In conversation with Pranav Kumar, General Manager - Design & Development at Godrej & Boyce

Scan – Select – Pay – Enjoy!

That’s how employees of corporate offices with Godrej & Boyce’s smart vending machines get their coffee and snacks at work, without having to carry jingling loose change or a wad of notes for exact payments of their coffee or tea.

And this touchless vending machine experience in India is increasingly being powered by Vendekin Technologies for leading integrated vending service providers such Godrej & Boyce. Their vending arm, Godrej Vending has used Vendekin Technologies powered solutions to upgrade their vending machine technology to further strengthen their corporate vending solutions and be ready for the touchless and cashless future of unattended retail. Pranav Kumar, the General Manager of the Design and Development at Godrej & Boyce talks about this journey and what is to come…

Please tell us a little about yourself and Godrej & Boyce.

Godrej & Boyce Limited is one of the biggest companies in India in multi-technology products. One of the products we design and manufacture are beverage vending machines. We are in the business of table-top tea and coffee vending machines, and we sell our machines in the domestic as well as international markets like SAARC countries, the Middle East, South Africa, Canada and even USA. We build a wide variety of machines, which can dispense beverages like tea, special and instant coffees, and some specially designed machines even dispense oatmeal.

Our machines have got very good acceptance by customers, due to its technology, flexibility in usage, quality of the output (product) and the varieties we offer in them.

How did the association between Vendekin Technologies & Godrej come about?

We at Godrej & Boyce are entirely into the development of technology for coffee vending machines.  We were looking for a technology partner to provide us with a tech platform to integrate digital payment systems, cloud computing, and IoT (Internet of Things) in our vending machines, in order to make life more convenient for our end-users. That's when we came across Vendekin, who have created an excellent ecosystem of future-ready smart vending machine technology in India. We tested Vendekin's technology with our machines and found them to be flexible and easy to integrate. It took us hardly a month to integrate all our tea and coffee vending machines with Vendekin's tech. With our machines and Vendekin's smart systems, we were able to offer digital payment gateways (for commercial coffee vending machines), consumption reports, inventory management, machine health alerts and many customer-centric offerings to our clients.

How easy was it to set up a Vendekin device on your existing vending machines?

We found that Vendekin’s technology is ready for integration with any kind of vending machine, from the basic machines to the more premium ones. Integrating Vendekin’s technology into our machines didn’t require us to make any sort of changes to our systems or the machines itself. It was as easy as plug and play into our systems.

How do Vendekin powered machines differ from the normal ones?

The machines without Vendekin’s technology are free-vend machines, which means they do not really have any payment systems in them. After integrating Vendekin’s smart vending technology with our machines, they became digital-ready and equipped with digital payment options for India and international markets too. So we were able to offer our machines to our international clients too with digital payment options integrated with payment gateways accepted in their countries.

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Retrobox - The booster shot of smart tech for traditional vending machines

Traditional Vending Machines - Just a simple box with snacks

So what comes to mind when someone says vending machine? A large glass and metal box placed conveniently in a corner, with some brightly packaged snacks, plastic beverage bottles. Or maybe the vending machines that you are thinking of are those table top machines, commonly found dispensing tea or coffee in office pantries. Or perhaps you are thinking of the ticket dispensing machines at metro stations. While the products being dispensed may vary, all the vending machines above usually accept currency notes, coins and cards and allow for punching in the product code through some buttons or a keypad.

All in all, a vending machine would seem to be a simple mechanical box with limited payment options to make a purchase using cash or sometimes a debit or credit card. These machines also have a high chance of a lost sale if the customer walks away if he/she doesn't have the exact amount of cash on them, or if their card fails to swipe or be detected for some reason or if they do not wish to swipe/tap their card multiple times to get multiple products.

With the Retrobox, Vendekin Technologies is bringing transformation into the vending machine business, making these older, simpler and clunkier vending machines smarter with a touchless, ‘shopping cart’, mobile purchase experience with multiple digital payment options.

So what is Retrobox?

Retrobox is a palm-sized plug-and-play device created for vending machines by Vendekin Technologies, used by smart vending machines suppliers in India, US, Europe, UAE and other countries. It is compatible with all Multi Drop Bus (MDB) versions and can be set up in less than 10 minutes. The Retrobox acts as an interactive controller device, managing the execution activities through customers’ mobile phones. It can be placed inside the old machines by simply connecting the MDB, DEX and Keypad cables of the machine, without having to make any cosmetic changes on the exterior. The machine looks the same but operates more smartly and efficiently.

What made managing the older vending machines cumbersome?

Missing Innovation

• Older machines need a GSM telemetry device to transfer data. With the 3G sun setting upon 2022, these devices have to be upgraded to run on 4G and 5G networks.
• There are usually only two payment options available in older vending machines, either cash and card.

Poor Consumer Experience

• These machines dispensed only one product at a time.
• Older machines require currency change management to accept physical currency
• Contactless cards have limitations in terms of number of swipes/taps in a day

Operational Inefficiency

• Running and maintaining cash equipment comes at a high cost.
• Card readers, cash acceptors and telemeters are expensive to set up and maintain.
• Existing back office operation management softwares do not provide in-depth data analysis for the entire operation.

