoy accountability with complete financial disclosure via their web enabled services and online trouble shooting explanations. Antares Vending coordinates all aspects of your vending program, from vending machine operators and machines to repairs and collections, for seamless operations in one or hundreds of locations. Along with service measures like collecting cash, restocking merchandise, cleaning and repairing machines, preventive measures are also taken care of. Periodically cleaning of refrigeration condensers, lubrication of mechanical parts, etc. are also provided. The customer care service team is very skilled, professional, cooperative, patient and soft-spoken and very capable of providing prompt response to problems. With Antares Natural Choice Vending, you can experience fast, reliable, timely and damage-free shipping. They have a team of experienced representatives who can help you with all your business needs.

Inputs to machine

2006-05-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

A Vending machine has four basic processes, they are: product classification, product space allocation, product selection, and product cycle rotation. Product classification involves marking out available item categories like packed snacks, beverages, candy, etc., across all possible choices. A determination is then made as to which product categories will be represented in a specific vending machine. Then accordingly space is allocated to each product in the machine. Product selection within categories is important for maximizing sales and profitability. This selection is made on the basis of location of machine, where it is placed and also whether the machine requires bottles or cans. By identifying types of products, such as core products and cyclical products, flexibility and variety can be achieved.