A snack and beverage vending machine is used as a fully automated, stand-alone solution designed to facilitate consumers for their quick snacking needs within their premises.
Small business Chron explains, the vending machine businesses can include single-item purchases like drinks, candy and salty snacks or bulk machines that dispense a handful of candy or nuts. The basic duties of a vending route include stocking the machines and collecting the money. The founder of EasyVend, Bilal H khan deeply felt the need to bring vending machines to Pakistan.
He says “Having seen and used vending machines outside Pakistan, I used to wonder as to why they haven’t come to Pakistan yet. Then one day while sitting with a friend and discussing this, I thought that if no one else is doing it then perhaps we should do it! And that’s where it all started.”
Easy Vend is the leading provider of snack, beverage & coffee vending machines in Pakistan. EasyVend specializes in customization and fills the machine with the required product.The team at EasyVend is managing a number of machines at various locations in Karachi including universities, offices, malls & factories.
EasyVend is a 360-degree vending solution that covers E2E services from installation to replenishment to technical support of the vending machines. According to Bilal H Khan, their efficient replenishment team ensures that the consumers get fully stocked products every day.
“We are proud to be the pioneers in the vending machine arena in Karachi. We provide the latest high quality vending machines and also ensure that the machines are fully tailored for the Pakistani market and connected to the most modern and reliable payment acceptance systems. Our machines offer both chilled beverages and everyday snacks including; canned drinks, juices, pet bottles, biscuits, chips, chocolates, sandwiches, patties, Pizza etc..”
While talking about the payment mechanism system, Bilal explains,
“We have a payment system that accepts Pakistani currency in denominations ofPKR10, 20, 50, 100 & PKR 5 in coin. The machine can also support cashless payment system such as purchase through swiping of prepaid card.”
Bilal also explained that there were a no of problems he faced to develop and operate business of this sort and some of them were:
1.Non availability of technical guidance to setup and execute such a project
2.Sourcing the machine and locating distributors
3.Making it viable & user friendly for local market
4.No company was making an adequate currency acceptor for Pakistani Rupee as no vending machine business existed in Pakistan
The US & European market still mostly use coin based payment systems whereas in Pakistan, the consumer dynamics are different. While the business may present tremendous opportunity for growth, Bilal and his team may encounter issues like theft and/or mock currency. With a careful business design and development strategy, timely solutions can be developed and the above mentioned issues can be addressed.
According to franchisefinder, some businesses can take several years to become profitable, but a vending machine business is often profitable within several months. The earnings depend on the number of machines you place; it can be a profitable business depending on the type of machines being used. It’s also important to highlight here that the major advantage of a vending machine business is that you can make money without being present at the location(s).
Time for some vending business to scale up in Pakistan!