Today, if vending machines and kiosks do not support all forms of mobile cashless payments, the operators could be missing out on an extra 20% in sales. That’s where Vendekin’s Retrobox provides the booster shot of smart tech, providing a one stop solution to the operators.

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In conversation with Sharad More, Founder Shaukeen Paan: Opportunities in VENDING Paan

What was the last product you purchased using a vending machine? A packet of chips, a bar of chocolate, or a tetra pack of juice? But, have you ever bought paan from a vending machine?

Mr. Sharad More, the founder and proprietor of Pune’s Shaukeen Paan, talks about vending paan using a Vendekin-powered smart vending machine at his shop and the challenges and the opportunities therein. Vendekin is the provider of intelligent vending solutions through contactless and touchless vending machines in India and the ecosystem required to support a successful vending business.

More from Mr. More.

Please tell us a little about your business?

I started selling paan in 1986, from a tiny setup, just a table with paan products. I was 17, had just left school and did various odd jobs like working in motor garages, before starting Shaukeen – The Complete Paan Shop in Erandwane, Pune. Even then, I had noticed that the way paan shops were run created a negative outlook for the business and its customers. I studied the market, the sentiment of the people, and once I understood the operations side of things, decided to do things a bit differently with Shaukeen. Today it is known as The Complete Paan shop. A place where people of all ages visit and families visit together to enjoy paan. This is not the usual clientele of a regular paan shop. This is because we maintain high levels of hygiene and offer a wide range of products. We currently have 10 shops spread across Mumbai, Nanded, Bauda, Kharadi-Singadh and of course Pune.

How did the idea of using contactless and touchless vending machines for Paan come up? How did you start?

I first had this idea in 2012, after seeing vending machines sell various food products. I spoke to my dear friend Anand Bham, who was into the packaging business and knew the in-and-out of packaging and electronic vending. I got him to build the first machine for me, but I wasn’t satisfied with its operative capabilities. I couldn’t understand the system well and it wasn’t suited to vend paan. Having spent some good money on my first vending experiment, I put this idea on the backburner. During this period, another friend came across a Cashless & Contactless Vending Machine outside Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale. He immediately took me there and we tried it out. That’s when I decided to put this plan into action once again, and try my hand at vending paan again.

How did Vendekin support you in this initiative and journey?

We got in touch with Vendekin, since the touchless vending machine at Chitale Bandhu was powered by Vendekin. We got great support and assistance from “Khatter sir” (Aroon Khatter, Founder, Vendekin Technologies). After multiple meetings and trial runs, with his team at Vendekin guiding us through vending operations and even suggestions about the ideal packaging of our product for the machine, we set up the first machine in just 2 months. The team at Vendekin has been extremely patient with all our questions, and even implemented our requests for several customisations, making our machine a unique one. A perfect example of a smart vending solution. And perhaps the first contactless vending machine in India selling paan! We still have discussions and exchange ideas on what other customisations can be done to the machine, to make vending paan an easier and more interesting experience for the customers.

What changes did you make to the already touchless vending machine for your product?

We created customised boxes made of food grade paper with our branding, as per the requirements of the vending machine slots. The products in this Vendekin-powered vending machine are placed in such a manner that once the order for a paan is placed, it carefully brings the paan down without any spillage. The machine currently holds 80 boxes of paan, and each box contains 2 paans. Our paans are already very popular, and with Vendekin’s intelligent vending solutions, we’re able to keep our paans fresh for up to 3 days in the vending machine.

What kind of products do you keep in this contactless vending machine?

Only paan products as of now, with several varieties and flavours. Our Chocolate Paan is a hit among customers, especially children! They love watching the entire process of touchless vending, right from scanning the QR code, making a cashless transaction on the phone and then magically seeing their favourite chocolate-flavoured paan being dispensed by the vending machine. They are fascinated by it!

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In conversation with our CEO Aroon Khatter: On Setting up a Digital Vending Business

The digital world provides an expansive universe of potential to every brand. And with the pandemic, the march of Indian retail towards digitization has only hastened. This hastening has brought to the fore unmanned automated retail, which allows for each customer to have a personalized shopping experience with minimal human interaction. And smart vending solutions, which are an essential part of unmanned retail and self checkout, are increasingly becoming a part of Indian retail’s digital umbrella, along with e-commerce, delivery apps, and cashless digital payments.

What does this mean for brands and entrepreneurs? Our CEO, Aroon Khatter talks about the digital future of retail through vending machines and unmanned retail in India. Why and how brands can go digital-first with the help of smart vending machines and unmanned retail solutions  in India.

1) Smart vending machines are seeing robust growth in India and the world, what according to you is the reason?

Chief executive of the National Health Authority of India, Ram Sewak Sharma stated that India has 1.18 billion mobile connections, 700 million Internet users, & 600 million smartphones, which are increasing 25 million per quarter. And because smartphones have become ubiquitous, it has increased the customer’s appetite for instant gratification. To match such needs, businesses are constantly having to come up with newer solutions.

