Smart Phone Ap and the Vending Machine   An interview with Neil Swindale of VendCentral



Excerpts from the interview:

Smart Phone Ap and the Vending Machine  “There’s a big opportunity in mobile right now and we thought it was good timing to tweek it so it can fit the needs of vending companies around the country…”

“It allows the customer to pick up a smartphone, scan a QR code on the vending machine and it comes right to our mobile request platform and from there a customer can communicate directly with the vending machine manager.”

“It’s a two step process: 1. We design the app where they tell us what buttons go on it. The default buttons include request a refund, tell us how we’re doing, report a machine issue, request your favorite product… 2. We redesign your sticker that goes on the vending machine… include the phone number and the QR code that takes customers to the mobile request platform.”

“It involves a small upfront fee and a small ongoing monthly fee… It’s very affordable.”

“We’ve had customers tell us this is exceptionally good on a sales presentation to really help win accounts… an app for customer service.”

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Smart Phone Ap and the Vending Machine  Tom: I’m Tom Shivers with the Vending Business Show here with Neil Swindale of VendCentral. He’s been in the full line vending business for 15 years, and sold it his own business. Also, he previous to that worked with Coke, Frito Lay, and Nestle Water. So, thanks for being here, Neal.

Neil: I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you very much.

Tom: Today, we’re talking about your smartphone app for vending machines. What inspired you to create that smart phone app?

Neil: Well, we’ve been working on it for about a year, but we put it on the shelf, and I recently came back from the NAMA Coffee and Tea Show in New Orleans, and I sat next to a computer engineer on the way home. And all we did was talk about mobile, and how things in the mobile community are blowing up. And I told him a little bit about the app that we started a year ago, and he was the guy that just kind of inspired me to take it off the shelf and continue with that development. Because with, I think over 75% of the people that own cellphones have got smart phones. So, there’s just big opportunity in mobile right now, and we just thought it was perfect timing to bring it off the shelf and tweak it so it can fit the needs of vending companies around the country. And sure enough, we launched it about two and a half months ago, and it’s selling like hot cakes. So, we’re pretty excited about it.

Tom: Well, what does the smart phone app do exactly?

Neil: So basically what it is, when you’re shopping out of a vending machine, certain things can happen. You could potentially lose your money. You could … A product could get stuck. Maybe your Diet Coke selection is running out on Tuesday and the route guy’s not getting there ’til Wednesday. So, the smartphone app allows the customer to pick up a smartphone, scan a QR code that is on the vending machine, and it comes to what we call our Mobile Request Platform. And from there a customer can communicate directly with the vending machine management. Instead of either picking up the phone and calling, which a lot of people don’t like to do, or going over and bugging the facility manager to tell them their problem and the facility manager’s busy doing what they do, or timing it to meet the route guy. So, this way the customer can talk directly with vending management and let them know what’s going on.

Tom: How does a vending operator get started with this smartphone app?