Automatic Merchandiser - 14

CHART 5A:

Both acquired
and divested

Acquired

12.5%
17.6%
11.5%
11.4%
14.9%
4.3%
3.4%
6.4%
11.4%
9.9%

CHART 6A:

Acquired or divested business

3.6%
● 2015 ● 2016 ● 2017 ● 2018 ●3.4%
2019
2.6%
14.3%
6.2%79.6%
75.7%
79.5%
62.9%
68.9%

●	 Great Investment - ROI
●	 Don't use it/like it

Divested

Neither acquired
nor divested
Acquired

Both acquired
and divested
Divested

12.5%
17.6%
11.5%
11.4%
14.9%
4.3%
3.4%
6.4%
11.4%
9.9%
3.6%
3.4%
2.6%

14.3%
6.2%

Cashless payment

37.8%
12.2%
25.6%
30.8%

Prekitting
Vending
Management
System

23.2%
22%
23.3%
31.2%

Remote monitoring

CHART 5B:

Acquired or divested business breakout for
operators also serving micro markets in 2019
Neither acquired
nor divested
Acquired
Both acquired
and divested
Divested

Warehouse
pick to light system

65.7%

LED lights

11.4%
17.1%
5.7%

operators who increased the number
locations in a variety of different areas
of locations served dipped from the
to diversify their accounts.
previous year, this year's breakdown is
For micro markets, 71.4% of operamore consistent with data from the past tors said they increased the number of
five years, suggesting last year's figure of micro market locations last year, which
68.2% of survey respondents reportis lower than 2018 but still a slight gain
ing an increase may have been a slight
over 2017 (chart 3D). Survey responexaggeration due to a low number of
dents reported the increase in micro
respondents.
market locations was due to added
Neither acquired
65.7%locations, increased customer demand
This year, operators attributed
nor divested
growth
to winning
and improved efficiency due to using
11.4%bids on new locaAcquired
Both
acquired
tions,
acquiring other
operations,
technology.
17.1%
and divested
adding accounts, customer referrals
5.7%
Divested
MICRO MARKETS STILL GROWING
and
rising consumer demand. Some
The
majority of micro markets are still
operators reported making proactive
located in manufacturing facilities and
moves such as focusing on market
offices, but these categories experienced
development and integrating aggressive
double-digit drops over the past two
marketing efforts.
years (chart 3C). The number of micro
As in previous years, manufacturmarkets increased in every other locaing and offices make up the majortion category except correctional faciliity of vending locations served, but
ties, adding more credence to the idea
manufacturing accounts experienced
that operators are diversifying their
an 8% drop from last year and offices
accounts and location types.
decreased by 3% (chart 3A). All other
The increase of micro market
location types except correctional
locations
at retail sites, hotels, schools,
facilities and hotels/motels experienced
hospitals,
restaurants and military bases
gains over the previous year, suggesting
was
much
larger than in previous years.
that operators may be actively seeking

14

Technology rankings, averaged

Automatic Merchandiser * June/July 2020

QR code
on machine
Video screens

14.3%
52%
19%
15.2%
7.7%
48.7%
6.5%
49.4%

While the strong economy was certainly
a factor, this could also be due to the use
of technology that streamlined micro
market implementation and management, increasing efficiency.
Another contributing factor may be
growing consumer acceptance of unattended retail. Operators 31.9%
who invested
in security tools such as locking coolers
and camera monitoring have started
placing semi-public and public-facing
micro markets. This will
2017be an interesting trend to watch, especially in the 15%
38.4%
post-COVID-19
world, where consumers could seek out unattended retail
options and contactless payments for
14.7%
safety reasons.
MICRO MARKETS GROW SMALLER

Like last year, operators reported
that they are managing an increasing
number of micro markets at smaller
locations (chart 4C), shifting the average micro market location size to 100150 employees (down from 150-200
employees for the previous year).
Operators have reported that many
mid- to large-sized locations already
65.9%
174282088 | Anastasiia Nevestenko | Dreamstime

2017
Automatic Merchandiser

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automatic Merchandiser
