Why Choose a Micro-Market over a Pantry for Your Office

Are the coffee runs in your office taking longer than usual and eating into your team’s productive work hours?

Is finding and refilling tea bags, sugar, coffee and snacks on the pantry shelves a constant nightmare for your team?

Then it is time your office floor or complex got itself a micro market powered by the smart vending solutions from Vendekin Technologies, known for creating the best vending machine software in India and worldwide. Here’s how a micro market can help your office.

What Is a Micro market?

A micro market is a closely condensed convenience store consisting of 2 or more vending machines selling various products through unmanned, unattended retail. It utilises automated self-checkout technology, often combined with cashless methods of payment.

But, can a micro market benefit your workplace? Here are five benefits of incorporating a micro-market into your office space.

Transform Your Break Room

Upgrading to a micro-market powered by the best vending machine software from India upgrades your break room. Instead of a room with beat-up coffee machines and shelves of expired snacks, a break room with smart vending machines with neat rows filled with snacks, beverages and even office supplies makes for a much more modern and convenient break room. It creates an overall improved office experience and subliminally communicates to the office staff that they are valued and their needs matter. Instead of each one going off on their own, often you will find teams gathered around these new-age vending machines or micromarkets during breaks, which overall helps build relationships and morale.

What does this mean for the company? Higher employee morale usually means an overall happier place to work. Additionally, adding a micro-market may also give your business’ reputation a boost as a workplace. Company perks, such as better break rooms and snacks, are highly valued and can even become a talking point helping draw and retain talent.

Greater Office Productivity

Another reason why using a micro-market makes sense for today’s businesses is that it is an easy way to boost your workplace productivity.

Office staff leaving the office for long lunches and coffee breaks can cost a company useful work hours. A micro-market powered by the touchless, cashless vending machine technology from India, can save your team a lot of time. Snacking and even lunch options are available, allowing your staff to easily shop for satiating and nutritious food without stepping out of the office. All in all, having an engaging break room in your office can help your staff save time and stay focused during the day.

More Convenient than Old-school Vending

Micro-markets via smart vending, have done away with hassles of traditional vending machine technology in India or worldwide. It is uncommon now to see users standing around a vending machine fumbling for coins and notes. Vending machine dispensation technology too has upscaled, and it is unusual to see products get jammed in now.

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In conversation with Abhinav Soni, Sales Head - Opportunities & Challenges for smart vending machine

Vending may have been in India for almost 40 years now, but as the world rides the new wave of digital retail, our sales lead Abhinav Soni shares his thoughts on the opportunities and challenges presented by smart vending technologies, the solutions provided by Vendekin to brands globally and the challenges his team faces in selling this idea to brands and entrepreneurs. Excerpts from this interesting conversation:

Smart Vending Machines in the Indian market

Abhinav shares that the exponential growth of digitisation in India has resulted in massive traction for the idea of a smart & unmanned retail landscape. Multiple brands are showing interest in building new channels of sales & even beginning to explore automatic vending machine prices in India. While smart vending machines offer end-consumers a touchless and personalised experience, Vendekin Technologies provides smart vending solutions in India and worldwide to brands in the retail and food & beverages (F&B) sector. Vendekin does this by retrofitting their existing vending machines to make them “smart” – cashless and touchless – with the help of a web or app interface.  Vendekin also customises smart vending machines as per a brand’s specific needs and requirements and provides an AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) driven back office vending management software to remotely track sales and manage other vending machine operations digitally.

Traditional Stores vs Regular Vending Machines vs Smart Vending

While Abhinav doesn't believe in the idea of pitting the concepts of traditional stores, regular vending machines and smart vending machines against each other, he does elaborate on the benefits that brands experience with smart vending machines. For instance, setting up a traditional brick and mortar store takes a lot more time and money to get up and running. Regular cash-and-coin operated vending machines come with their own set of limitations and still require tactile human interaction and manual intervention in its operations

Smart vending solves both of these challenges. A vending machine can be set up in as less as 1/10th of the cost of a traditional storefront. And in less than 24 hours a business can be set up with smart cashless vending machines in India. Customer transactions on these machines are entirely touchless, managed through smartphones, while all the sales data and interactions can be tracked digitally by the vending machine operator.

