Cashless

Unattended Payment Accepted

Unattended Payment Accepted 367 302 GAD Vending

GAD Knows Unattended Payment Acceptance

GAD has extensive experience with unattended solutions. We’ve grown our business selling and supporting payment acceptance, and coin changers for decades.

Now with Alio™ Pro, CPI presents an All-In-One cashless hardware solution for unattended payment. With a large touchscreen and customizable user interface, operators can create an engaging user experience. Plus, Alio™ Pro’s rugged outer-casing and protective Gorilla Glass protects hardware against vandalism and daily wear-and-tear. Alio™ Pro is supported by CPI’s cashless solution, including payment processing services and our cloud-based device management platform.

With a 4.3″ display, Alio™ Pro provides a fully interactive, large-format display, plus PIN-on-glass capability. Alio™ Pro is suited for use in multiple unattended payment applications, including:

  • Off-Street Parking
  • Retail Kiosk
  • Laundry
  • Carwash
  • Metro and Train Fare Collection
  • Vending
  • Electric Vehicle Charging

Dimensions (mm)

  • H: 134mm W: 98mm D: 40mm Screen: 3.4″

EV Charging Anxiety: What Manufacturers and Operators Can Do for the End-User

EV Charging Anxiety: What Manufacturers and Operators Can Do for the End-User 2048 1366 GAD Vending

Choosing Payment Technology to Succeed in a Dynamic Market

There’s no doubt that the time for electric vehicle adoption is here. To date it is estimated that there are more than 16.5 million electric cars on the road. Furthermore, all major auto manufacturers are pushing forward updates to their leading models to integrate more EV options for consumers. Thus, sparking the opportunity for several new players to enter this space.

However, with an increase in electric vehicle adoption comes a need for drivers to have convenient locations to charge their batteries when they are on the road, providing another major opportunity for the parking industry.

Wallet-friendly payment solutions to reduce EV charge anxiety 

One obvious difference between a traditional ICE and an electric vehicle is “refueling” time. For an EV, the experience is much longer in comparison to ICE vehicles, even with fast charging technology. Therefore, charge anxiety has, to an extent, replaced range anxiety in the minds of EV drivers. Battery performance has been a major focus in recent years and ranges of more than 350 miles are being quoted on specifications of new models.2

Additionally, a need that EV drivers are facing is paying for the power to get back on the road again. Therefore, a simple, convenient, and “wallet friendly” EV charger must be a consideration since ease and flexibility in a complex world is a win. Nothing more certain to increase anxiety than not being able to charge up and go!

As a result, minimizing charge anxiety and delivering a charging experience that is consistent, reliable, and simple is your task regardless of your role – as an EV charging manufacturer or parking operator.

Easing charge anxiety with reliability and consistency  

Fortunately, the Alio Pro is here to help you meet those needs, ensuring that you’re better prepared to support your end users. With the Alio Pro, you’ll be able to:

  • Accept everything in your customer’s wallet:
    •  – We may all love an app but it’s often not feasible to expect customers to have an app already downloaded. So, Alio Pro accepts:

logos

  • Offer your customer a reward or incentive to park at your property again:
    •  – Simply add a QR code that creates a voucher or tie in a pre-existing loyalty or bonus program
EV Charging QR - reduced
  • Ensure reliability:
    • – CPI handles 4 billion transactions weekly and is trusted by many of the world’s largest financial institutions and retailers.

So, where better to charge your vehicle than where it must be stationary! Park your car, plug in, and go about your other activities – shop, eat, work – with the assurance that your EV is ready to go when you are. Multi-tasking at its finest!

Self Check Out Solutions

Self Check Out Solutions 750 520 GAD Vending

GAD Knows Self Check-Out

GAD is a proud authorized distributor for Crane CPI solutions.

Think self check out is a solution for your business? Any size business can benefit with flexible and cost effective self-checkout solutions. We work for retailers, bars, restaurants, gas stations – anyone that needs help with quick checkout.

Self checkout satisfies grab and go, multi-payment solutions and self checkout. GAD offers turnkey solutions, custom solutions and creative payment solutions.

Don’t loose customers to lines. 81% of customers avoid stores with long lines.

