Despite the vending industry’s heavy focus on cashless open-loop payment solutions, closed-loop ones remain in high demand given their cost-effectiveness, unique use cases, and privileged access benefits.
Closed-loop payments continue to be popular in such private environments as offices and factories, as well as in mixed spaces, such as hospitals and universities – everywhere where employers want to be in control of access restrictions, incentivize workers through benefits and loyalty programs, and monitor and manage consumption.
As such, it is wise for vending and coffee operators to have a closed-loop payment system in their arsenal, to ensure their fleet is suitable for a variety of client needs.
Not offering closed-loop payment solutions? Your vending and coffee business is missing out
Closed-loop solutions were the original cashless payment method for vending and coffee machines. The fact that they still find use after 15+ years of developments in open-loop payments is a testament to their continued and future value in answering the unique needs of business owners and employers everywhere.
Of course, these solutions have evolved significantly from the basic prepaid NFC cards that were popular over a decade ago. From the introduction of mobile payments to the development of advanced discount functionalities, today’s closed-loop payment platforms are far richer and more suitable for the modern consumer.
Operators not only benefit from having a deeper business offering, which can lead to a larger client base, but closed-loop solutions are also a cost-effective cashless payment method, as they are easy to manage and install, as well as incur no processing fees. Modern solutions, such as QuickPik, don’t even require a card reader, as all transactions can be conducted by scanning a QR code, which can be easily placed on any machine.
Let’s take a look at what a modern closed-loop payment system can do for your clients.
Here’s why your clients will love QuickPik
QuickPik is Vendon’s closed-loop mobile payment app and loyalty platform for vending and coffee and it’s ideal for private and mixed spaces like offices, factories, hospitals, universities, etc. It allows selecting users to conveniently get coffee and snacks from vending and coffee machines for free or at discounted prices, giving employers full control over the specifics.
It’s the perfect solution for employers willing to fully or partially subsidize their employees’ coffee and snack habits. Even employers offering limitless coffee and/or snacks are revisiting that practice, as they seek to cut costs for their business to survive the pandemic by turning to closed-loop solutions to help limit consumption without taking the benefits away entirely.
Kā tas darbojas?
It’s super simple:
- [Employer/operator] QuickPik is enabled and a QR sticker is placed on the machine,
- [Customer] The user scans the code with the QuickPik app,
- [Employer/operator] After the first scan, the user appears in the Vendon Cloud, where they can be manually or automatically allotted certain benefits,
- [Customer] The user can now get free or discounted snacks and beverages by scanning the QR code on the machine, while the employer can monitor purchase patterns and optimize benefits accordingly.
Yes, getting started is that easy. Let’s get into the advanced functionalities favored by employers that will sell them on this kind of closed-loop solution.
3 ways how your clients can make use of QuickPik
Once QuickPik is enabled in Vendon Cloud and the sticker with a QR code is on the vending or coffee machine, the business owners and employees can start benefiting from it immediately.
1. Set up and modify benefits to limit consumption
The employer has full control over who gets what benefits and can manage everything remotely in the Vendon Cloud. They can either have a uniform approach and give everyone the same amount of free/discounted drinks, or they can create various bonus schemes for different user groups, where, for example, some employees can get 3 free coffees or snacks a day/week/month, while higher-ups can enjoy an unlimited supply.
Whatever bonus schemes are devised, they will renew automatically, which means you only need to set them up once. Of course, if the employer wants to experiment to find the best scheme that works for their company, they can make changes in a matter of moments in the Vendon Cloud.
2. Increase convenience for employees
Any employee will appreciate free drinks and discounts. On top of that, the QuickPik payment app is just a super convenient cashless and contactless way to complete transactions, since all you need to do is scan a QR code.
Since the QuickPik app also serves as a digital wallet, employees can top it up as they please and use it as a contactless payment method once their free benefits run out. It’s simple – the employee scans the QR code, selects the top-up option, and then inserts money into the machine, which then appears in their balance inside the app (Note: Soon Vendon will launch QuickPik open-loop option that will enable to connect credit and debit cards to user accounts, making for an even smoother cashless experience).
Employees can even see their own purchase history if they want to track their own consumption or do some personal accounting.
The employer can also see this history in the Vendon Cloud, however, there is always the option for employees to remain anonymous if the employer allows it. When registering with the app, the employee can forgo inserting any personal information and thus will appear as a random string of symbols in the Vendon Cloud, which can strongly appeal to privacy-conscious people.
3. Advanced real-time reporting
Speaking of the Vendon Cloud, it’s not just a QuickPik management platform where you can easily manage benefits. It also provides advanced real-time reporting, which lets effortlessly track and improve how the benefits are used.
Each transaction is registered and contains detailed information, such as the date, name, price of the chosen product, etc.
Having this information in one place, employers can: 1) track what products are more popular and by communicating with the operator can ensure they’re always stocked on the favorite products; 2) use it as a convenient and simple way for exporting transaction data for easy invoicing.
Let’s not forget about NFC cards
While the QuickPik mobile app is a super convenient way to conduct transactions, having a phone with you is not always a possibility. Sometimes employers will ban the use of phones on-premises, or, for example, if you’re working in a factory, you would rather keep your phone safely in a locker so it doesn’t get damaged during work.
In these, among other, cases, the old reliable NFC card can be a more convenient solution. Therefore, Vendon also offers a solution for such scenarios – existing NFC cards can be managed in the QuickPik platform. Companies also can order NFC cards directly from Vendon. NFC cards work in parallel with the QuickPik mobile app.
Personalization, cost-effectiveness, and unique application are what make closed-loop payment solutions for vending and coffee machines so appealing for a wide range of situations and locations. As such, being able to offer solutions such as QuickPik to employers can help operators get more clients and grow their businesses.
To learn more or schedule a free Demo Session – click here or get in touch with the Vendon team directly at grow@vendon.net or your local distributor.
