VagabondVending Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Hi All, We wanted to formally introduce our software, Vagabond, to the Vendiscuss community. The software was specifically developed for smaller vending operators. Vagabond is simple and easy to use. What Vagabond does: Sales Tracking - Vagabond allows the user to track the status of their vending operations at any moment in time. - Vagabond processes the sales every machine makes throughout the day in real-time and shows the user how much of each product has sold as sales occur. Real Time Pre-Kitting - Vagabond knows how much of each product is in every machine and lets the user know how much of each product to bring to each vending machine (pre-kitting). Product Sales-Rate Data Tracking - Vagabond learns as sales are made and tracks the rate at which your products sell across your business. Vagabond calculates this 'rate of consumption' for each product, Vagabond knows how much of each product is in your machines and Vagabond knows how much of each product is in your inventory and uses this information to tell you exactly how much of each product you need to order/purchase to get you through an order/purchase cycle. Inventory Management - Vagabond easily allows you remotely manage your inventory as you receive/remove products from your inventory. Product Reports - Vagabond knows how much of each product sells from each machine and is able to tell you the amount of products sold and the revenue generated by those products for any specified time-frame. Accountability (Activity Reports) - Vagabond allows business owners to keep tabs on their operations by letting them know when functions have been performed in Vagabond, such as when machines are restocked, when products have been packed (via pre-kitting) for a machine visit, and when products have been entered or removed from the inventory. This allows the business owner to have enhanced accountability of his/her operations. - In addition Vagabond displays the amount of $ sales made between machine re-stocks so that the owner/manager knows how much money to expect to collect at a machine visit. Financial Reports - Vagabond knows the sell price of each product for each machine (even if priced differently across machines). The user also enters the cost-per-case of each product sold into Vagabond, so Vagabond knows the unit-cost of each product. Vagabond then uses this information to display to the user the initial gross profit number for each vending machine across the business for any specified time-frame. This number is calculated as Revenues - COGS (cost of goods sold) = Profit. - The Financial reports also display key performance indicators for the selected time frame such as the average $ sales per day, the average sales per day, the profit margin as a percentage, the average price per vend, and the average cost per vend. How it works: - Vagabond receives its real-time data from telemetry hardware devices and/or from telemetry enabled credit card readers. Vagabond is partnering with USA Technologies to provide the complete hardware software solution to enable full remote monitoring capability. The Process: 1) Customer makes purchase from the telemetry outfitted machine and sales data is sent to USA Technologies. 2) Vagabond accesses the sales data from USA Technologies on behalf of the Vagabond customer and uses sales data to accurately show current status of every vending machine in the Vagabond customer's vending operations. 3) Vagabond customer knows at any moment in time how full machines are, what they need to pack for a machine visit (if they need to go), etc. - Vagabond safely stores and processes all data in "the cloud". - Vagabond only requires an internet connection for mobile devices used with Vagabond (WiFi) a couple of times a day to properly sync all functions performed on the Vagabond interface throughout the day's operations. - Vagabond currently requires customers to have an Apple iOS smart device (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) for use with the mobile app (downloaded via iTunes App Store) and requires customers to have access to a web browser to use the online-based portion of Vagabond. Results: Vagabond makes every customer's vending operations as efficient as possible and results in substantial savings of time and money. Here's how: Labor Reductions: - Vagabond customers experience labor requirement reductions of up to 40% by: not making unnecessary machine visits (saving time, gas, resources), pre-kitting, spending less time on paperwork, and never spending time figuring out what sold. Thus, crucial time is freed up that can be re-focused on expanding the operations, spending time with family, etc. Inventory Carry Requirement Reductions: - Vagabond customers reduce their inventory carry requirement by up to 20%. Vagabond knows the rate at which products sell across the business and learns as sales rates change. So Vagabond is able to tell you exactly how much of each product you need to purchase/order to get you through an order cycle. Vagabond customers are able to reduce their inventory requirements by 20% and keep that extra 20% sitting in the bank (exactly where the operator wants his/her money.) Increases Time Between Machine Visits: - Vagabond customers know exactly how full each machine is and what products remain unsold in each machine. They therefore know exactly when a machine needs to visited. Our customers see up to 100% increases of time between visits to machines. - Vagabond enables vending operators to visit machines only when necessary and increases the number of machines one person can manage. Increases in sales: - Through the use of Vagabond's Product Reports, customers can track which