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USA TECHNOLOGIES Taking advantage of our connected world By Maeve McKenna Duska, Vice President of Marketing, USA Technologies T he reality is we are living in an almost totally connected world. We are connected to people and businesses through social media, smart phones and the Internet. Consumers are connected to brands through loyalty programs and custom communications. Even machines are connected to networks, enabling businesses to capture data, run more effcient operations and track assets. Both consumers and businesses look for instant feedback and real-time, relevant information to help with every day decisions about where to make a purchase, what product to buy and where to go next. SO why is there such a lack of connection between consumers and vending? The vending industry's rise to success was built on convenience and a captured customer base. Vending companies knew which products were best sellers when they visited the machines and saw what sold out. They trusted drivers to come home with all the cash in the machine, which was counted manually, to settle the books each month. Business was up when there was heavy foot traffc or favorable weather. Companies hoped for high visibility locations for their machines, so they could entice nearby NOW, vending businesses can beneft from a connection through prepaid and loyalty programs and mobile applications that provide anywhere, anytime access consumers to make a purchase. For too many vending businesses, this is still business as usual. But all around us, forward-thinking operators and other retail markets are cashing in on the value that a connected world can bring. Connected vending machines are already making money and saving money for businesses that invested in a cashless and telemetry system. Now, vending businesses can beneft from a connection to the consumer through prepaid and loyalty programs and mobile applications that provide anywhere, anytime access. These programs offer ways to reward consumers for becoming loyal customers, and to incentivize consumers away from other retail outlets, to nearby vending machines for their favorite products. Mobile applications make it possible to locate participating machines, send "gifts" to friends, "check in" with social media and get information about new products through mobile marketing and access to nutritional information. This new, connected world is enabling owners and operators to fnally break down the wall between their vending business and the conADVERTORIAL 20 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com May 2013 sumer, resulting in increased trust, an enhanced consumer experience and loyal, satisfed customers who purchase more and more often. USA Technologies, a leader in cashless and telemetry services for self-service markets like vending, is launching new services that are designed to help business owners and operators take full advantage of the now "always addressable" consumer market. These services, including a prepaid and loyalty program and a mobile application that can be used from a smart phone or tablet, make it easy for consumers to fnd nearby machines, track loyalty points, manage a prepaid account and send and receive relevant information to and from the vending business. Vending and other self-service businesses are fnally able to make that connection with the consumer that has always been missing, but that has never been felt so deeply as in today's world of mobile phones, texting and Facebook. The business reward? When the right services are rolled out in the right way it produces increased business, increased revenue and happy, loyal customers that keep coming back for more.