The Vending Market in Germany in 2009-2010 - Press1

underwear, swimsuits, jeans, batteries, mobile phones, electronic accessories,
souvenirs, umbrellas, votive candles, magazines, works of art, toiletries, bait for
fishing and even gold ingots. And industrial companies often use machines to
dispense tools and safety equipment.
Deserving of special mention is the large number of machines in Germany that
accept empty bottles, soda cans or plastic tubs and pay back a deposit or give the
customer a receipt.
Negative factors
• Although opportunities for consumers in small communities and suburbs to
purchase drinks and small snacks have become more limited in recent years,
some municipal authorities are sharply restricting the scope for installing food
and drink vending machines on public roads. The BDV is therefore
campaigning for liberalisation of construction regulations and planning laws.
• The costs of “coin removal” — in other words the fees paid to banks and
armoured car services for receiving the coins from vending machines — are
continuing to rise and are causing high cost burdens for the operating
companies.
• The banks’ rigid rating system for granting credit is leading to large additional
strains — especially in the operating business, which involves major
investments — and it is inhibiting purchases of new vending machines.
• In many large companies where vending machines are essential for supplying
staff with snacks, the works councils and plant managers are increasingly
becoming more interested in securing the lowest possible price instead of
ensuring that services and products are of high quality.
Current issues in the vending sector
• Data transfer from and to vending machines, which is already being integrated
into a growing number of machines, will make them more customer-friendly and
will reduce the need for technical maintenance and services to help with filling the
machines. What’s more, permanent monitoring of turnover and identification of the
products that are most in demand is being made possible by telemetry.
• The range of different types of vending machine payment systems is growing.
Coin systems are still the most common, but around 25 per cent of all vending
machines now feature cashless payment systems. Although closed, in-company
systems generally use non-contact chip cards, some vending machines allow
customers to pay with bank cards (GiroCard), debit cards and credit cards — and
now payment can also be made with non-contact chip cards, such as
MasterCard’s PayPass system. More and more machines are also accepting
banknotes in addition to coins.
While payment via mobile phones poses no technological problems for vending
machines, such systems haven’t been successful on the market so far.
• Public vending has great market potential that is being increasingly exploited.
Vending machines are therefore becoming more common at train stations, bus
stops, motorway petrol stations, airports, sports and leisure facilities, DIY stores,
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