How Vending Kiosks Curb Store Shrink and Optimize Labor
Tech company Cantaloupe, Inc. has expanded its line of self-service vending machines designed to provide shoppers with a convenient in-store option while helping retailers address challenges related to labor, shrink and theft. Part of Cantaloupe’s Smart Store series, the new Smart Store 600 and 700 models can be used to purvey both shelf-stable and fresh items.
The self-service vending machines are installed at a range of businesses, including corporate offices, residential buildings, hotel pantries and grocery and mass retail locations. The units use weighted shelves and cameras to monitor inventory and feature interactive touchscreens, audio help and visual cues to help shoppers choose the items they want.
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Jeff Dumbrell, chief revenue officer at Cantaloupe, said that the kiosks can lead to new sales opportunities for grocers who are also looking to optimize their operations. “We are heavily focused on working with retailers and vending operators. We provide them with hardware and cloud software and also process credit and debit transactions on their behalf,” he told Progressive Grocer in a recent interview. “One of the lingering issues with retailers has been theft. Smart Store significantly reduces shrink. We had one customer who went from 12% theft to 0%.”
Essentially, a customer can walk up to the glass front unit that is fully-locked and tap or swipe a credit or debit card or use Google Pay to make a transaction. “It unlocks the cooler and then you can take out a sandwich or bottled water. The machine uses a weight sensor to know what you took and the customer can put it back if it isn’t what they want. Besides solving shrink, it also helps solve the labor cost issue,” Dumbrell explained.
The units and technologies can help improve the customer experience, too. “This is a great queue-busting solution. We have customers in midtown Manhattan where the line for lunch is 25 people deep. With the Smart Store, they can add pre-packaged chips, a drink and sandwich for $10 that people can come in and grab, scan and go,” he said. “Also, in conventional grocery stores, you could put high-cost items, like razors or makeup, in here.”
Retailers can use data from the Smart Store models to learn how customers are shopping, Dumbrell added. “Our back-end system provides real-time information to retailers. You can get alerts on your phone or back-office computer, that tell you insights on what’s selling what to replenish,” he said.
The Smart Store units are available in the United States and Canada and will be rolled out soon in Mexico and the United Kingdom. In addition to the Smart Store kiosks, Cantaloupe offers other solutions including micro-payment processing, self-checkout kiosks, mobile ordering, connected point of sale systems, and enterprise cloud software.