products are selling well and which products aren't producing the best results. Operators are then able to swap out products when necessary and offer their customers a product they will want to purchase at all times. Increases in Net Profit Margins: - By providing customers with more information, Vagabond is able to help operators make better decisions as they manage the day-to-day of their vending operation. Our customers are able to experience triple to quadruple the net profit margins reported by NAMA. - Implementing Vagabond is a cash positive decision because customers' savings exceed the money spent on using Vagabond to manage their operations (without counting the huge time savings experienced by Vagabond customers.) Why require telemetry hardware for Vagabond use? Vagabond uses real-time data to track customer's vending operations. Vagabond does not predict sales, Vagabond reports sales as they occur so that the user has the most accurate data available. This requires a piece of hardware that will let Vagabond 'talk' to the vending machines. Why develop Vagabond on the Apple mobile platform? Vagabond does not require customers to purchase expensive DEX capable handheld devices that can only manage their vending operations. We developed Vagabond on the Apple platform because the iPod Touch is the least expensive mobile smart device available and a user can manage his/her vending operations on a device that has multiple uses. Vagabond will eventually be available on the Blackberry and Android operating systems, but not until Vagabond is sufficiently developed and perfected on the Apple iOS platform. Why limit ourselves to USA Technologies hardware? Vagabond uses data from USA Technologies hardware devices because a) we believe they are they best at handling and processing the sales data from over a hundred thirty thousand hardware devices from start to finish they report their sales in real time as they occur c) they do not require customers to purchase their hardware (via their Jumpstart program) if a minimum # of machines is met, thereby drastically lowering the barriers to entry for outfitting machines with sales tracking hardware. We are also working on integrating with InOne/Arrow's telemetry hardware devices to enable Vagabond use for customers that have both USA Tech. and InOne/Arrow devices across their operations. Other Important Pieces of Information: - There is no time commitment to begin using Vagabond. If a customer isn't happy with Vagabond after their first month of use, they can choose to discontinue their Vagabond service. - There is no minimum number of machines needed to start using Vagabond. - All software updates, releases, improvements and customer support are included with the cost of Vagabond. Learn more about Vagabond: - Check out our short introductory video showing Vagabond's mobile features and our pricing sheet at our website @ http://www.dtgvending.com - Visit our Facebook page to see some screenshots of the software @ http://www.facebook....VagabondVending - Follow us on Twitter via http://twitter.com/VagabondVending Reach Out to the Vagabond Team Directly with Questions or Concerns: E-mail: info@dtgvending.com Phone: 202.778.2316 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anyvendingcom Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 It sounds great! Questions: Does the software work on any type of vending machine? What type of hardware is required? What are the setup fees and monthly fees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 (edited) 1) The software works on any type of vending machine as long as USA Technology's hardware can correctly link up with the machine and pick up sales data as it occurs. (So the machine has to be MDB-ready. http://en.wikipedia....ending_Machines) 2) The type of hardware required will either be USAT's telemetry device or credit card reader. Of course only particular locations warrant a more costly credit card reader. The telemeter would go inside the machine and has the ability to potentially be upgraded to a credit card reader if desired. 3) As far as the set up fees go, for USAT the cost depends on how many machines are outfitted with their hardware devices. I'm unsure of how much it costs to directly purchase their telemetry devices. If a customer wants to outfit 15 (or 25 machines, I've heard both numbers) or more machines with USAT's hardware, USAT gives the hardware to the customer for free and the customer only pays the monthly fee per device for the data transmitting. USAT also charges a set up fee of somewhere between $15-$30 per device depending on the number of devices a customer gets and whether the customer is getting telemetry only devices or credit card readers. The monthly fee for the telemeters is $7 per machine per month with USAT. There are no set up fees to start using Vagabond. The monthly fee for Vagabond depends on the number of machines running on Vagabond. There's also no commitment contract that needs to be signed with Vagabond or with USAT, so if you want to stop using either service at any time, that's okay with us. Vagabond's pricing is available on our website via the order form, but feel free to PM or call me anyvendingcom if you have more questions! It sounds great! Questions: Does the software work on any type of vending machine? What type of hardware is required? What are the setup fees and monthly fees? Edited October 27, 2011 by VagabondVending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coinvestor Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 (edited) It sounds great! Questions: Does the software work on any type of vending machine? What type of hardware is required? What are the setup fees and monthly fees? To answer your