Is Vending Management Software Needed to Operate Your Vending Business?

Vending management software is helpful in many ways in the everyday operations of a vending business. These options can help you run your business at optimal efficiency from the comfort of your home or on the go. There are several companies offering vending management software out there on the market. You don’t need to go with a vending franchise to get access to tools that will make operating your vending business easy. Vending management software is easy to find and incorporate.

Some of the major companies like ParLevel, Cantaloupe and VendSoft have software that is fairly inexpensive. You simply pay a small monthly fee of around five or six dollars to use their offerings. We have had great success using the vending software built in to our Nayax Credit Card Readers. That option is even less expensive to add to an existing account, costing only two or three dollars a month more.

Vending management software will send out alerts when items in your machine are getting low. It can alert you of any errors on your machine that you may need to look into so you don’t miss out on sales. The software will give you reports on what you sell so you can see which items are popular and which are less appealing to your customers. This can make your job so much easier.

You can pre-kit or prepare the items for your machine before you go out to your locations. You can also purchase the exact amount you need to stock the machines. You don’t have to purchase large quantities of the goods for your machines and store them all until you need them. With this software, you know exactly how to prepare for a restocking trip.

Reports that can be customized are a fairly common option among the software companies. You can configure these reports to meet your individual needs. You can easily manage your vending machines remotely in most instances also. Most are flexible and can accommodate multiple machines in your one account so you can see an overview of how your business is doing at any given moment.

All types of sales are tracked: cash, credit card or mobile payments and you’ll see the status of your coin tubes in some of the options. Most of the software companies also offer a mobile app to help you easily download data directly. You’ll also get troubleshooting, training and support from the vending software companies to help you be successful.

I’ve looked over some of the vending software companies and their programs and compiled information on a few for you to look over. In addition to many of the same options available in all the versions, some of them do offer some unique alternatives. The possibilities would depend on you and what you wanted to accomplish with the chosen software, but here are some basics.

Cantalope System

Seed Office is Cantaloupe Systems’ vending management software. Cantaloupe is owned by USA Technologies and they have integrated their system to work seamlessly with the USA Tech Eport Credit Card Readers. The Seed Office program is easy to use. It is cloud based and can manage all the cash and inventory for your business. Reports can be customized to meet your needs and exported to Excel easily. You can use the software to calculate sales tax and view all inventory needs for each machine.

Nayax

NayaxVend is Nayax’s vending machine management software. They make it easy for you to save time and money. You can see all your products and their placement in your machine by looking at the product map. You can also download a picklist or a spreadsheet showing all the products that need to be restocked and the number of items that need restocking. You can also access this information from their MoMa app on your mobile device. You can simply load your bin with the exact stock that you’ll need to refill your machine and set off. No need to bring any excess stock and risk items spoiling.

The Nayax software has an exclusive Visit to Visit feature that takes a snapshot each time you access the machine to stock it. This can give you detailed information on a specific vending machine’s sales and can give you a better idea of which items are selling out fast. You can note which extra items to pack based on this information. This software can also alert you if your machine gets unplugged, has an issue with the closure of a door or let you monitor the temperature of your vending machine. This can help prevent your stock from getting spoiled.

Parlevel

Parlevel Systems offers the same great options that each of the other companies offer in addition to offering real-time data through a telemeter that relays live machine data to your system. You can easily make precise and informed decisions about your machine.

They also offer help in planning out your route with their dynamic routing function to save you time and money. Any issues like bill jams, coin jams, open doors, etc. will trigger alerts to notify you. Their mobile Stock app can help you adjust inventory levels and manage any pre-kitting on the fly.

VendSoft

VendSoft vending management software features detailed information to optimize inventory and reduce costs through close monitoring of your product and sales history, just like the other versions. They support multiple machine types and you can get predictions on how your machine will perform based on the incoming data.

VendSoft also offers location and route management to simplify your workload. This software can define routes and automatically calculate and schedule the next service date for each location. This can maximize service intervals and reduce downtime for your machines. The dashboard tab offers a quick view of how your business is performing. This software is compatible with several of the telemetry providers on the market, including USATech and Nayax.

These are just a few of the many companies on the market offering great vending management software to aid you in streamlining the process of operating your vending business. Do some research for yourself and determine which company will be the best fit for you. Vending management software is just a click away and can save you some real time and money as you manage your vending business.