More than 50 attendees joined NAMA at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill., for the first day of the NAMA micro market operator seminar roadshow. Day one included a presentation from Brad Bachtelle, president of Bachtelle and Associates, a consulting and market research firm. Bachtelle covered the basics of what a micro market is, the growth of micro markets over the last couple years and how it compares to vending. He followed with a discussion on the specifics of micro market operations, compared to vending, and detailed merchandising considerations.
“Core, flex, fun – that’s how you merchandise [products] in a micro market,” he said.
Operators asked lots of questions in the session including how to deal with new micro market pricing and where to find sales data on micro market appropritate products, which can differ from vending products. They also broke into smaller groups for further discussion.
Day two included a focus on how vending machine technology differs from micro market technology, presented by Michael Kasavana, NAMA endowed professor. He also covered micro market payment systems, specifically the market cards and related data management responsibilities.
Jerry McVety, president of McVety and Associates, followed with coverage of different types of food - the largest product segment, by share of sales, in micro markets. He detailed the pros and cons of different shipping and selling states such as frozen and fresh food, waste, necessary equipment and handling, new eating opportunities and product trends.
Future seminars will be held in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Southern California.
