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Vendex North was held on 10^th November 2021, and the team at Vianet attended and exhibited at our first large scale vending show since before Covid-19 restrictions first began. The show held in Leeds attracted a great number of visitors across the vending industry after a long period of lockdowns and restrictions which prevented events from happening. Vianet were greatly anticipating this event after such a long time without physical shows. We are pleased to have caught up with lots of our existing customers as well as new vending operators, contract caterers, service providers and more.

Vendex is a well-recognised exhibition and networking event established in 2003 (Vendex, 2021). The event offers great exposure and opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors to get the latest industry news, products, and services.

Vianet Showcases Products and Services to Vendex Attendees

 

Situated near the entrance at Vendex, we had great visibility and opportunity to showcase our product offerings with live demos, devices, and new product videos. Vianet also launched our new website this week, and it was great to get feedback and shout about this to our visitors at the event to go and check it out.

On the Vianet stand, we offered attendees at the event the opportunity to try out our brand-new, all-in-one contactless payment device, SmartContact Pro. With an exciting opportunity to free vend and win mystery prizes, our SmartContact Pro was installed on a vending machine (Melodia vending machine supplied courtesy of Evoca Group) to give visitors first-hand experience of the new terminal. It was a buzzing atmosphere as visitors were keen to try and win some big prizes we had up for grabs, including £10-£50 Amazon gift cards, wireless chargers and many more.

 

Our Client Manager, Kirsty Kirk said:

“Vendex North was a great success. It was good to see so many operators in attendance, especially after such a long period of remote working. We’re looking forward to sharing more innovation updates with Vianet clients and prospects in the near future.”

 

In addition, throughout the day, there were plenty of opportunities to explore what’s currently out there in the vending industry as a range of businesses across the sector were in attendance such as PepsiCo, Red Bull, NIVO and many more.

Rachel Little, Marketing Manager said:

“This is the first Vendex event I’ve done since starting at Vianet, and it was fantastic to finally be able to showcase what we’ve been busy with in the background over the last two years.

Vianet has had a lot going on during the pandemic with the release of SmartVend and the launch of our new contactless payment solution, so there is a lot for us to be shouting about. It was also great to be able to finally put some faces to names in the vending industry!”

Overall, Vendex North was an important opportunity for Vianet to meet clients and prospects to discuss our exciting product developments and plans going forward.

Don’t worry if you didn’t manage to catch us at Vendex North, as we will be attending Vendex Midlands 2022 in Milton Keynes on 26^th April 2022.

Alternatively, if you’d like to find out more about how our products and services can transform your vending business performance, you can contact us directly through our enquiry form.

It doesn’t matter what age you are, contactless is the go-to payment method, and for good reason.

Today, one in every five card payments is contactless, marking a major milestone since tap-and-go payments were introduced a decade ago. What makes this more impressive, is widespread adoption from generations who have grown up using cash and have an emotional attachment and affinity to the tangible notes and coins. This cannot be ignored.

In fact, those aged 60 and over are the fastest-rising acceptance of touch-and-go payments, with the number of contactless users in this age bracket up 116 per cent in 2016. The eye-opening statistics shows contactless payment is a tech anomaly, proving popular across all generations.

The UK Card Association predicts that 50% of debit card transactions will be contactless by 2026, so its clear adoption is only going to rise across all ages. Whether you’re tapping to pay for your coffee in the morning, or waving your way through barriers on the tube with a SmartPay device, speedy payment methods have made our lives so much easier, they’re here to stay. Has your business recognised this?

 

Today’s consumer is time poor and increasingly seeking faster transactions. People have become accustomed to buying things online at the click of a button and this habit is altering the way they make purchases in retail – especially convenience purchases, such as food and drink.

The increasing popularity of quick transactions and instant purchases has been heavily influenced by the rise of online shopping where customers can get what they want at the click of a button. Last year alone, £133bn was spent online with UK retailers – that’s £18bn more than the previous year!

Our latest research has revealed that the number of consumers using contactless payment to a pay for a lunch that’s worth £5 or less has risen by 300% in the last year.[1] Grab and go contactless purchases are on the rise and the vending industry needs to take notice.

The in-depth research also revealed that 63% of people would switch to paying with contactless if it was available on a vending machine, with 40% of those saying this was because it would make the transaction quicker.

The fast rise in contactless cards and increased acceptance in retail outlets has inevitably led to rising consumer expectations around the ability to use contactless payment whenever and wherever they go, especially for low priced items and everyday convenience purchases.

This presents a golden opportunity for vending operators to drive sales by providing a robust, quick payment transaction that reduces the barriers between the customer making an impulse purchase. Not only will this smooth the customer journey and create an enjoyable experience, but it will also drive repeat purchase.

[1] Vianet. (2017, 01 25). Consumer research into vending on a proportional representative panel of 2000 UK consumer. Ginger Research.