Australia's largest vending operator, Pepsico Australia and New Zealand subsidiary Smiths Snackvend, is implementing the Cantaloupe Retail Optimization Platform (CROP) in 9,100 vending locations across Australia in order to increase revenue, boost customer selection and service, improve route efficiency and reduce product spoilage and stockouts.
"We looked at competing solutions, but only Cantaloupe Systems can give us a real-time versus retrospective view of our business scaled across more than 9,000 machines," said Inis Shepherd, national vending manager of Smiths Snackvend in a prepared statement. "Cantaloupe Systems' proven monitoring, business intelligence and analytics technology enables us to track sales patterns and inventory levels instantaneously and then provides the best path for process optimization, allowing our contract service providers to deliver the right products to the right machines at the right time. Drivers earn more because CROP results in higher delivery efficiencies, and they use less fuel by serving machines only when needed."
"Consumers benefit from a broader and fresher product selection and fewer stockouts," continued Shepherd. "Once Australia's national privacy legislation is strengthened, we're looking forward to giving consumers the added benefit of Cantaloupe Systems' Seed cashless for credit and debit card transactions."
The Cantaloupe Retail Optimization Platform combines real-time, wireless, Web-based monitoring, business intelligence/analytics and retail best practice support to automate vending scheduling, pre-kitting, merchandising and cashless processes. The combination of monitoring and business intelligence is designed to change vending from a guess-based to a fact-based industry by increasing operators' ability to deliver service driven by actual consumer demand, tracked in real time.
Smiths Snackvend's initial tests of the Cantaloupe Retail Optimization Platform resulted in an 80 percent reduction in coin variance, 94 percent lower spoilage rates and 50 percent fewer stockouts due to better prekitting and scheduling. Smiths also expects to reduce its overall carbon footprint through the elimination of 48 delivery vans due to more efficient routes and lower on-truck inventories, resulting in less weight per van.
"As the largest vending operator in Australia and New Zealand, Smiths is defining the future of vending in the region, and we're thrilled to be the company's partner in this endeavor," said Mandeep Arora, CEO and co-founder of Cantaloupe Systems. "Cantaloupe Systems brings to vending the same 21st century business intelligence and analytic tools available to other retailers, for the first time allowing vending operators to enjoy the same benefits as their retail peers: improved sales, profitability, and customer service. Smiths likes to be known as ‘Australia's and New Zealand's fastest growing and favorite convenience food and beverage company,' and I believe the partnership with Cantaloupe Systems will only confirm that distinction."
Smith's Snackvend Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, is the largest vending operator in Australia, employing 2,100 Australians in the manufacture and distribution of its products. The company makes the majority of its products in Australia and sources most major raw materials, such as potatoes, corn and wheat flour as well as packaging material, locally.