How Vending Can Solve Fourth Wall Revenue

How Vending Can Solve Fourth Wall Revenue 2048 1011 GAD Vending

Most retailers have dead space that isn’t earning as much revenue as it should. Smart, large box retailers look at every inch to make sure they maximize not only customer experience but also profitability. And so should you.

Vending is an excellent way to achieve this.

First, vending machines aren’t cheap but they are unattended, use very little floor space and can be changed out to various uses as demand dictates. For example, who would have thought 6 years ago we’d be outfitting PPE solution vending machines? But the pandemic changed that.

Vending machines payment solutions have changed with the times as well. While cash is accepted, there are touchless solutions available as well. There are apps as well so returning customers can program their favorites in for quick ordering. The apps also help the vending owner with inventory control, out of service issues and so much more!

Plus vending machines can be so easily branded to your business. Give your customer added flexibility to choose what they want, when they want it.

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking how a specialty vending machine can satisfy your customer and increase your cash flow:

  • Give the bartender a helping hand! Bars are using vending machines to vend individual drink options like champagne, canned drinks and beer. (Visit your state’s liquor license requirements first.) These drink vending machines are also popular at festivals, entertainment zones, concerts and other venues with a closed area, high traffic and a party waiting to happen!
  • Put a vending machine near a swimming pool. Load it with sunscreen, inflatables and water wings.
  • In a school, vending machines can have office supplies, binders and all types of classroom necessities.
  • Showroom samples are easily branded in a vending machine.
  • Employee vending machines can have a mini store stocked with over the counter medications, simple safety items, and more.
  • Put in a Crane coffee vending machine with a whole bean grinder to replace a coffee station or expensive k-cup machine.
  • A beauty vending machine has many possibilities to maximize floor space. Try in a mall, airport or hotel – wherever they is high foot traffic.
  • Add a utility payment kiosk.
  • A coin changer machines are a popular machine. It helps your customer redeem their coins and gives you a source of change for your establishment.
  • Create an electronics vending machine with headphones, chargers and other electronics to create a shoplifting secure, unattended solution.

For more ideas, take a look at Crane’s LookBook here. Contact GAD for more ideas, brainstorming and information.

GAD Knows Vending

Park. Tap. Charge.

Park. Tap. Charge. 2048 1366 GAD Vending

GAD has been on the forefront of cashless payment solutions through our manufacturer, Crane Vending.

With CPI payment systems, GAD has been installing, training and servicing cashless payment solutions in both attended and unattended solutions. GAD has been installing and servicing vending, change machines and ATM’s for decades.

The newest craze is EV Charging Stations. With so many EV’s coming to highways in the US, many are not finding convenient and easy to pay stations. But the solutions from Crane make it easy.

Tap and pay solutions make it really a Park, Tap and Charge solution. If this is what your business is looking into for your retail parking lot, employee EV charging stations or for a food establishment give the GAD sales team a call. We can help you with determine the best unattended or attended payment solution for you.

Vending Payment Options: What Customers Want

Vending Payment Options: What Customers Want 2048 1365 GAD Vending

Cash Payment Preferences

Options, options, options: consumers demand them in everything that touches their lives. I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded about the proliferation of the seemingly never-ending turnover of snack and drink options in your warehouses and machines.

Well, the latest Federal Reserve Diary of Consumer Payment Choice has been published and, once again, confirms that consumers expect options in payment methods when making an in-person purchase. The continued rise in digital payment methods is evident from the study, but so is the importance of (and preference) for cash payment as an option.

Where Cash Counts

Consumers don’t look at the decision to use cash or a digital payment type as zero-sum. And, this is particularly true for transactions under $10, where cash is used 59% of the time according to another study by Cardtronics. Consumers expect options in the goods and services they purchase, as well as how they purchase those goods and services.

In that 2018 Health of Cash study by Cardtronics, 1000 consumers aged 18 and over were surveyed on their in-person (not online) spending preferences. 73% of those consumers reported using cash regularly despite other forms of payment being available, and nearly 45% said they would stop going to a store or restaurant if it stopped accepting cash. The findings also concluded that 56% of people use cash for purchase amounts of $30 or less, just slightly below the 59% for purchases $10 or less.