An IDC research stated that two-thirds of the CEOs of Global 2,000 companies will shift their focus from traditional & offline strategies to more modern digital strategies to improve the customer experience before the end of the year. Why? Because with each passing day the customer’s need for instant gratification is increasing. We all know that right now, when it comes to purchasing something, it is ‘Buy online & wait!’.

Through Vending Commerce (VCommerce), automatic vending machines in India address a lot of these problems. People do not have to wait for their order. They get it right where they are, right when they want it. The whole experience is contactless and the products is available 24*7. This is not just retail, this is smart retail.

2) Which industries do you think will benefit from the digital-first approach provided by VCommerce or automatic vending solutions and machines in India?

In my opinion, the consumption-theme oriented companies i.e FMCG companies will benefit the most from VCommerce.

For example, let’s say a kid asks his/her parents for an ice cream, at midnight, when restaurants and food apps are no longer delivering. But a smart, unmanned vending machine downstairs in their apartment complex common area can be an accessible purchase point, and that too instantaneously, without any waiting.

There was a preconceived notion, at least in India, about vending machines being only useful for products like packaged snacks at airports. But that is fast-changing. One of our clients at Vendekin, Gadre Sea Food, is in the ready-to-eat seafood business. With our help they’ve installed automatic vending machines in societies, which dispense prawn biryani! All a customer has to do is walk down, make a touchless, cashless payment through their phone, and pick up a prawn biryani with zero-wait and no human interaction. And this is just one example. We have created similar smart vending solutions for Chitale Bandhu, a major snack player in Pune and even a local paan shop called Shaukeen! Apart from providing an extra sales channel, these vending machines also help in increasing their brand recall.

3) According to you, how can traditional businesses become digital-first?

FMCG brands like these have successfully evolved into a billion-dollar industry. In the process, they have adopted a digital-first approach to optimize their internal operations and processes. With the pandemic their customers too increasingly expect the conveniences of a digital-first approach, so in a way it is inevitable. It might take another few years, but it is already happening. We have already had success with several legacy brands like Chitale Bandhu & Haldiram’s adopting Vendekin’s VCommerce platform and technology as part of their omnichannel sales strategies.

Vending and unattended retail operators/SMEs are also finding ways to digitize their operations and sales. Vendekin helps them go digital-first by setting up new avenues of sales with smart vending solutions, or VCommerce.

I truly believe that the next digital wave will be led by SMEs: kirana and other mom & pop stores & small FMCG producers.

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A New Way to Retail with Vending Commerce

We are living in unprecedented times. Since the pandemic, things are constantly changing and evolving as we learn a little more about the virus and its implications. The demand for flexibility is at an all-time high. Whether it is the flexibility of being able to work away from a professional workplace or getting contactless home-deliveries for everything from packaged retail products to even fresh food, essential medicines and supplies. As we respond to the pandemic by adapting our lifestyle to this new normal of reduced contact or contact-less, some older innovations too are being adapted and modified to suit this new lifestyle.

One such older innovation is the vending machine. Vending machines are turning out to become an effective means of touchless distribution of products right where they are needed and when they are needed. With IoT and rapid digitization, these interactions with vending machines are becoming smarter and digital as well.

Unlike countries like Japan or the U.S., vending machines have not been very common or large portion of India’s retail pie, however this is changing with Indian businesses and customers becoming increasingly more comfortable with digital platforms and payments. Along with traditional kirana stores, malls, and e-commerce, unmanned retail through vending, is poised to become an indispensable part of distribution and sales.

Another factor accelerating the rise of unmanned retail are players like Vendekin Technologies and their touchless digital vending technology which is making vending machines in India more ubiquitous and digital.

What started as a solution-provider for providing a mobile payment system for the often-overlooked sanitary napkin vending machines, has quickly transformed into a global pioneer for unattended retail technology solutions, with multiple patents globally. Today, Vendekin Technolgies is the leading name in providing smart vending solutions to businesses in India and internationally. Apart from smart vending solutions for Fast-moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brands, and helping existing vending operators (EVOs) upgrade to digital, Vendekin also provides the right ecosystem for new vending operators (NVOs) to flourish in a fast-growing market.

Vending Commerce

The vending business, can seem quite intimidating with a high learning curve for the average entrepreneur. Apart from the lack of domain expertise and seemingly high capital investment required to start a vending business, another problem is the maximum retail price or MRP of a product. Profit margins for vending entrepreneurs can often get squeezed when they are negotiating prices with bigger FMCG players. Identifying all these problems, Vendekin launched Vending Commerce, or VCommerce to make vending machine and unmanned retail in India smarter for customers and simpler for those looking to set up a vending business. Right from helping source the hardware to providing branded software solutions and mobile app to make the vending machines smarter, to negotiating better margins.

In this digital march of the Indian retail sector, VCommerce is poised to become an important and eventually indispensable part of a brand’s marketing, branding and distribution strategy.

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