If you are a vending business owner or an aspiring entrepreneur, then you might be wondering about which type of vending machine is the most profitable. As you can guess, not all vending machines can make the same amount of money, and the answer also depends on what you define as profitable.
Snack and drink vending machines have a great potential to become industry all-time classics, but the real money for today’s entrepreneurs is specialty vending. In other words, the key is to find a unique vending idea that combines five specific features.
So the ice cream vending machine is considered to be one of the most profitable types. But what makes it such a great vending business idea? Let’s take a look at the five main reasons.
Five Reasons Why an Ice Cream Vending Machine is Profitable
1.Great Profit Margin
Ice cream is one of the items with the highest profit margin in the food and drink category. The production cost of one ice cream cup or bar is significantly lower than the price consumers are willing to pay. As an example, an ice cream bar that costs $0.40 to produce and deliver can easily sell for $2.50-$4.00 in a vending machine. That’s a high gross margin of over 70%, rarely found in conventional vending products like chips, gum, candy, or soda.
Ice cream is also considered to be more premium than regular snacks and is often thought of as a treat, meaning consumers are willing to spend a little extra on it.
2. High Average Transaction Value
Regular items in vending machines such as candy bars, chips, soda, water bottles, and coffee pods usually cost between $1.00 and $2.00. This is expected by customers, and most operators know that. When it comes to ice cream vending, however, the average order value can be $3.00 – $6.00. Such a high-ticket price means that less transactions are needed to reach the profit target.
On top of that, ice cream vending machines perform the best in high traffic areas such as malls, amusement parks, airports, colleges, and university campuses, etc. In such places, a higher transaction value compounds quickly, leading to higher potential revenue.
3. Powerful Impulse Purchase Driver
Ice cream is the best example of an impulse product. It means that people have to get into the mood to buy an ice cream, and only then they will turn to the vending machine to satisfy their craving.
The concept is simple: imagine a customer walking past the vending machine and bypassing it for a bar of chocolate, some gum, or even a regular snack. But, as soon as they spot a beautifully colored ice cream cone on the display, they are sold. This psychology of impulse purchase, a hunger strike that hits people when they are least expecting it, can greatly increase daily transactions.
4. Perfect Location Targeting
Location plays a massive role in the vending business, and what is more important, each product has its ideal place. Ice cream machines perform the best in locations with high foot-traffic and an influx of people, such as;
- Beaches & Resorts – Visitors from all around the country and abroad are more than happy to pay extra bucks for an ice cream on the beach
- Amusement Parks – Kids are the ice cream’s target audience, so a trip to the playground with family can turn into a long sales stream
- Airports & Transit Hubs – Ice cream machines are a travel time godsend for those waiting for loved ones or suffering from boredom after hours of travel
- Shopping Malls & Cinemas – Ice cream fits like a glove as a comfort between various activities, and who can resist a tasty sundae between browsing and walking?
The ice cream vending business is a great choice to make because of the perfect location targeting. If you place your machine in the right place, it can become a 24/7 profit generator.
5. Premium Added with Technology
Ice cream vending machines, do more than dispensing ice cream. They are a brand-new experience, with touchscreen controls, personalized, AI-powered recommendations, mobile payments, and robotic arms to complete the order in style.
Technology allows these vending machines to increase prices by a premium because of two simple reasons. First, modern gadgets make the vending process more convenient, and all the customers are happy to pay for this. Second, a technology upgrade instantly adds a certain “premium” vibe to your machine, and a higher cost is often justified by such an image.
For example, an ice cream vending machine that provides its customers with a selection of flavors, additional toppings, toppings, and printing edible logos on ice cream, can easily charge for premium. Such options also make ice cream machines stand out from the crowd in an already overpopulated market.
As a bonus, some of the features help reduce operational expenses by providing features like remote monitoring and real-time inventory tracking. Less expenses also mean increased profit.
Why Ice Cream Vending Machines Beat Other Profitable Options
There are other profitable vending machine business ideas, and two of them, healthy snack vending machines and other specialty vending machines, are closely linked to the ice cream one. Healthy snacks have almost all the five listed features, but their transaction value is hard to increase beyond a specific limit. As for other specialty vending options, such as machines that sell phone cases, hats, sunglasses, collector figures, and so on, their success heavily relies on a specific location.
Ice cream machines, on the other hand, can say “have a nice day” to every single person. They are the only vending machine that checks all the five boxes at once, which makes the ice cream vending machine business a unique and efficient revenue source.
Conclusion
The choice is yours if you have asked, which type of vending machine makes the most money. As you have learned by now, an ice cream vending machine tops them all. As a reward for their high profit margins, solid impulse-driven demand, higher than average transaction value, and premium positioning with technology, they deliver a massive potential to make a lot of money.
If you are ready to start in the vending business, or you are an entrepreneur who needs a change, then you might have found the solution right in this article.
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