Jazar Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 When is it appropriate and/or lucrative to buy inventory management software? I know that the cons are: price per machine per month, possible malfunction, and the pros seem to be timesaving, restocking ease. but, I don't know how fussy they are and if they are worth the purchase. I'd love to hear thoughts and experiences! TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendio Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I'm interested in this topic. I currently use Nayax for tracking inventory in my machines but have been thinking about a system that would track inventory in the warehouse and include alerts for when stock needs to be reordered. I've been thinking about building my own. I used VendSoft when I didn't have telemetry before moving over to Nayax; it can track warehouse inventory but I didn't use it at the time because I was only small then and couldn't be bothered entering data for all my purchases. So I guess it is a balance of time and money saved in ordering and minimising wastage or out-of-stocks versus the extra time needed to maintain the tracking system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I use ParLevel and do prekitting, but I have not utilized the warehouse management side of the system yet. I can see how it would be needed in larger operations to keep the right stock on hand, but I'm not there yet. I have a lot of nayax telemetry and that was what got me to bring all my machines into one program, I understand that nayax has purchased one of the competing VMS systems (vendsoft? not sure) and offers that service now as well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimwarneke Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I started in vending just recently, but I can't imagine doing this without some sort of system. I use VendSoft because it's low cost and does just about anything I want it to. Pre-kitting, warehouse inventory, tracking sales, cash reconciliation, etc., etc. I know it can do telemetry too, but I don't use it so I don't know how. The BIG thing I want to say about them is that their tech support is amazing. It's via chat/email - but they always get back to you within a day and what I can't say enough about is their willingness to listen to your needs and even update their software to accommodate it. They have added several features that I have asked for, and usually within a few days! Give them a try! (Not associated with VendSoft in any manner, other than a very happy user) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Southeast Treats said: I understand that nayax has purchased one of the competing VMS systems (vendsoft? not sure) and offers that service now as well.... They acquired vendsys... I don't know much about vendsys but I think you are correct about them having a warehouse inventory feature as part of their software system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 36 minutes ago, jimwarneke said: They have added several features that I have asked for, and usually within a few days! Give them a try! I think that they also offer a vendiscuss members discount.... BTW- nice post... I would never have guessed that you were "new" to vending as all of your posts are very informative. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimwarneke Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 1 minute ago, kiwi said: BTW- nice post... I would never have guessed that you were "new" to vending as all of your posts are very informative. LOL! Thanks ... been vending since the end of September 2016 - Does that qualify as 'new'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 2 minutes ago, jimwarneke said: LOL! Thanks ... been vending since the end of September 2016 - Does that qualify as 'new'? Mate... you should still be in nappies but you sound like your already more knowledgeable in "vending" than someone who's been doing it for 20yrs like me Are you involved in vending full-time or part-time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimwarneke Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 53 minutes ago, kiwi said: Are you involved in vending full-time or part-time? Full-time for the past few months, hoping to expand it so I can stay full-time, but it will probably be a part-time gig soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 44 minutes ago, jimwarneke said: Full-time for the past few months, hoping to expand it so I can stay full-time, but it will probably be a part-time gig soon. I am sure with the kinda person you sound like you will have NO problem making vending a full-time gig in the future if that's what your after... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 9 hours ago, brendio said: I currently use Nayax for tracking inventory in my machines but have been thinking about a system that would track inventory in the warehouse and include alerts for when stock needs to be reordered. I've been thinking about building my own. Are you thinking about building a warehouse inventory system or a complete VMS system? I know of one person on here who designed his own vms & he made it sound easy but I am no IT wiz so I don't really know what would be involved... do you have a background in software/programming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapitalCityVendingLLC Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Yea, I've wanted to give something like vendsoft a try. I may give it a try in the coming weeks. Side question but definitely related. I have a couple of credit card machines through usa tech. I'm sure there's a way to track what product has been purchased but I haven't figured it out yet. There's a section that says on there under "build report" that says "fill date". I can't get it to work though. If there's an easy way through usa tech to see what my machines have done, print it out, and pre-kit, that would be ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chkoolaid1 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I use vendsoft as well and love it. However, I don't have any online machines. I use payrange and just haven't wanted/needed to jump to card readers. It's 20 bucks for up to 20 machines or 30 bucks up to 100 machines or something like that. No contract. It's made my life a lot easier. Not only in keeping track of inventory in machines and in my unit but I'm able to