Expanding Beyond the Usual Markets

Vending machines are a common sight at airports, railway stations, bus stops, corporate offices and various public spaces. But there's a lot more that can be explored, says Abhinav. Vendekin-powered smart cashless vending machines can be set up in residential complexes, educational institutes, business parks, fitness centres, hospitals, etc. Basically, any place that witnesses high footfall is a potential place of business for smart vending machines.

The team at Vendekin can help businesses identify such high footfall spots across the country and handhold them in setting up smart vending machines at these locations. This is a part of Vendekin’s bouquet of vending solutions in India and across the world.

Scope of the Vending Industry

According to Abhinav, vending has now evolved over the usual packed snacks and beverages. The smart cashless vending machines in India and worldwide can be customised as per the product a brand wants to sell. Natural Ice Cream now vends tubs of its popular ice creams through a customised refrigerated vending machine in Pune, similarly Shaukeen Pan has a unique "Paan Vending Machine" outside its store and Gadre Marine has packaged seafood vending machines installed in a residential complex.

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Most Frequently Asked Questions about Vending Machine Technology

Starting a new business can get a bit scary, especially when the industry you are entering is rapidly evolving. And with the introduction of the latest vending machine technology in India the vending industry is going through a period of growth and disruption. This also means more opportunities for entrepreneurs and brands! And with that come questions.

Team Vendekin Technologies compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions by new vending entrepreneurs and brands as they enter the vending machine industry. And these FAQs have been answered in detail by Vendekin’s marketing and product experts to ease the journey for anyone starting out in the vending industry. So, let’s dive right into these questions...

How much does a vending machine cost in India?

The costs of vending machines may vary depending on its size, type and the customisation done on it. The smallest machine may cost anywhere close to Rs. 1 lakh and may go up to Rs. 8-10 lakhs. Having worked with various vending machine suppliers in India, we have found that a vending machine made to sell delicate products like sweets and snacks can cost between Rs.2.5-3.5 lakhs, while combination machines that have a built in chiller for refrigeration can cost anywhere between Rs. 4-4.5 lakhs.

How often is restocking a vending machine required?

Vending machines are stocked by vending machine operators. Refilling depends on the frequency of sales. And sales depend on the location where the machines are installed. It goes without saying that places with high footfall will see increased usage of the machines. When a new vending operator (NVO) or brand gets onboarded to Vendekin Technologies, they get more than just smart vending machines installed with the latest vending machine technology in India. The marketing team at Vendekin helps identify locations with better footfall. Moreover, with the help of our vending machine management software, vNetra, NVOs and brands in India can track and analyse sales from all their machines as per location and tweak their efforts accordingly.

How big can vending machines get?

Vending machines come in a great variety of shapes and sizes. The smallest machines powered by Vendekin are 3 x 3 feet in height and width, while the biggest Vendekin smart vending machine, a hot food vending machine has dimensions of 6.5 x 5 x 4 feet in height, depth and width respectively. To reiterate, the size of the vending machine purely depends on the product being sold.

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From T-shirts to Panipuris: The Oddest Vending Machines in India

Over the years Vending machines in India have become commonplace. Especially at airports, railway stations, bus stops and hospitals, vending snackables like chips, chocolates, beverages - perfect for the traveller-on-the-go. Or in offices vending a variety of coffee and tea concoctions. But are these the only things vending machines can dispense? While the digital vending machines in India are not dispensing puppies or lingerie just yet (they do in Japan!) things have gotten pretty interesting here too!

The team at Vendekin Technologies has travelled far and wide for research and to install our smart, cashless and touchless vending machines in India and globally. Here’s a compilation of some of the oddest and most interesting vending machines we have come across in India:

Panipuri Vending Machine

A Delhi man has made a touchless golgappa vending machine that dispenses these scrumptious water balls, also known as panipuri, completely sans human contact or touch. From golgappa or product selection to cashless payment to the final dispensation of golgappas — the entire vending machine operation is touchless, says Govind, who has custom designed and developed this contactless vending machine in India.

All you have to do is scan the QR code and make the payment. Once the payment is done, the machine will dispense a sealed pack of golgappas. The pack contains a glass for keeping the mouth-watering flavoured water from four available options — sweet, spicy, hing and mix.

Similarly, a person from Banaskantha district of Gujarat invented a contactless panipuri vending machine. The machine dispenses a panipuri once the user selects the price of their panipuri treat, and inserts the respective cash into the machine. A few seconds later, the vending machine opens a flap underneath the keyboard and out comes a mouthwatering panipuri onto the conveyor belt.