question, USAT charges $13.99 per month per machine under their quick start program. You also need to sign a five year contract with USAT to participate with a minimum of 15 CC units (which can be returned at anytime to stop monthly fees). Monthly fees start after the first charge is ran, or 60 days, which ever happens first. You would need to have at least 15 machines with pricing and the volume to warrant CC readers before this would ever make any sense. If you want to play with CC readers, just buy them they are only $199 each. "I'm unsure of how much it costs to directly purchase their telemetry devices." Ahhhhh.... Isn't this kind of important to find out if you are developing software around another companies product and these are not part of the quick start program? I like the concept of what you are doing, but I can't get your video to work. Also, I always assume that if some one can not answer the question "how much does it cost" with a number then I am not interested in buying. JD Edited October 27, 2011 by coinvestor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJT Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 To answer your question, USAT charges $13.99 per month per machine under their quick start program. You also need to sign a five year contract with USAT to participate with a minimum of 15 CC units (which can be returned at anytime to stop monthly fees). Monthly fees start after the first charge is ran, or 60 days, which ever happens first. You would need to have at least 15 machines with pricing and the volume to warrant CC readers before this would ever make any sense. If you want to play with CC readers, just buy them they are only $199 each. "I'm unsure of how much it costs to directly purchase their telemetry devices." Ahhhhh.... Isn't this kind of important to find out if you are developing software around another companies product and these are not part of the quick start program? I like the concept of what you are doing, but I can't get your video to work. Also, I always assume that if some one can not answer the question "how much does it cost" with a number then I am not interested in buying. JD I like the concept also but my main concern is I dont want to put card readers on all my machines just to have an inventory management tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 You bring up a good point JD. I've reached out to USAT's sales reps for the price of purchasing the telemetry devices and will update when I receive their response. Also, the telemetry only devices ARE included in USAT's JumpStart program as of about 2-3 months ago. (Good move on their part, we think.) I didn't answer the 'how much does it cost' question with a number because the price is based on the number of machines running on Vagabond. Vagabond costs $10 per machine per month for the first 15 machines, and the price of each additional machine costs less per month. So: 15 machines = $150/month, 25 machines = $200/month, 40 machines = $265/month, 60 machines = $320/month, 80+ machines = $350/month. How about I attach the pricing sheet to this response? The video doesn't load for web browsers without the right 'plug-ins'. To answer your question, USAT charges $13.99 per month per machine under their quick start program. You also need to sign a five year contract with USAT to participate with a minimum of 15 CC units (which can be returned at anytime to stop monthly fees). Monthly fees start after the first charge is ran, or 60 days, which ever happens first. You would need to have at least 15 machines with pricing and the volume to warrant CC readers before this would ever make any sense. If you want to play with CC readers, just buy them they are only $199 each. "I'm unsure of how much it costs to directly purchase their telemetry devices." Ahhhhh.... Isn't this kind of important to find out if you are developing software around another companies product and these are not part of the quick start program? I like the concept of what you are doing, but I can't get your video to work. Also, I always assume that if some one can not answer the question "how much does it cost" with a number then I am not interested in buying. JD Vagabond Order Form.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 We agree RJT, that's why it's important to note that customers don't need to have card readers on their machines. USAT's telemetry-only hardware devices are now available for direct purchase and as part of USAT's incentive-driven JumpStart program. I like the concept also but my main concern is I dont want to put card readers on all my machines just to have an inventory management tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Hey JD, Purchasing the telemetry-only devices costs $209 + a $15 activation fee and then the monthly service fee (for data transfer) costs another $4.45 per month per device. Leasing the telemetry-only devices (when meeting the order minimum) costs $15 for the activation fee + a $7 monthly service fee per device and no payment for the device. Purchasing the 'Edge' cc reader (1-piece device and works only with swiping a card) costs $199 + a $30 activation fee + a $13.95 monthly service charge per device. Purchasing the 'G8' cc reader (2-piece device and accepts contactless payment) costs $329 + $30 activation + a $13.95 monthly service charge per device. Another tidbit of information that may be useful is that USAT's telemetry-only device can be converted to the G8 credit card reader (by adding that 2nd piece to the telemeter) if a customer feels the need to do so. You bring up a good point JD. I've reached out to USAT's sales reps for the price of purchasing the telemetry devices and will update when I receive their