Vending operators in Oklahoma, Georgia and California experienced average sales gains of 69 percent, reductions in route overlaps of 40 percent, and significant savings on fuel and truck pollution after implementing Cantaloupe Systems' Cantaloupe Retail Optimization Platform (CROP), according to data recently collected by Bachtelle Associates, an independent market research firm. Together, these operators have recently installed more than 10,000 Cantaloupe Systems Seed devices in vending machines in 10 U.S. states.
"Our goal at Cantaloupe Systems is to bring the same 21st century technology advantages, as well as first-class support teams, to vending that retailers in other industries are using," said Mandeep Arora, CEO and co-founder of Cantaloupe Systems in a prepared statement. "These leading operators – and others like them across the U.S. – are enjoying the top- and bottom-line results made possible by making the best, analytics-based decisions resulting from constant, real-time communication with their vending machines. The Seed technologies allows operators to see sales patterns and inventory levels instantaneously and then provides direction for process optimization, allowing operators to deliver with precision, giving customers precisely what they want and where they want it. The vending machine hosts receive better commissions as a result of more accurate and transparent transactional data, and this is all achieved using fewer truck visits, thus saving on fuel and pollution."
Cantaloupe Systems' Seed technologies combine real-time, wireless, web-based monitoring and business intelligence/analytics to automate vending scheduling, pre-kitting, merchandising and cashless processes. The combination of monitoring and business intelligence is fundamentally changing vending from a guess-based to a fact-based industry by increasing operators ability to schedule and deliver based upon actual real time demand.
Following are operator success stories using Seed.
Atlanta Vending, an independently-owned vending service provider in Atlanta, Ga., began using Cantaloupe Systems' Seed technologies in 2009 and has since implemented it in more than 2,300 machines. As a result of the Seed technology, Atlanta Vending has increased average sales per vending route 71 percent and reduced route count by 36 percent. Seed's pre-kitting features have allowed Atlanta Vending to reduce inventories by nearly 40 percent primarily due to the elimination of on-truck inventories. Atlanta Vending has also reduced average vending machine inventories by servicing accounts less frequently while maintaining the same, or better, account service levels.
Imperial Vending, a vending operator based in Tulsa, Okla. is using the Seed application to track and profit from real-time sales, inventory and purchase trends in approximately 4,500 machines in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. Imperial Vending generated $55 million in revenue last year, has eliminated 45 percent of its routes through route consolidation and has significantly cut vehicle costs since implementing Cantaloupe Systems' CROP.
NCV Refreshment Services: the largest independently-owned refreshment service provider in the western U.S. serving seven states, has increased average sales per route 60 percent and reduced its carbon footprint by nearly a third since installing Cantaloupe Systems' Seed technologies in more than 5,200 vending machines. The Vista, Calif.-based operator has also improved inventory control and eliminated theft. NCV recently acquired a San Francisco-based vending operator that owns 1,600 vending machines, and plans to roll out the Seed technologies in these new machines during 2011 to gain greater route efficiencies.
"Seed enhances the service we provide," commented Mark McDonald, executive vice president of NCV Refreshment Services. "With Seed, we're virtually right there at the machines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the great part is, Seed's business intelligence and analytics help us make the right business decisions all the time. Seed enables us to provide much better service than somebody with a static schedule, who just stops by every Tuesday, or even every day without having the inventory, sales data, interpretive analytics, and strategic advice that Seed delivers."
With the price of fuel on the rise and sustainability becoming an increasingly important issue in the vending industry, Seed delivers: "Our trucks are being driven fewer miles and carrying less weight due to lower on-truck inventories. This has significantly reduced our fuel and maintenance costs," said Lance Whorton, vice president of Tulsa's Imperial Vending. "The positive environmental impact we've made through our CROP implementation validates our sustainability strategy and gives us a competitive advantage with sustainability-minded customers – not to mention all of the other benefits that we are realizing."
