VendScreen Inc. has announced the results of a nine-month pilot conducted with an international snack foods manufacturer and a large Northeast vending operator. The goal of the pilot program was to measure the impact of upgrading vending machines with VendScreen payment touchscreen devices and additional product facings. Results indicate a very positive impact, according to the release. The total machine vends increased an average of 85 percent, and sales of the manufacturer-branded products doubled.
The additional revenue generated during the first nine months of manufacturer-specific product sales canceled out the device hardware investment costs.
"The pilot results validated our belief that the value of the VendScreen platform extends beyond consumers and operators,” said Stephen Pasker, product manager at VendScreen, in a prepared statement. “CPG [Consumer Packaged Goods] manufacturers can now get insight into consumer behavior at the machine and can even influence that behavior.”
The pilot program also provided the CPG manufacturer access to point-of-sale data that was previously unavailable for vending purchases, according to the release. The data provided insights regarding which types of locations were popular for particular snacks and when they were most often purchased.
"We now have the ability to capture and share consumer purchase behavior and transaction details about particular products across all machines," said David Grano, CEO of VendScreen. "Our ability to provide independent compliance verification of sales activity truly changes the game for CPG manufacturers exploring vending promotions."
The pilot was the first step toward a larger program incorporating on-screen advertising to contextually highlight featured snacks within vending machines. The extended pilot program is now accepting applications from both CPG manufacturers and vending operator partners at http://bit.ly/VSpromos.