In that same Cardtronics study, I was surprised to read that 81% of consumers use cash as frequently, if not more, than they did last year. I’ve read an increasing amount of articles describing cash as a budgeting tool for the younger generations—a demographic we don’t think of as having any meaningful interactions with cash. Turns out, what’s old is new again—just like my college clothes, long ago discarded in the back of my closet. If they only still fit…

Going Steady with Cash

The continued use of cash is also reflected in data on ATM usage. In 2018, six in 10 people (59%) reported withdrawing money from an ATM monthly or more frequently, according to a Mercator Advisory Group reportThis rate remains unchanged from a few years ago, as Mercator found that six in 10 people used an ATM at least monthly in 2016, showing that ATM usage remains stable.

Even millennials are withdrawing cash at high rates. That same Mercator report found that 53% of people aged 18 to 34 reported at least monthly ATM usage. The report also found that young adults are also more willing to try alternative authentication methods including the use of biometric data. It’s hard to conclude against cash remaining a preferred, if not desired, payment option with so many young people relying on ATMs to withdraw cash at least a few times a month.

Looking back to the Federal Reserve study, if we compare a 2013 Consumer Diary study to the 2018 edition, it is interesting how little has changed. Back in 2013, the majority of purchases (across all demographic groups) $10 or under were made using cash; in 2018, the same remains true. Debit card usage continues to grow, but only becomes dominant in transactions exceeding $25.

Coping in a Cashless Society

Another demographic to consider is the unbanked. According to a late 2017 survey by the FDIC, one in four US households are unbanked or underbanked—referring to people who don’t have a bank account, or only use their account for direct deposits, and immediately withdraw the balance. This population only transacts in cash, and carries a significant amount of buying power. And, the younger generations we mentioned before? The population aged 15-34 makes up the largest portion of the unbanked and underbanked. We see this more than ever, with some cities now reacting by mandating retailers accept cash in an effort to protect the unbanked and underbanked as the trend of stores going completely cashless rises. My very own city of Philadelphia just passed a similar law prohibiting “cashless only” retail operations.

A route driver or technician approaches a bank of machines, and can instantly see, in simple green, yellow or red icons, the health status of every payment peripheral in those machines. They can see all alarms in priority sequence to help the tech work through the tasks at hand. And best of all, any alarm automatically links to a series of written troubleshooting steps or videos to walk anyone through to resolution.

What This All Means for Vending

We are a convenience services industry, delivering outstanding products and services every day. Cleaned, filled, and working isn’t enough to drive sales growth. Operators need to ensure every potential vend patron can make a purchase at machines, with no barriers. While we all get excited about the possibilities of cashless (as we should—connectivity does amazing things for machine efficiencies and customer experience), we can’t assume that because cashless is great, cash no longer is. Cash isn’t going anywhere, and operators are wise to remember this. A great operation continues to be a diversified one.

We always say it, because it’s always true: from cash to credit to mobile and beyond, design your operation to take whatever is in the consumer’s wallet.

Labor Shortage Issues? Want to Accept Cards and CASH? Look Into How Self Check Out Can Help Your Business

Labor Shortage Issues? Want to Accept Cards and CASH? Look Into How Self Check Out Can Help Your Business 750 520 GAD Vending

47% of all sales that total under $25 are paid in cash

It’s 2022–Retailers have recognized the value of self-checkout technology and the benefits it will bring to their stores including easing labor shortage problems, improving the customer experience, and, of course, increasing the bottom line. Now you need to consider how to deploy your self-checkout to best suit the needs of your stores and your customers; the big question is—do you automate cash, or go completely cashless?

You may be leaning toward cashless—it’s less costly upfront, and card payments seem more like “the future.” Let’s examine that assumption—can you get the full ROI you expect from your self-checkout without adding cash? First consider from the perspective of the speed of service; self-checkout will move your customers through the line faster and eliminate long lines at peak times of day. If you’ve only automated cashless payments you haven’t solved the complete problem, and will not be able to repurpose cashiers to take on additional store related tasks, like cleaning, stocking shelves, etc. Stores that struggle with staff shortages will find relief by allowing their customers to checkout without their assistance, ensuring only one cashier is required to ring up age-verified products.

