Quiosk, ACN Vending and Innovend have jointly developed a smart and appealing vending machine. Since the partnership began seven years ago, the concept has been a resounding success. Quiosk has achieved impressive growth as a result and the developments are far from standing still….

The Geldermalsen-based company has introduced an innovative vending concept tailored to “indulgence moments”: tasty snacks and drinks in locations with high foot traffic but no shops, such as unmanned gas stations. The chain now boasts over 250 locations nationwide. The cheerful vending machines are fully customized to Quiosk’s branding and preferences.

Data-driven operations and improved customer experience

“We believed unmanned vending could be more innovative and smarter,” says Nick de Leeuw, Quiosk’s CEO for the past three years. “The collaboration actually started before my time. My predecessors recognized the interactive digital ordering kiosk on a Quiosk machine as an excellent opportunity to enhance the customer experience. When I joined, I expanded on this foundation by focusing on creating a data-driven organization.”

“That’s how we developed the new Quiosk machine together with ACN Vending and Innovend,” Nick explains. “A little irreverently said, we buy a ‘dumb’ machine and make it smart by adding a screen, computer, and payment terminal. Ultimately, we install Innovend’s software on it.”

This approach offered another significant advantage: “Thanks to the touchscreen, there’s no need for a keypad or coin slot, making the machine slimmer and easier to fit into the limited space available at gas stations.”

Shopping cart functionality

“They wanted a vending machine with the ability for customers to purchase multiple products at once,” recalls Eric Seijger. He is managing director of ACN Group. “So, we developed a vending machine with a touchscreen and a shopping cart function, allowing multiple items to be paid for in one transaction. That’s when Innovend came into the picture, as they created the software to operate the machines.”

“Our relationship with Quiosk came through ACN Vending,” confirms Innovend director Sander Sciarone. “ACN Vending, based in Neede, is a distributor for Innovend. About seven years ago, Quiosk also became our client. Quiosk buys the vending machines, i.e. the hardware, from ACN and the software from us.” As software, Quiosk uses Innovend’s own online platform VendingWeb that allows the machines to be remotely monitored and controlled. 

Eric adds, “We initially started with a small touchscreen but quickly realized that a larger screen was preferable for better visibility of the products. Innovend solved that, after which we could start testing. Over time, we switched vending machine models and now use the Sanden Vendo. A prototype was developed in Italy, and it proved to be perfect. At one point the screens also grew even further: from 15 to 22 inches.”

Mutual trust

“You don’t see such close and long-term cooperation between three parties very often. That makes it quite special. But it works well; each does what he is good at,” Sander responds. “Operation, hardware and software go hand in hand.”

“It’s amazing to see Quiosk’s growth, expanding to more locations. It’s great to see how they started with just a few machines and now have over 250, mostly in the Netherlands and even a few in Belgium. At Innovend, we’re proud to contribute to their success.”

Eric agrees, describing the collaboration as exceptional: “It’s based on mutual trust. We have a lot of faith in each other. As three parties, we set up a product from which one of the three, Quiosk, must ultimately derive merit. And that succeeds.”

Effortless for partners

“Location is crucial for us,” Nick explains. “About 80% of our machines are outdoors, at locations accessible 24/7, such as gas stations on busy highways or other bustling spots like car washes. We aim for places with high foot traffic, where people want a quick drink or snack, or something to take on their journey. Everything is unmanned, although we’re piloting a machine at a staffed location that closes early. With our machine, customers can shop outside business hours.”

Quiosk’s gas station partners where the outlets are located have nothing to worry about. “We essentially rent a plot of land from them and pay for the space,” Nick says. “For them, it’s an attractive revenue model. We take on the risks, investments, and all the work, including refilling the machines. Meanwhile, our vending machines allow them to offer extra services to their customers.”

Automated procurement process

Quiosk’s special requirements are met by ACN Vending and Innovend, each for their own field. Sander: “For example, we created APIs: links between the machines and the databases. So they can pull a lot of information from their machines from VendingWeb and run their own analyses on it.” 

This opens up new opportunities in the future for further automated purchasing processes, for example. It also makes routing supplies more efficient.

“We use VendingWeb to the fullest… in particular, we also utilize a lot of data from VendingWeb. We have built all kinds of things behind it ourselves. Based on that data, we create all kinds of programs and systems ourselves that we use in our operations. About sales figures, stocks and the best routes along our machines.”

Syncing everything at once

“Innovend is a true software company that continuously innovates,” Nick says with satisfaction. “They respond to our requests but also develop proactively. We benefit from the innovations Sander and his team create and refine, always staying ahead with the latest advancements.”

About Innovend’s software: “It’s user-friendly, which is a big plus. And if we ever need help, their support team is always quick to assist.”

Eric highlights another key aspect: “The software must be stable, and Innovend’s certainly is. It’s proven itself time and again, even with other projects.”

When asked about the next step, Nick shares: “The three of us are already very far with that… A button to be able to adjust everything in bulk on the machines. Just all the settings, images et cetera for all the machines. We are testing that now, a kind of master-like interface that allows us to adjust everything at once. That’s going to help us a lot…” 

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