VendScreen Debuts Retrofittable Multifunction Touchscreen Display For Vending Machines

Issue Date: Vol. 51, No. 10, October 2011, Posted On: 9/26/2011
Source: Vending Times
Tim Sanford
Editor@vendingtimes.net

PORTLAND, OR — VendScreen Inc., based here and founded by Dr. Paresh Patel, a vending operator, has introduced a touchscreen user interface for new and existing vending machines.

The user interface is also called VendScreen. It’s an Android-based smart device that displays user-specific promotions and advertising, real-time product updates, cashless payment options and refunds, and nutrition information to comply with new federal nutrition information disclosure requirements. Retrofitted to an operator’s existing machines, it can deliver real-time analytical information and DEX data uploads for third-party dynamic route scheduling and prekitting applications.

The device, coupled with cloud-based service, can bring retail-type promotions to vending, which could add value for users, operators and advertisers simultaneously, according to the manufacturer.

VendScreen offers users an intuitive interface resembling a smartphone’s. It presents “Jen,” a helpful onscreen avatar who stands ready to assist customers with every step of the purchasing process. Jen aids in product selection to satisfy specific dietary needs, providing nutrition facts prior to purchase and offering special promotions and advertisements geared toward the individual customer’s tastes. The novel interface also allows customers to make cashless payments through their credit, loyalty or online accounts, and provides instant problem reporting.

Earlier this year, the federal government had estimated that the vending industry will require about 14 million staff hours annually to label machines and otherwise comply with new rules mandating calorie disclosure. The Portland, OR, company said its VendScreen will let operators comply effortlessly, virtually eliminating the time and expense.

Once installed, VendScreen seamlessly synchronizes with backend databases to maintain up-to-date nutrition facts, which frees drivers, technicians and office employees from the need to keep machine information current. VendScreen automatically keeps track of new products added, updating each machine with the necessary new nutritional information and other product details.

VendScreen can replace several single-purpose devices, eliminating the need for separate card readers or DEX upload devices. It integrates with such vending management software as MEI’s Easitrax and Crane’s Streamware. Using industry-standard MDB protocol, VendScreen may be installed in virtually any vending machine. It fits into existing card-reader cutouts, using the same bolt pattern and antenna connector, so installation takes only a few minutes.

“These features, in conjunction with its simple, intuitive interface and targeted advertising, give VendScreen the ability to increase the number of transactions per user, frequency of use, and vends per transaction,” the manufacturer said.

Every day, 78 million people use approximately five million vending machines in the United States, taking 30 to 45 seconds to make their selection, the company estimates. VendScreen displays advertisements directly on the machine during those few seconds, engaging consumers at the very moment they are ready to purchase a product. By use of a small, motion-sensing camera, VendScreen tracks ad impressions and conversions; it also can deliver coupons as customer incentives.

Because it supports cashless transactions through fees sponsored by advertisers, it is a streamlined advertising medium, the company observed. With VendScreen, ads can be changed and statistics can be viewed in real time, providing quantifiable results by tracking which ads are displayed and the purchase actions they generate, so advertisers know which ads are working and why. VendScreen brings the flexibility of retail advertising programs to the vending industry, the manufacturer noted.

VendScreen Inc.’s founder is a lifelong entrepreneur known for applying breakthrough technologies to established business models. At age 17, he founded Courtesy Vending in Portland, OR, to help pay for college, then led the company through growth to 20 times its original size in five years, making it the largest independent vending operation in the city.

Patel said VendScreen is a game-changing product for advancing vending’s position in the retail channel.

Coke retains rights, USC wins extra money in seven-year deal:

When the Coca-Cola Happiness Machine made a stop at the Russell House last Wednesday to celebrate the company’s renewed contract with USC, students lined up by the dozens for complimentary T-shirts, Twister games and Silly String with their beverage purchases. But the university is scoring more than dollar store prizes from its deal with Coca-Cola. In exchange for seven years of beverage rights to vending machines at USC’s Columbia, Lancaster and Union campuses, Coca-Cola has guaranteed the university an annual commission of $465,000 — or about $3.25 million over seven years.

USC will earn $53,000 more a year than it did in its last five-year contract with the beverage company, which expired this summer. In that time period, Coca-Cola has also paid to equip 92 machines with CarolinaCard readers at a cost of $1,500 per upgrade.

Under the new contract, new machines will be added on an as needed basis, and CarolinaCard readers will be added to a minimum of 12 additional machines, and credit card readers will be added to at least 10 machines.

“Providing beverages in vending machines is a service to our campus community in addition to producing revenue to the university,” Vice President for Business Affairs Helen Zeigler wrote in an email through internal communications. “Coca-Cola was selected for this contract through a competitive bid process.”

Not everyone at the university is quite so thrilled about Coke’s renewed hold over the campus’s beverages. At the time of the contract, some members of the board of trustees expressed concern over the deal’s effect on student health. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, per capita soft drink consumption has risen nearly 500 percent in the past 50 years and is now the leading source of added sugar in the diet. Several studies, including a report from the Harvard School of Public Health, have linked this increase in consumption with soaring rates of Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that contribute to a wide variety of health problems.

Healthy Carolina, a campus-wide initiative to improve the health of students, faculty and staff led by USC’s Division of Student Affairs, has already provided “healthy comparison” information for several snack vending machines through a partnership with Atlas Foods. However, it holds no such influence over the drink options offered at the campus’s 157 drink machines.

“I’m not sure why this was not included in any agreements, but I think it could be something good to move toward in the future,” said Alissa Thebarge, Healthy Carolina’s new program coordinator. “The fact that there are so many opportunities to buy soda on campus is a concern, but I don’t foresee those areas being replaced just because of the money the university gets from its contract with Coke. I think if Healthy Carolina were to do anything in this area, it would take the Coca-Cola Company’s willingness to work with us on this point, since it seems like Atlas has been a big reason why this has worked so far.”

According to Zeigler, one of the new additions to the contract is working toward expanding beverage inventory to include more lower-calorie beverages.

“There has been a considerable focus on providing noncarbonated, diet and healthier drink alternatives in the vending machines on campus,” Zeigler said. “We are in constant dialogue with our drink vending partner about identifying brands that will appeal to all of our student population and allow students to make individual beverage choices.”

Source: By Kathryn Kranjc, Assistant News Editor
kkranjc@dailygamecock.com Date: Tuesday, 20 September 2011 23:35
DIRECT LINK TO ARTICLE ON DAILYGAMECOCK.COM

SOURCE: CNN MONEY| BY PARIJA KAVILANZ – SEPTEMBER 27 2011 | DIRECT LINK TO STORY ON CNN MONEY

Now innovation has produced vending machines that spin cotton candy, “gift” a soda to a friend miles away and make Ramen Noodles in three minutes.

Hip, cool and amazing aren’t words people often use to describe vending machines. But that may be changing soon. The National Automatic Merchandising Association is currently on the road, showcasing its latest and greatest vending machine innovations. Indeed. Bitter coffee, stale candy and cigarettes are out. Meanwhile machines that spin cotton candy, make fresh pizza and let users “gift” a soda to a friend to, are in. It was time for an overhaul, said John Healy, spokesman for the association, adding that the $40 billion industry took a hit during the recession. “The idea behind the road tour is to showcase these new concepts and also attract the attention of younger consumers who are our ideal consumers,” said Healy. “We have to remind them why we are so convenient for them, both as a quick shopping option and possibly also as an industry they would want to work in.” Following are eight newfangled machines, which are either in the United States or probably on their way.