41% of customers will abandon their purchase if they see a long line

What is your customers’ experience? For the average purchase in convenience stores, consumers overwhelmingly choose cash; 47% of all purchase values under $25 are paid in cash. The percentage of cash usage in your stores may be even higher given that the average c-store transaction is between $3.75-9.00; recent studies report around 40-50% of purchases are made in cash. In addition to preferences, the Federal Reserve estimates 20-28% of the population is currently “unbanked,” or “underbanked,” and do not have access to card payments. Cashless only self-checkouts could lead customers to perceive unfairness—why should they wait in line while the card paying customer can breeze right through? It’s not worth the risk alienating such a large portion of your customers.

Card-only self-checkouts will still require a cashier to handle all cash payments, increasing the likelihood that lines will continue to be long at rush hour, and risk customers walking out without purchasing. 41% of customers will abandon their purchase if they see a long line, and one bad experience can sour customers on your entire business. Almost half of consumers avoid a specific store if they have to wait longer than 5 minutes. No one wants to lose business due to customer dissatisfaction, and these lines can be effectively eliminated by deploying cash automation with self-checkout.

Lastly, cashless processing isn’t always as cheap as it seems to be. There’s a good chance cash payments cost less as a percentage of your revenue than cashless. Driving customers to cashless may actually increase costs and negatively impact profit margins.

In order to fully reap the benefits of your self-checkout deployment you need to include both cash and cashless payments. Cash automation makes it a well-rounded solution and delivers a superior ROI for your business.

If you are looking for self check out equipment that accept both cash and cards, give GAD a call. Our sales team is knowledgeable to help retailers save on labor cost, speed check-out, and improve customer experience.

3 Reasons Why Self Checkout is a Smart 2022 Solution

3 Reasons Why Self Checkout is a Smart 2022 Solution 332 347 GAD Vending

It’s 2022 and savvy retail owners have recognized the value of self-checkout technology and the benefits it will bring to their stores including:

  1. Easing labor shortage problems
  2. Improving the customer experience
  3. Increasing the bottom line

Now you need to consider how to deploy your self-checkout to best suit the needs of your stores and your customers; the remaining big question is—do you automate cash, or go completely cashless?

47% of all purchase values under $25 are paid in cash

You may be leaning toward cashless—it’s less costly upfront, and card payments seem more like “the future.” Let’s examine that assumption—can you get the full ROI you expect from your self-checkout without adding cash? First consider from the perspective of the speed of service; self-checkout will move your customers through the line faster and eliminate long lines at peak times of day. If you’ve only automated cashless payments you haven’t solved the complete problem, and will not be able to repurpose cashiers to take on additional store related tasks, like cleaning, stocking shelves, etc. Stores that struggle with staff shortages will find relief by allowing their customers to checkout without their assistance, ensuring only a few manager cashiers are required to ring up age-verified products and help customers with items that don’t want to ring up easily.

Next, think about your customer’s experience. For the average purchase in convenience stores, consumers overwhelmingly choose cash; 47% of all purchase values under $25 are paid in cash. The percentage of cash usage in your stores may be even higher given that the average c-store transaction is between $3.75-9.00; recent studies report around 40-50% of purchases are made in cash. In addition to preferences, the Federal Reserve estimates 20-28% of the population is currently “unbanked,” or “underbanked,” and do not have access to card payments. Cashless only self-checkouts could lead customers to perceive unfairness—why should they wait in line while the card paying customer can breeze right through? It’s up to the retailer to know their average ticket sale and customer demographic to make the right choice before going all cashless.

Card-only self-checkouts will still require a cashier to handle all cash payments, increasing the likelihood that lines will continue to be long at rush hour, and risk customers walking out without purchasing. 41% of customers will abandon their purchase if they see a long line, and one bad experience can sour customers on your entire business. Almost half of consumers avoid a specific store if they have to wait longer than 5 minutes. No one wants to lose business due to customer dissatisfaction, and these lines can be effectively eliminated by deploying cash automation with self-checkout.

41% of customers will abandon their purchase if they see a long line

Lastly, cashless processing isn’t always as cheap as it seems to be. There’s a good chance cash payments cost less as a percentage of your revenue than cashless. Driving customers to cashless may actually increase costs and negatively impact profit margins.

