Need help finding profitable vending machine locations?
Each location considered by vending machine operators should be evaluated separately, but these are the ten most ideal locations. There are many profitable vending machines, but it takes some manpower to identify them and ensure their safety.
10 best locations for vending machines
Restaurant
Restaurants are good places for vending machines. Anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows that shifts are long and breaks are almost impossible to guarantee. Vending machines in the staff lounge provide a way for restaurant staff to maintain energy and satiety during service.
Apartment complex
Apartment building is a busy activity, people come and go 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Many also have laundry, public areas, playgrounds and parks, Party rooms or gyms.
These are good places for vending machines because all members of the community have access to these spaces and many residents use them regularly. One or more locations in the hotel are ideal for vending machines, offering a wide range of food and beverage products.
Boys and Girls Club
Boys' and girls' clubs provide safe places for children to finish homework after school under the supervision of tutors, organize games and activities, help them master life skills and so on. What does every child want and need after school? Snacks. However, since boys' and girls' clubs and similar community organizations are designed to help children realize their potential, junk food vending machines are not a good choice. These institutions are excellent places for healthy vending machines to provide children with better choices of snacks after class, especially given that many of the same children come from families without food security and may not eat too much (if any) before returning to school in the morning.
Hotels and motels
Hotel and Motel guests are an attractive audience. Even if a hotel has a restaurant, not everyone wants a big meal or wants to pay for it. Some hotels have micro markets, but these markets are usually in the lobby, and not everyone wants to eat fast food - especially if they can buy one on their own floor. Placing vending machines in the lobby, side entrances and ice machine areas is a good way to generate continuous revenue.
Gym
People who go to the gym have a lot of appetite. After exercise, they don't necessarily want to park in the driveway next door. What they want is healthy things. Gyms and fitness centers are ideal places for vending machines, which provide healthy snacks and drinks to help people replenish energy after sweating. Employees who work there also like vending machines with healthy choices because they are usually hourly workers and only get short breaks.
Office
Businesses with 50 or more employees are good places for vending machines. Employees are hungry and thirsty all day, and vending machines offer choices for those who don't pack their own drinks, snacks or lunch, including most people in today's busy world.
Similarly, manufacturing facilities and industrial parks are good places for vending machines. These businesses employ hundreds of people (usually 24 hours a day) who get short breaks but need to be alert. Putting vending machines in the lounge gives them a choice and provides a stable source of revenue for the vending business.
Supermarkets and Retail stores
In supermarkets or retail stores, vending machines have two specific audiences. First, customers in and out of the store. People are often hungry and thirsty when they are running errands. A vending machine at the entrance can capture pedestrian flow and make use of impulse shopping. The second audience is employees. Retail employees usually have one or two 10 minute breaks and a short meal break per shift. They usually don't have time to run to a restaurant to get a meal or snack, and vending machines provide an affordable opportunity to refuel before returning to the floor.
Laundromat
Washing clothes in a laundromat can take one to four hours. If you look, you'll see people killing time by doing homework or work, reading books, watching movies or playing games. These people are also hungry and thirsty while waiting for the laundry to be done. Vending machines provide a variety of drinks and snacks to ensure that customers do not have to discard clothes in order to find food or drinks. Laundromat is also a good place to train repeat customers, because most customers wash clothes at the same time and place every week. Vending machines can be part of their weekly routine.
Schools, Community Colleges and Universities
The students are busy and have a good appetite. Schools, community colleges and universities have a series of activities every day. Every day, hundreds of people pass by the vending machine near the school. These people are in a hurry and probably hungry. They want to eat fast food when they are working between classes or rushing to class. The school is particularly suitable for vending machines selling health products, as parents and administrators want to make sure that students have better choices during the day than chips, cupcakes and soda.
College dormitories are also good places for vending machines. Students stay up late. When they are at work or with friends, they don't always want to go out for a snack. It's easy to go to a vending machine - especially if the machine can be programmed to pick up bank cards, credit cards and even school meal plans.
Shopping Centers and Malls
Vending machines provide shoppers in shopping centers with a faster, more convenient and more affordable choice of snacks or drinks than food courts. Vending machines are placed at the entrances and strategic locations of the whole shopping center, so that shoppers can quickly grab food without queuing or waiting for meal preparation. Healthy vending machines are a good choice for shopping centers, because more and more consumers are demanding healthier choices, and many shoppers bring their own food to children. Nowadays, many parents would rather give their children something healthy and free than something sugary and full of empty calories.
Shopping malls are also a great place for your creative placement. An abandoned storefront that is not generating any revenue in the center can be a smart place to position your vending machine. This helps shopping malls to earn some revenue from vacant stores and gives shoppers reason to continue walking from abandoned stores to other areas of the mall.
Need help finding profitable vending machine locations?
There are many profitable vending machines, but it takes some manpower to identify them and ensure their safety. Once you put in the early work to ensure a good location, the vending business can generate considerable passive revenue. Make sure you're constantly looking for new locations, building connections in your community, and opening up new possibilities for income and profit.