clearly see my sales reports per machine, per location, w/e. I used an excel spreadsheet before but the time this saves and the clarity of it is worth every dime. It pays for itself every month. I use an app on my phone or an app on my iPad. I also don't need a service signal to use it which is very convenient. I had an issue when I first signed up and the founder responded and had it fixed right away. Turned out to be a user error. I'd highly recommend them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapitalCityVendingLLC Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 jimwarneke, With vendsoft, how do you pre kit? Does the program see what the machine has done since your last visit and tell you what to pack? Could you go in depth on how that works with vendsoft. Like I said, there must be some way with usa tech with my credit card readers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimwarneke Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 VendSoft records the sales results for each item at each location every trip you make and then calculates the number of vends for that item per day (SPD) at that location. Then when you create your next service trip, it calculates how many sales you should have made for that item based upon the number of days since the last service. The more data it has, the better the predictions can be. I run a pre-kitting report before every service and it tells me how many of a certain item I might need, and the breaks it down per location. I don't pre-kit, but I use the data to ensure I have enough on my vehicle so that when I do go out to service I don't run out. In my situation, it's been pretty close with the predictions. Here are some screenshots of the summary and detail - hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chkoolaid1 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Vendsoft does a free 2 week trial, no card number required. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendio Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 13 hours ago, kiwi said: Are you thinking about building a warehouse inventory system or a complete VMS system? I know of one person on here who designed his own vms & he made it sound easy but I am no IT wiz so I don't really know what would be involved... do you have a background in software/programming? I was thinking of mucking around with making a database to take data from Nayax (as well as manual entry for unmonitored machines) to keep track of warehouse inventory. My background is science with only really basic programming, but I have a mate who runs a business building custom business database software and makes it sound relatively easy. I'm sure if I valued my time properly it would be cheaper to buy/subscribe to something off the shelf, but I think I would like the challenge. Finding the time to actually do it though is the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazar Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 On 11/17/2016 at 7:22 PM, Chkoolaid1 said: I use vendsoft as well and love it. However, I don't have any online machines. I use payrange and just haven't wanted/needed to jump to card readers. It's 20 bucks for up to 20 machines or 30 bucks up to 100 machines or something like that. No contract. It's made my life a lot easier. Not only in keeping track of inventory in machines and in my unit but I'm able to clearly see my sales reports per machine, per location, w/e. I used an excel spreadsheet before but the time this saves and the clarity of it is worth every dime. It pays for itself every month. I use an app on my phone or an app on my iPad. I also don't need a service signal to use it which is very convenient. I had an issue when I first signed up and the founder responded and had it fixed right away. Turned out to be a user error. I'd highly recommend them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Hi Chkoolaid, I was under the impression that the Vendsoft software needed the internet or WiFi????? Can it work with Bluetooth and your phone????? some of my machines are at DOC, so it would not work there. But, some of my machines are not. I have thought about payrange, for the convenience of payment, but am not sure if the "sign up for an account " thing will put people off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazar Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 And, would you need payrange to get the vendsoft??? $30 for up to 100machines sounds great... and worth it. But, is that the venssoft or the payrange? I thought the payrange was more expensive than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chkoolaid1 Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 And, would you need payrange to get the vendsoft??? $30 for up to 100machines sounds great... and worth it. But, is that the venssoft or the payrange? I thought the payrange was more expensive than that.Jazar, Vendsoft and payrange operate separately. For vendsoft you need wifi or Internet to download the days "trip" but once you've downloaded you don't need it anymore. You can go through the day, do your work with it, and when you get back into wifi you upload the results. I use it on my phone now but initially I used it on an iPad that didn't have cellular data. Vendsoft is 30 bucks for 100 machines, I think it's great. Payrange, in my opinion, works best in areas with repeat customers. People who will use their account regularly. It doesn't do to well for me in retail areas, but schools, employee locations, its used a lot. It's 80 bucks for a "blu key", it's a little device you plug into the MDB connection (it has to be an MDB machine).They also charge 3.95% per transaction. I like it because I'm not paying a monthly fee on top of hardware and transaction fees. I also feel like the account they have encourages them to spend more. They load 5 or 10 bucks onto their account and then use that towards their purchase. I feel like it's easier for people to spend more with it. I hope this answered your questions, let me know if it didn't! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Cities Vending Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Do you use credit card readers with your vendsoft? They never did get mine to work. If they would have I might have stayed with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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