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Study: Cashless technology boosts sales over 100% for low-volume vending machines

April 26, 2019

A study conducted by Michigan State University in collaboration with USA Technologies Corp. found that vending machines generating less less than $2,000 a year in sales experienced top line sales growth of 110% on average when equipped with cashless payment over the first 18 months following deployment; this compares to the average 35% increase on the total population of machines equipped with cashless technology.

The study found that following deployment of cashless technology, cashless sales increased by 131% on low-performing machines after 18 months, compared to 78% on the total population of machines studied. Cash sales increased by an average of 97% on the low-performing machines during that same period, compared to 17% on the total population of machines.

"We believe that the results of this study underscore the real financial and operational value of adding cashless technology to every machine," Jim Turner, a senior data analyst at USA Technologies, said in a press release about the study.

"Not only could cashless technology facilitate more sales because it enables people to pay with whatever method is most convenient for them, but it could significantly increase cash sales as well, which is partially driven by the ability to offer premium products and an increased awareness of machine performance due to online management tools. We believe that having the data to make better decisions, even on a low-performing machine, can potentially result in significant additional revenue for operators."

The study also found the following over the first 18 months of deployment:

• 26% growth in total transactions.
• 74% increase in credit card transactions and 13 percent increase in cash transactions.
• 70% of all growth was accounted for by increased transactions.
• Spend per transaction was up 7% overall.