29 June 2023
Each year the Automatic Vending Association (AVA) collate data and feedback from across the UK vending industry and share the key facts and stats with their members in their annual census report. The latest report has just been released and provides a significant and useful snapshot of what’s happening across the industry.
Some of the key trends we saw in the last two reports around cashless payments continue to dominate:
- The ongoing and consistent growth of cashless continues
- The share of vending machines fitted with cashless has continued to increase
- Cashless is growing its share of transactions vs. cash
- Contactless transactions now have the majority share vs. contact
The report confirms that most new systems now being installed include cashless as standard, with some operators working towards fully removing cash from their sites at some point in the future.
The rapid rise in mobile payments is another significant statistic from the research, echoing what we’re already seeing from across our own client base. Not only does mobile payment make it easier for the user, but it also provides a wealth of additional benefits to operators in terms of data collection, sales promotion, and loyalty scheme options.
The specific stats around the use of cashless speak for themselves and emphasise the consumer’s preference for completely contactless payment:
- 65% of all machines are now fitted with cashless, up 10% from the previous year
- 72% of all transactions were cashless
- Mobile usage is rising at 40% of all cashless transactions (just behind card at 52%)
- Cashless transactions were 93% higher in value vs cash
Economic and market conditions are still changing after COVID-19, with many offices still not back to their pre-covid capacity thanks to the introduction of more permanent hybrid working patterns. As a result of this operators will need to think on their feet and adapt their offering to better suit the in/out nature of the workforce.
We may see more growth of newer concepts like micromarkets and kiosk style self-service stations as businesses look for ways to reduce catering staff costs. But whatever solution they choose, the focus should remain on delivering a slick and efficient service that maintains the customer experience.
AVA Census source - AVA – The Automatic Vending Association (the-ava.com)
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