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chai that they're buying online and in
grocery stores. "
The vending segment has been
dealt a harder blow than micro
markets, according to Carbone, citing
the lack of ease to enable an entirely
touchless process. " This is something
operators must address, " Carbone
stated. " Have new products in your
machines based on their new needs
and desires, add PPE [personal protective equipment], and make people feel
comfortable using vending machines.
Put sanitizing stations next to them
like you see at health clubs. "
PIVOT AND DIVERSIFY

Carbone spoke on a panel
at a National Automatic
Merchandising Association (NAMA) conference a few years ago that focused on
pivoting to meet the needs of a new
generation in the workforce. " It's the
word 'pivot.' Companies that listened
a few years ago are doing better than
those who were not quick to change, "
he summed up. " The ones who have
looked outside the box along the way
will bounce back quicker than the
ones that fought change. "
Jeff Deitchler of Prairie Fire Coffee
Roasters - and incoming chair of
NAMA's OCS committee - said the
OCS and roasting company's eight
warehouses in the Midwest were all
impacted differently by COVID-19
because of the diversity of segments it
services. Its main facility in Wichita,
Kan., which concentrated on OCS and
restaurants, was hit harder than its
operations in Nebraska, Missouri and
Oklahoma, which serve a large base of
convenience stores.
Prairie Fire's sales fell dramatically
across its 24 OCS routes in March and
April, but then rebounded steadily and
Deitchler reported that its September
2020 revenue was flat with 2019. He
credits this relative success to challenging his team to pay close attention

to identify opportunities and operate
more efficiently by reducing route
frequencies without compromising
customer service.
" We found serious service issues
with competitors in the c-store segment. Many threw customer service
out the window and we stepped up
and gained a lot of business, " Deitchler
said. " Competitors weren't delivering
on time; equipment breakdowns were
not being addressed. "
TARGET C-STORES

Prairie Fire is on track to
install 50 to 75 new c-stores
by the end of November. " We
didn't think pulling back on customer
service was the plan and it was exactly
what we saw in the market, " he commented. " We stayed aggressive developing new business and servicing all
of the locations we had because if they
were open, we felt it was our duty to
keep equipment clean and up to snuff. "
Deitchler recommended that his
fellow OCS operators pursue c-stores.
" People now especially don't want to
go into a big store with crowds and
stand in line, and they're working
from home [and] getting their coffee
local, " he noted. " All of our c-stores
have continued to do well, but restaurants and offices are far from where
they were pre-pandemic. We don't
have the answer other than that I'm
a firm believer that you never win by
price. Customer service and relationships are way more important than
they ever were. "
Chuck Reed, vice president and
general manager for vending at Crane
Payment Innovations (CPI) projected
that the Malvern, Pa.-based unattended payment provider's business in
the first half of 2021 will be similar to
the third and fourth quarters of 2020.
" Until a vaccine is widely available, not
much will change, " he predicted. " We
expect the second half of next year to
be better than the first with roughly

a 10% recovery, assuming there's a vaccine and kids go back to school and
various reopening attempts continue. "
PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Reed advised that operators be
intentional and do their homework about which reopening
opportunities will most likely stick.
" Pursue new business leads with logic
and don't throw caution to the wind, "
he said. " People are impatient. Be careful what you pursue. "
A silver lining to the COVID cloud
is that it has accelerated implementation of technology and operators' push
for efficiency at servicing accounts,
Reed added.
" Look at your staffing levels. See
who's been spun out of other businesses and leverage good talent and
have the right people on your team, "
Reed advised. " Confront today's current harsh reality and don't wish on
a star that it will get better. Size your
business for what is going on, and plan
for the worst and hope for the best. "
Reed also sounded the alarm that
deadlines for all credit card readers to
accept EMV chip cards and the transition from 3G to 4G connectivity both
hit early next year.
" Operators who have 3G telemetry
need to know what they have to do
before carriers turn down the towers, "
he emphasized. " And if their card readers are not EMV compliant, they will
face a penalty from the card brands for
declining EMV transactions after certain due dates. Most operators will find
some readers in their base that need
to be updated over the air or switched
out. Talk to your tech partners and
don't get caught off guard. "
He agreed with Tradecraft's Carbone that it's time to pivot away from
batch-brew pour-over to single cup
systems. " It's something operators are
addressing and should be thinking
about if they're not, " he stated. " Vending also needs a more ubiquitous solu-

December 2020 * VendingMarketWatch.com

http://www.VendingMarketWatch.com

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