In order to fully reap the benefits of your self-checkout deployment you need to decide to include both cash and cashless payments. Cash automation makes it a well-rounded solution and delivers a superior ROI for your business.

Having a conversation with a well versed GAD Vending sales person can help you determine the optimal self checkout solutions for your business. Let us help today.

4 Ways Vending Operators Can Get Smart About New Payment Options

4 Ways Vending Operators Can Get Smart About New Payment Options 750 520 GAD Vending

Vending: the Current State

It’s a familiar scene for anyone in the vending industry: a machine with so many payment peripherals that it’s hard for the eyes to focus. Coin acceptance, note acceptance, card acceptance, media screen, keypad, possibly even an additional device for cashless or closed loop acceptance. What the customer doesn’t know but the operator is well aware of: inside there are countless more devices supporting payment, including a telemeter, audit master, maybe even a diagnostic tool.

Not only does the current market offering of payment technology for vending mean multiple devices from multiple vendors and multiple service protocols, but also yields an unpleasant user and visual experience for customers.

So, how can vending move towards a more streamlined payment model? Crane CPI compiled our top recommendations for the future of vending payment systems to keep machines simple and users happy.

1. Don’t Count Out Cash

Cash continues to play an important role in the vending market. Not only do a majority of consumers prefer cash for purchases under $5 (the vending sweet spot), but cash payment systems have advanced to do more than just count coins.

What does the future of the coin changer look like? Think a changer that acts as an MBD master, can accept closed loop payment, and can even diagnose its own device problems.

What’s more? Having cash in your machine costs you nothing after the initial purchase. No upkeep fees, no connection costs, no processing fees, all while giving your customers the payment flexibility they expect.

2. Streamline With An All-In-One Device

One stone, many birds: the beauty of installing an all-in-one device. Looking at vending payment systems, opting for an all-in-one ePayment terminal provides operators with a streamlined way to eliminate multiple customer touchpoints, as well as reduce service costs associated with having multiple payment devices.

Look for devices that include a screen, all elements of cashless acceptance (closed loop reader, magstripe reader, chip and PIN acceptance, contactless and mobile acceptance, and telemeter). Even better? A card reader that fits directly over your bill validator to accommodate cash and ePayment acceptance in a single payment terminal. With future models incorporating a built-in antenna, operators can even avoid needing to drill additional holes in the machine, all while cutting down on installation time.

The future of payment will rely heavily on new technology trends like mobile and Bluetooth payment, so it’s important for operators to look at future ready solutions that can accommodate these payment types with a simple software upgrade.

3. Think Modular

Not ready to go all in with an all in one device? Think about purchasing payment systems that allow you to add on modularly. This can mean starting with coin, closed loop acceptance and telemetry, and adding on a card reader when you’re ready. Not ready to commit to a card reader? Look for a closed loop system that can also accommodate cashless payment via mobile app.

4. Don’t forget about software

Effective payment doesn’t stop at the point of sale. Especially in countries with audit laws, monitoring and proper payment reporting is critical. By opting for a single supplier, you can ensure that all of your payment devices are managed, upgraded, and monitored from a single platform.

The Takeaway

As payment continues to evolve, particularly in the ever-flexible vending space, it’s important for operators to realize that payment is not a one-size fits all game. Customer needs and demands are constantly evolving, and the most effective approach continues to be to accept whatever is in the customer’s wallet—rather than dictate how the customer should pay.

Whatever your payment strategy looks like, GAD Vending is able to work directly with operators to customize solutions to accommodate your best payment solution.

3 Ways Vending Is Providing Safer Retail – The Social Distancing Hero

3 Ways Vending Is Providing Safer Retail – The Social Distancing Hero 372 254 GAD Vending

From our partners at CPI Crane’s Cashless Solutions Division: You might be surprised to learn that the history of the vending machine goes back to first-century Roman Egypt, where Hero of Alexandria engineered a machine that accepted a coin and dispensed holy water. In modern times we’ve seen vending machines offer everything from postcards and stamps to candy, gum and cigarettes. Their popularity as beverage dispensers came with refrigeration and heating elements – and today we see an astounding array of products sold from vending machines. Making your way to the gate at an international airport you might pick up an iPad, a SIM card for your phone, a down jacket, a warm hamburger, and an aspirin – plus a cold bottle of water to help you swallow it!

