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Kritz said the system is like having a location manager on every machine. It reports what’s selling and when it sold. It has allowed S&O to prekit the route.
“We tell our customers about it, and they think it’s a great way to do business,” said Shapiro. Locations like to know S&O has a pulse on what’s selling. When one account asked for three months’ worth of sales reports, the Cantaloupe system really helped. “It gives a snapshot of what people are buying,” said Shapiro.
OCS: NO SET PROGRAM
S&O added OCS when Shapiro noticed people would spend more on a cup of coffee than on chips. About 20 to 30 percent of S&O’s vending accounts also include OCS.
Shapiro installed the machines and water lines himself in the beginning, calling on coffee industry sources for help with installation as well as what product and equipment to buy. Currently, S&O’s coffee service offerings range from basic OCS at car dealerships to single-cup machines at business and industry accounts.
Since most accounts already had OCS from a previous provider, Shapiro and Kritz match the service they previously had or go a step above it.
They were pitching a LavAzza machine to a white collar account which only had drip coffee and decided to hold a tasting. They took a LavAzza representative to the location with a machine. An email was sent to the location employees announcing the free coffee.
“We spent five or six hours as their ‘coffee shop,’” said Shapiro. After the tasting, he asked the location if they wanted to keep the machine or if he should remove it. The location asked him to leave the machine.
Shapiro and Krtiz are seeing more bulk coffee sales, as price is becoming more of a concern. The company has not expanded into private label.
