Loyalty Trends in the Vending Industry

As part of our latest blog series, we’re taking a look at loyalty solutions in various industries to see what companies are doing to enhance customer retention and user experience. It’s no surprise that large retailers and brands have long used loyalty programs to entice and reward their top customers. In recent years, retail companies are also beginning to adopt loyalty solutions for vending machines as the preferences of their customers evolve. Here are some popular loyalty solutions in the vending industry right now:

Vending Machine Apps

Unlike brick-and-mortar merchants or eCommerce retailers, unattended vending machines do not have the luxury of leveraging a sales staff to get customers to sign up for loyalty cards at checkout or online. As a result, many vending loyalty programs have been integrated into mobile apps to ensure that a tailored customer experience is still created. This provides a perk for customers, who can keep better track of their rewards and see them when they are most relevant. Loyalty program applications enable machine operators to reward their frequent customers, increase sales through additional purchases, and win new accounts.

Points for Using Mobile Wallet

Many vending companies are implementing a loyalty initiative where customers can receive points for using their mobile wallet. The idea is that consumers get points or credit for using their mobile wallet at various vending machines. Once a customer racks up enough points, they get a free vending machine product.

Prepaid Card Incentives

Offering a discount to customers with prepaid cards – such as employee ID cards or gym membership tags – can be an effective incentive to push patrons toward choosing their prepaid card as their preferred payment method. The motivation to purchase from the vending machine, as opposed to going to a nearby physical store,  also needs to be acknowledged with the price differences in addition to convenience. Many vending machines are starting to offer different prices for various payment methods, and then advertising the multiple prices for one item to highlight the discount.

Reward Customers with Membership

Another great way to extend relationships with customers through a loyalty program is the idea of introducing membership levels. The machine can recognize  frequent customers and reward them based on their membership type. From there, the customer can receive special discounts or free credit.

The ID TECH Solution

ID TECH’s commitment to providing innovative and quality solutions for your digital loyalty program comes through in our vending line of products. Our newest one is the VP6800, which uses NFC technology to support contactless payments as well as loyalty and rewards features. It is a sleek, single piece solution certified with the latest contactless brand specifications and mobile wallet technologies. By supporting all the major card brands, along with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, every transaction is covered no matter what you tap!

In addition to contactless reading, the VP6800 also supports EMV chip as well as MagStripe card reading. With a wide temperature range, the rugged VP6800  is ideal for all environments. To learn more about the VP6800, click here.

About ID TECH

ID TECH has established a solid reputation in the industry as a leading payment peripheral provider with magnetic stripe, EMV contact, and EMV contactless expertise. We are also an OEM payment solution provider with the capability and willingness to customize solutions to fit our customers’ needs. With a strong foundation and continued success rooted in card readers, ID TECH is currently expanding its reach in the ever-evolving payments industry.

To learn more about ID TECH, please visit our about page.