Earlier this month, Cantaloupe presented a webinar called “The Year of Touchscreens”, highlighting how touchscreens are gearing up to change the unattended retail industry. While touchscreens aren’t new, the technology has advanced and they are more prevalent and affordable than ever. In case you missed the live event, here are the top 5 highlights:
# 1: An excellent panel of presenters.
The webinar includes key perspectives from Cantaloupe’s CRO, Anant Agrawal, and Regional Sales Director, Bill Bartholic, along with special guest Ken Jenkins, President of Vend Pro. With over 60 years of combined experience in unattended retail, our panel of presenters offers a dynamic look at how touchscreens are impacting the unattended retail industry.
#2 Looking back at Cantaloupe’s ePort® Interactive
USA Technologies (now Cantaloupe, Inc.) offered one of the first touchscreen card readers in the market back in 2017, the ePort® Interactive. Ken Jenkins of Vend Pro was an early adopter of touchscreen devices and saw great value in putting the Interactive device on all of his machines. Ken stated, “I always like to separate myself from the large competitors who have big budgets”. He saw our touchscreen device as a way to one-up the competition and to stay relevant among millennial and gen-z consumers and employees. Similarly, Ken noted the “sexier look” of the touchscreen was an advantage when he needed to request rate increases.
#3 Improved Consumer Engagement
We learned from Ken that the touchscreen devices improved consumer engagement and draw. He stated, “customers loved the devices, they loved getting the nutritional information, they love the ability to interact.” Additionally, the ability to advertise was a big success. Ken shared an example of a supplier who had a new product they wanted to add to the machines. The supplier wasn’t certain how consumers would respond to the new item, as their existing product was already popular and bringing in around $17k per quarter. To engage consumers with the new product, they advertised it on the Interactive devices. As a result, the new item sold just as much as its original item in its first quarter, without cannibalizing the original’s sales. Furthermore, it continues to be a best seller for the supplier. The actual advertisement only lasted for 3 months, but once customers started buying it and liked it, they continued to do so.
#4 What do touchscreens solve?
Our Regional Sales Director, Bill explained how “touchscreens are for everyone” and they can help solve core business needs.
- They allow you stand out and differentiate from your competitors. The innovative technology can justify price increases, which impacts your margins. Ken explained that, “everyone’s got the same bag of Frito’s, the same Pepsi Cola, but when you offer a way to engage consumers, that extra ten cents we charge isn’t as noticeable.”
- It shows you are staying current. You only get one first impression, and modern consumers expect touchscreens.
- It offers operators a way to directly communicate with consumers via the screen. You’re able to engage and communicate with your customers through the device by offering promotions, loyalty programs, ads, and more.
#5 Next Generation Touchscreen Card Reader
The ePort® Interactive device came out in 2017 as a premium product, and as such, came with a premium price. We learned a lot of lessons from the Interactive device. Some of the device’s weaknesses included cost, durability, and making real-time screen updates. Cantaloupe CRO, Anant shared that “our operators wanted a more self-service friendly device”. We applied these learnings to improving our next-generation touchscreen device the ePort® Engage. Today, we’re able to offer a more advanced device at an attainable price point for our operators. We encourage operators to stand out from the competition like Vend Pro and take advantage of the August pre-order discount on the ePort Engage.
To watch the complete webinar click below, or if you prefer to listen, enjoy the podcast by clicking below.