Marketing of Coffee from Self-Service Vending Machines

On the scale of beverages, coffee is ranked immediately after water, and in commodity trading, immediately after oil. We therefore enjoy drinking coffee, and based on field experience, despite the closure of some larger companies, the demand for coffee beverages from self-service terminals is also on the rise. To verify whether the patterns of drinking coffee from vending machines have changed, and with which flavours to convince existing and new users, he decided to conduct a survey. He found that employees still use their break time for coffee as well. And although the coffee beverage is now a few cents more expensive, this has not affected the frequency of drinking beverages.

Problem

On the scale of beverages, coffee is ranked immediately after water, and in commodity trading, immediately after oil. We therefore enjoy drinking coffee, and based on field experience, despite the closure of some larger companies, the demand for coffee beverages from self-service terminals is on the rise. Given the economic situation, he expected a decline in the sale of hot beverages from self-service machines.

Numerous companies have gone bankrupt in recent years, which is why some machines have been removed, whilst elsewhere there are fewer employees and thus fewer potential customers. Providers of self-service terminals have ** lost part of their target population. Providers and operators of self-service terminals attempt to retain existing and new users primarily through ** the quality of beverages, competitive pricing, and the accessibility of maintenance services and responsiveness to potential user problems (non-return of money, shortage of beverages, and similar issues).

As a rule, we first place the machine on a free trial for several days, so that new users can verify the quality and taste of their beverages.

Solution and Method

To verify whether the patterns of drinking coffee from vending machines have changed, and with which flavours to convince existing and new users, he decided to conduct a survey. At machines at three locations in Maribor, he distributed 120 questionnaires, of which 100 were returned.

Results

He found that employees still use their break time for coffee as well. And although the coffee beverage is now a few cents more expensive, this has not affected the frequency of drinking beverages. The unchanged frequency of drinking coffee was also influenced by the price of the coffee beverage, which has not increased significantly in recent years; rather, they have maintained a relatively low price for the beverage compared to coffee in a pub or café.

For customers, it is important that the price of the beverage from the self-service terminal is not too high, which I also substantiate with the result from the survey – as many as 80% of all respondents are prepared to pay only up to 30 cents for a beverage from a vending machine, 15 people are prepared to pay up to 50 cents for their chosen beverage, whilst only a few (5) users were prepared to pay more than 50 cents for beverages from vending machines. In addition to price, the frequency of drinking hot beverages from vending machines is also influenced by the ** proximity of the machine installation**. In companies A and B, where 25 out of 35 respondents drink coffee at least once or twice daily, in 20 out of 35 cases the vending machine is positioned on the same floor as the respondent's workplace.

In company C, 25 out of 30 respondents answered that they drink beverages from vending machines occasionally or rarely, whilst none of the respondents have a vending machine on the same floor as their workplace. Only 10 respondents (one-tenth of all those questioned) are prepared to go one floor down or up or to an adjacent building for a beverage from a vending machine. He also asked respondents about their wishes for new beverages.

The proposed new flavours were green tea, black tea, mountain tea, strawberry tea, apple tea, and cinnamon tea (for tea beverages), coffee with hazelnut and chocolate flavour, coffee with vanilla flavour, Irish coffee, and cappuccino (for coffee beverages). To conclude, customers use beverages from vending machines because the price of beverages is favourable, and the vending machines are positioned close to their workplace. Of course, it is necessary to maintain the quality of beverages, regularly maintain the vending machines, and improve and upgrade the offering.

Competition from other providers of self-service terminals should be present, as only through comparison with others can we continue to build on the foundation of quality, the good reputation of the company, and additional offerings.