Increasing the Perceived Value of Your Bulk Vending Products

For many vendors, it is difficult to pinpoint the reasons why some products sell out like wildfire while others gather dust and remain unsold. What are the characteristics that separate the sure-selling products from the dust-collecting ones?

It's particularly difficult to do this kind of "perceived value" analysis with bulk vending products. "Perceived value" is the value that the customer attaches to the product. A higher perceived value translates to a higher consumer demand, and allows you to charge more for your products, because consumers are willing to pay more for what you offer.

It's easy to do this kind of perceived value analysis with something like a cell phone or a car-a new color or fancy new features increase the perceived value of the product. But how do you get vending products to be seen as having a high perceived value?

1. Licensing

One way to increase the perceived value of a vended product is to capitalize on a trend that consumers are already really interested in. When the Hannah Montana craze was really at its peak, for example, vendors were very successful selling stickers, necklaces, and other small trinkets with Hannah Montana images or logos. Licenses add value to products while also adding additional credibility to your franchise. However, licensing can be a tricky gamble, particularly because the customers that are drawn to products because of licensed images (like the tweens obsessed with Hannah Montana) can be fickle.

2. Functionality

Adding a functionality element to what you are selling greatly increases its perceived value. For example, a toy figurine could be seen as just junk, but when that toy figurine comes attached to a cellphone strap, it suddenly has another purpose, and that increases the desirability of the object.

3. Trends

Like licensing, jumping on a current trend is another way to increase your product's perceived value. The difference between trending and licensing is that you do not have to pay to sell a licensed product. Instead, you are merely relying on the popularity of the product itself. Examples of non-licensed trendy products are stickers with sarcastic sayings on them, which were very popular about two years ago. If your product is on-trend, it attracts buyers to your machine. Even better, if you have a mix of products in a single dispensing head, buyers may buy several times in order to get the product that they really want. Be warned, however, because selling based on trends can be difficult to do. The key is to sell the product as the trend is gaining momentum. The problem with relying too heavily on fads is that as a product becomes more popular, more and more vendors will sell it. When that happens, the market for that particular product becomes saturated and the trend will soon die. Nothing kills a trend faster than ubiquity.

These are just suggestions to think about to increase the perceived value of your product. A combination of functionality and being on-trend (either with a popular licensed character or without) is a killer formula for profits in vending. Of the three concepts, functionality is the one you should focus on the most. If you can give people an additional reason to buy the trinket, candy, sticker, or other object, you are way ahead of the game. Too many vendors sell "junk" products, and by carefully evaluating what you are selling and following these guidelines, you can maximize both your perceived value and your profits.

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