Responding to the social distancing imperative presents multiple challenges for retail environments. We’ve seen limits on the number of people allowed into supermarkets, one-way aisles, distance markers at the checkout, food bars emptied, cafés and breakrooms closed, and Plexiglass shields erected around store personnel. These and other efforts by retailers to keep customers and staff safe and limit exposure are appreciated by all. But ideally, customers could shop for their essential items without interacting with a cashier or even going into a store. And retailers can make the ideal, real, with vending machines.

How can operators use their machines—the ultimate unattended retail model—to serve to the needs of social distancing? Read below to see how 3 retailers have already adapted.

The Meat Guy Who Was Ahead of the Social Distance Curve

 

The owner of Applestone Meats was ready for social distancing years before the pandemic brought the concept into the mainstream. Wanting to serve customers without a retail counter-service location, Joshua Applestone remembered the coin-operated machines once used in cafeteria-style restaurants in New York and Pennsylvania. Applestone searched for and found Crane Merchandising’s refrigerated delivery system, The Shopper, which allowed his customers to pull meat packages directly from their container. And to be ready for card acceptance, he added the 4-in-1 Plus cashless reader.

Applestone customers liked the convenient delivery method well enough before, but after the pandemic? “We thought society might take a while to warm up to the machines,” says Applestone, “but for the situation we’re all in [now], they’re the perfect solution.”

From Healthy Snacks to PPE Provider

 

Healzzy2GO, a Netherlands-based vending company, believes that snacking should be accessible, fun, and most importantly, healthy. With the challenges of staying safe in a global pandemic, “healthy options” takes on new meaning. Healzzy2GO decided to make personal protective equipment (PPE) as accessible to their customers as healthy snacks. They worked with Crane Merchandising Systems to adapt their vending machines to dispense facemasks, hand sanitizer, gloves, and other personal equipment. Custom graphics and media were placed on the machines to educate consumers about the product offering.

The first Healzzy2GO PPE machine debuted in May, providing shoppers at the Alexandrium Shopping Center in Rotterdam and Hoog Catharijne in Utrecht the protection they need to shop safely.

The Healthy Machine Serving Frontline Workers

 

Farmer’s Fridge, a New York-based vending startup, gained popularity by providing vend patrons with healthy options like salads in plastic jars and fresh wraps, instead of the usual candy and soda. When offices closed due to COVID-19, many Farmer’s fridge locations saw a precipitous drop in usage. But, as they say, when a door closes a window opens, and in this case, it was true. Farmer’s Fridge saw a surge in usage in hospital settings – where cafeterias were shut down to limit spread of the virus. To meet the demand, Farmer’s Fridge added over 18 machines to locations that included Northwestern Memorial Hospital, New York Presbyterian and the Javits Center field hospital. Farmer’s Fridge also supported the efforts of front-line workers by adding more than 60 mini fridges that served complimentary meals in hospital break rooms.

Vending machines are typically a last resort for healthcare workers, but due to their value proposition of removing the roadblocks to eating wholesome, delicious food, Farmer’s Fridge is now serving fresh meals to over 30,000 workers per week at hospitals across the U.S. One surgeon at UChicago tweeted: “Thank you @FarmersFridge for keeping the trauma/ICU team fed during #COVID19.”

Vending Moving Forward

 

How does an industry so firmly rooted in serving sweet treats and soft drinks recreate its persona as the hero of a pandemic? “The Convenience Services Industry is uniquely equipped to assist the nation in this time of crisis,” writes Carla Balakgie, president and CEO of the National Automatic Merchandising Association, in a letter to the White House and U.S. Congress. Balakgie cited the unique distribution system of unattended retail as “the greatest source of ‘contactless’ nourishment” for healthcare workers. In other words, the machine invented by a man called Hero can now live up to that name.

Are you ready to adapt your machine to serve the needs for health and safety in these times of crisis? Ask a member of our GAD Vending team how you can make seamless and safe payment a part of your post pandemic vending strategy.