response. Also, the telemetry only devices ARE included in USAT's JumpStart program as of about 2-3 months ago. (Good move on their part, we think.) I didn't answer the 'how much does it cost' question with a number because the price is based on the number of machines running on Vagabond. Vagabond costs $10 per machine per month for the first 15 machines, and the price of each additional machine costs less per month. So: 15 machines = $150/month, 25 machines = $200/month, 40 machines = $265/month, 60 machines = $320/month, 80+ machines = $350/month. How about I attach the pricing sheet to this response? The video doesn't load for web browsers without the right 'plug-ins'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coinvestor Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Sorry....... I've been busy here. Thanks for the info. I was thinking about calling USAT and asking earlier in the week, but that was not going to happen this week. If you buy the CC devices its 9.99 a month (not the 14) right? Is it realistic to think you could try this on one account? I know this defeats the idea and makes it more of a burden to use, but it would be nice to try it out before you make a commitment to do all machines. If you were already using USAT CC readers at an account all you would need is an Ipad and your software, right? JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted November 3, 2011 Author Share Posted November 3, 2011 Hey JD, Correct, if you purchase the devices it's $9.99 per month for the CC devices. It is realistic to think you could try out both USAT and Vagabond with 1 account to trial them both. It makes perfect sense to want to test the waters. We have one guy who has about 100 machines who is starting out with the leasing option (using both telemetry-only devices and CC devices) for 15 of his 100 machines. He'll be testing out both USAT's devices and our Vagabond software. I couldn't imagine attempting to install 100 devices on all the machines at once, while simultaneously running the operations and driving a route. If you were already using USAT devices then yes, all you'd need is any Apple smart device (iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad) and Vagabond. Sorry....... I've been busy here. Thanks for the info. I was thinking about calling USAT and asking earlier in the week, but that was not going to happen this week. If you buy the CC devices its 9.99 a month (not the 14) right? Is it realistic to think you could try this on one account? I know this defeats the idea and makes it more of a burden to use, but it would be nice to try it out before you make a commitment to do all machines. If you were already using USAT CC readers at an account all you would need is an Ipad and your software, right? JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 We're featured in VendingMarketwatch.com! Our little article can be found at http://www.vendingma...mobile-software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Hello, We're happy to share with you that we're hosting an online contest aimed at vending customers/operators. The winner of the "The Way Forward" contest will win a brand new snack vending machine, 10 cases of 1.25 oz sized chips for your business and a year's subscription to our management software for up to 10 machines. Please feel free to share this message with anyone you know that may be interested in the contest. The contest ends May 1st, meaning there will only be 14 days of voting! Once registered, share your unique contest link with as many friends, family members and co-workers as you can and have them vote for you for a chance to win the grand prize. The contest ends on May 1st so be sure to sign up as soon as possible. Good luck! Please click on this link http://www.vagabondvending.com/WayForward-EM/ to register ASAP for the "The Way Forward" contest to win the grand prize! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonkiwi Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Do you get truly real-time "up to the minute" sales data from USA Technologies as the sales occur? If not, what is the frequency that you get the sales data from them? How many routes can you run in the system at once, and is there a maximum number of machines per route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Hey Bostonkiwi, Good questions. Vagabond updates the sales information every 30-45 minutes for each customer. Of course if USAT's system hasn't updated sales then no sales can be updated in Vagabond. The rate at which USA Technologies updates sales for their customers depends on the device in or on the machine. Their telemetry device (no card reader) and G8 credit card reader updates sales 1-2 times a day and their Edge (EE) credit card readers update sales continuously throughout the day. As of now Vagabond is a "1-route" system with no maximum number of machines used in the system. We will soon be rolling out multi-route management capabilities as we reach the critical mass amount of operators requiring multiple route management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djstorman Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I have to say that I was interested until I saw that I must have essentially a Iphone to use the service on my mobile phone. Any plans for Android support? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VagabondVending Posted December 18, 2013 Author Share Posted December 18, 2013 Hey Djstorman, Definitely! Our website is slightly outdated. The app is also available in the Google Play store and can be accessed on any Android tablet/smart phone. Best, Vagabond team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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