decreasing sales?

[tkaman2]

Hi, I am looking at getting some more machines, I currently have 16 U-Turn terminators on site doing fairly well. I am just curious if the trend is for a machine to do the best when its new, then sales dwindle slowly? or do you see a slight slowdown the first month after placing it then see sales steady out? On most of my current 16 machines I saw highest sales after the first week, then the following two weeks sales have gone down slightly. I hope they will eventually steady out or just fluctuate within a certain range. Thanks for the input, it will help me decide if I want to expand my current route or stick with my current machines. Thanks!

Dave

[G-man422]

     With my machines the first month is always the highest.  People want to try out the "new" machine.  After a while it frops and levels out.  On eof my locations did almost $50 the fist month (I think it was $48.75) and now does $27 consistantly.  It's normal for it to drop after the first month or so.

     If you see a location slowing down a little more than you like, try switching out products.  This will give the machine a new exciting product people want to try.  After switching a few times you can tell which products do best in what locations.  This can take a while to see trends, but is worth it.

[Jax Snacks]

It depends on whether it's the same people walking through the door each day or different people walking through the door each day. People do get bored with the products after a while.

Sales in the breakrooms will most likely drop after a few months since your customer base does not change much from month to month.

Sales in the public places (hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.) tend to be more consistent since the location's clientele usually changes from day to day.

Of course there are exceptions. A neighborhood pub or restaurant can also be frequented by "regulars" or their employees who are your biggest customers which in turn that could lead to a drop in sales over time.

I guess the best places would be tourist locations where the people change all the time and there are very few "regulars".

Jax

[West Coast Vend LLC]

If you are in an account that the people don't change than it will be necessary to change your candy/gum selections more often. The first month is always good and the second, a little slower, but your numbers should go back up and grow each month from there. You would be very lucky if you could have a tourist type location but most of us don't. So do the next best thing. Change your products every couple of months to keep customers coming back for more.

Gary

[bacho]

If you see a location slowing down a little more than you like, try switching out products.  This will give the machine a new exciting product people want to try.  After switching a few times you can tell which products do best in what locations.  This can take a while to see trends, but is worth it.

I totally agree with Gabe on this one. The first month is always the highest, then levels out and even drops. Over a 5 month period I finally hit the right combination of product with my slow locations and now it's bringing in a steady flow of quarters.

[Jax Snacks]

Another option would be to downgrade the location to just 2 or 3 product selections. Many times you will find that more product selections does not necessarily equate to more revenue. Two or three product selections are adequate for most candy locations - eight is usually overkill. When you are in adult locations, your product choices are limited. I have both 2/3 head NW's AND 4/8 head U-turns and have learned this the hard way.

Jax

[marsmac]

Hi All,

We have found that the machines placed in public places generally do better than non-public places. It's also because kids can get access to the machine also...generally our biggest customer.

Machines in non-public places get sick of eating the same lollies over and over again. They might also have a 'bad experience' with the machine (like when the machine rips them off) that will cause resentment towards the machine. Worse still, they may tell everyone else in the office that the machine is a 'rip off'. That can't be good for business.

Martin

Lion Vending

http://www.lionvending.com.au