There is a lack of assurance in the vending, micro market and office coffee industry this quarter as the operator confidence index slides to one of its lowest points in two years. The OCI number reaches just 125.5 for the third quarter 2015.
The main reason behind the decline could be the time of year as summer is a difficult season for many operators who see revenues suffer, especially in regards to coffee sales. That likely contributed to the 3.3% drop from last quarter’s OCI.
The OCS category took the largest hit with a 7% decrease compared to the previous quarter, dropping to 3.45. With cold temperatures returning, there is a bit of hope that sales will rebound. However, it wasn’t enough to push the overall OCI upwards.
One of the problems is vending which remains a saturated and stagnant business with little new opportunities – keeping it relatively flat with just a 1% drop to 3.42. An Alabama full-line operator echoed the sentiment of many others when he said sales were soft and not expected to truly improve. He does not offer micro markets which saw huge growth.
With a record breaking OCI number of 4.27, micro markets are keeping some operators very inspired. Their opportunity to offer a wider selection of products, attract more users than vending, sales data analysis and much more are helping fuel the growth of these systems.
The economy in certain areas is a challenge, but the real issue appears to be consumer preferences. They want the variety that only a micro market can truly provide. That will be the issue facing refreshment services in the future.
For VendingMarketWatch TV, I’m Emily Refermat.
This video has been transcribed above for your convenience.