T-Shirt Vending Machine

Vending machines in India only dispense quick food items right? But this Vendekin-powered smart vending machine in Pune sells t-shirts! Installed at Westend Mall in Pune by Universal Classic Tshirts Co., this customised, unmanned "t-shirt shop" has turned many heads, generating organic interest in the brand.

Apart from being an unmanned store, what makes this vending machine even more attractive is the price range and variation of the products. With prices starting at Rs. 399 and an option to choose from 8 different types of t-shirts, this vending machine has become quite the crowd-puller in this Pune mall.  And like all the Vendekin-powered custom touchless vending machines in India, it accepts digital payments, supporting all major payment platforms and e-wallets.

Paan Vending Machine

Pune-based Shaukeen Paan sells their wide range of paans through Vendekin-powered smart vending machines. They were inspired and impressed by the fully contactless vending machine at Chitale Bandhu, also powered by Vendekin. Vendekin Technologies’ team guided them through vending operations and even suggestions about the ideal packaging of their product for the machine. This is perhaps the first contactless vending machine in India selling paan. During the several lockdowns, even as a majority of shops and businesses were shut, this Shaukeen Paan digital vending machine in India would stay operational 24X7, ensuring no stoppage in the sales. Curious as to what mechanism this custom touchless vending machine in India uses to dispense paan? Read our earlier blog detailing the entire journey of how this digital paan vending machine came to be!

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In Conversation with Varun Shah - Co-Founder, Vendo Systems

In this edition of In Conversation, our interview series, we got talking to Mr. Varun Shah, the co-founder and partner at Vendo Systems, a Pune-based vending machine operator, who uses Vendekin Technologies’ smart and touchless vending machine technology in India to power his vending machines. Mr. Varun shares his experience of introducing smart vending to various residential societies and corporate houses, the challenges they have faced and what they look forward to in future with their smart vending business. Excerpts from the conversation:

Please tell us about your business. How and why was Vendo founded? Can you please tell us about yourself?

Vendo was originally the brainchild of Sohel, a dear friend, who I have known for 8 years now. Both of us had our own businesses, I was into the events industry while Sohel ran his rolling paper business. The pandemic-induced lockdowns made us realise that our current businesses cannot be run remotely. Sohel was looking for newer opportunities when one of his cousins introduced him to Aroon Khatter, founder of Vendekin Technologies. Sohel saw potential in smart unattended retail. and started Vendo in December 2020 and soon after in January 2021, I came on board. Since then, all our machines have been powered by Vendekin.

Why did you choose to go into the unmanned vending retail business over other opportunities in retail?

We saw that during the pandemic, people started taking their health and related safety precautions very seriously. We also noticed that there were no provisions for availability of essential products on a 24X7 basis. We saw this as an opportunity to introduce vending machines or unmanned retail as a solution that fills this gap, fulfilling the customer’s need for both safety and convenience. Powered by Vendekin’s intelligent vending machine solutions in India, these smart vending machines can dispense snacks, beverages and other essentials any time of the day or night. Plus the consumers can pay for it via cash or through a completely cashless and touchless digital transaction on their phones.

How many places in Pune are your vending machines located in right now?

We started off small with 3 smart vending machines. And now have 14 Vendekin-powered vending machines spread all across Pune in Maharashtra. This was possible because Vendo was handheld by Vendekin during its initial days in the industry on all crucial aspects. Our first installation was in a residential society named Rohan Kritika, followed by Rohan Mithila in Pune.

Apart from these, we have also manage some of the best digital vending machines in the Pune offices of Resalary and Webasto

Any key takeaways on your experience working with residential complexes vis-a-vis corporates?

Both were obviously vastly different experiences for us at Vendo. Residential complexes and their governing bodies require a lot more convincing and explaining on how the machine operates, its benefits and its ongoing usage and maintenance. Corporates, on the other hand, are familiar with the concept of unattended retail and vending, so they already have a budget for such installations. The large number of people in their offices, which in turn means high volumes, makes unmanned retail an ideal option. One benefit of working with  residential complexes is that it gives us a chance to educate and engage with their residents, a majority of whom work with large corporates, and therefore could be future clients or decision-makers as well.

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