August 2023 - 15

this showcases the significant revenue increases they can
realize by having cashless card readers on their machines.
Especially since, for food and beverage vending machines
alone in 2023, we expect cashless payment transactions to
grow 6 to 8% and contactless payments to grow 6 to 7%. "
Venkatesan continued: " Our findings reinforce the
consensus that consumers are shifting to cashless and
contactless payment options, even for smaller, on-the-go
purchases. We feel the trends revealed in the report are
relevant to self-service retail as a whole and look forward
to observing how they evolve in 2023. "
In the education session at the 2023 NAMA Show,
" How Operators Are Surviving and Thriving with New
Economic and Environmental Challenges, " the panelists
all agreed that technology and payment options are
a top priority for customers. Kyle Murphy, business
development director, Buffalo Rock, said operators
benefit from the ability of micro market technology to
adapt to customer's buying habits. And, he added that he
was surprised to hear in a recent sales meeting that the
first thing the prospect asked about wasn't the food, the
products, or the pricing - instead, it was, " Do you accept
Apple Pay? "
Palm payment and age verification
Amazon continues to announce new locations and retailer
partnerships that offer its Amazon One palm recognition
service - a free, contactless service that allows customers to
use the palm of their hand to pay, enter or identify themselves.
Earlier this year, Aramark Sports + Entertainment announced
that Amazon One's new age-verification capability will
be available at Coors Field in Colorado, so customers can
prove eligibility to purchase alcohol in a few seconds. The
technology not only offers more convenient payment methods
but also opportunities to sell age-restricted products.
SMART MARKETS ARE GETTING SMARTER
Walk-in walk-out
Several new unattended retail solutions were on display
at the recent NAMA Show, including Cantaloupe's Smart
Market, a completely locked micro market that allows
consumers to log into a user account or unlock the market
with a credit/debit card. Once the consumer has made their
selections, they complete their purchase at the kiosk.
Aramark also launched its artificial intelligence (AI)powered
store in Scotland. The fully autonomous shop
offers customers a checkout-free, convenient, walk-in
A D V ERT O R I A L C O M P A N Y P R O F I L E
Lock America of Corona, CA develops and markets locks and security hardware
for a number of industries, including amusement and vending, ATMs, petroleum marketing,
self storage and video games. They produce camlocks, padlocks, plug locks,
puck locks, all with a number of different security levels. Lock America registers each
key code uniquely to a customer. Lock America's tamper-resistant high security locks,
assembled in its California plant, have millions of key combinations, built around a
time-proven mechanism.
Since its founding by Frank Minnella and Steve Shiao in 1981, Lock America
has produced security locks and hardware for vending and amusement machines,
video games, self-storage units and cash dispensers. In the last decade, they
have added a full range of locks for ATMs and kiosks, petroleum dispensers, and
propane tanks and storage cages. Lock America produces retrofit kits for virtually
every petroleum dispenser, to replace the Universal Lock and other low security
locks. For petroleum dispensers, the Lock America tamper-resistant high security
dispenser lock does more than prevent insertion of data skimmers. It also prevents
insertion of devices that enable thieves to steal product by bypassing internal
meters, which is now a growing problem for the industry.
Assembled in California, all of Lock America's high security locks are available
with registered pick and drill-resistant keyways. With millions of key codes, each
customer is assigned its own unique key code, and replacements are available only to
authorized users. For more information, contact 800-422-2866,
sales@laigroup.com, or go to www.laigroup.com.
August 2023 * VendingMarketWatch.com 15
http://www.laigroup.com http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com
August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2023
