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Another Year, Another Dollar DATA equips operators with the knowledge to make smart decisions. Facebook/VendingMarket @VendingMagazine http://linkd.in/VendingMarketWatch his year's state of the vending industry is positive. There has been two percent growth in revenues from last year. The recovering economy, in most areas, is helping, but the real difference I see this year is the technology, both at the point of sale and on the backend. There has been an upsurge in vending operators adding cashless. While we are far from even half of the vending machines in our industry allowing credit and debit payments, the upward swing is encouraging. The fact that more operators were trying cashless in 2013 is also a good sign, as it is a technology likely to bring more sales. Micro market growth doubles Micro markets are the real shining star when it comes to technology. Not only do operators see signifcantly more sales, the reporting capabilities make product selection and merchandis- ing more accessible. Perhaps emerging from the growth in micro market is the increased use of vending management systems to look at vending data. Operators reported looking at their data to determine good sellers, remove slow turners and even redistribute product in the machine to increase the time needed between service. This level of data and analysis is another encourag- ing sign. Operators survived the recession by learning to be leaner and as the recover hap- pens, they are continuing to fnd ways to be effcient and grow, but grow logically and with the data behind them. This year and beyond In 2014, it will be important for operators to examine how they can meet the growing demand for healthy products. That might be different logistics from the warehouse to the machine or new product channels. It's an obstacle that will need to be solved for the vending channel to move forward. Mobile apps were prevalent at the OneShow this year, and will be another interesting area to watch. All this benefcial technology and the device loving- millennials are both causes for optimism about the future as long as we continue to gain eff- ciency and work on capturing the attention of the end user. The world is changing, but there is a place for vending within it. T AUTOMATIC MERCHANDISER EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Scott Guardino Paramount Automated Food Service Pompano Beach, Fla. Randy Parks ProStar Services West Carrollton, Texas Paul Shlossberg DFW Consulting Goshen, N.Y. Brad Ellis Crane Merchandising Systems St. Louis, Mo. Tom Siciliano Integrity Recruiting & Consulting Inc. Huntley, Ill. Tom Britten Britten Management Services Zephyrhills, Fla. Brad Bachtelle Bachtelle & Associates Inc. Tustin, Calif. Glenn Butler CTO Services LLC Boston, Mass. Joe Hessling 365 Retail Markets Troy, MI Paul Schindelar Mondelez International East Hanover, N.J. Chuck Reed MEI Malvern, Pa. Anant Agrawal Cantaloupe Systems San Francisco, Calif. State of the Vending Industry Report Methodology Automatic Merchandiser uses an intensive, online-only survey of operators from our sub- scriber list. Nearly 500 operators responded and I want to personally thank those men and women for taking the time to provide the hon- est answers and valuable insight that allows this report to continue. The results are an aggregate based on their responses, other foodservice reports and additional industry comments. Data was also provided by MSA which uses machine level data from several software providers to ana- lyze activity at the vending machine. Growth is good, and thanks to using data, vending operators are seeing another year of positive revenues, but they will also need to decipher healthy vending, mobile and customer perception to sustain it in the future. E D I T O R ' S N O T E B Y E M I L Y R E F E R M A T 6 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com June 2014 autm_6-7_0614Editor_F.indd 6 6/11/14 10:02 AM