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Month: January 2017
The Benefits of a Micro Market: For the Business!
The benefits of having a micro market in your business can be plentiful! From increased employee satisfaction and productivity to better employee retention and lower absenteeism. Micro markets can benefit your business in a number of ways.
Let’s start with the obvious benefits:
The sky is the limit when it comes to product selection.
No longer are your employees stuck picking between the approximately 40 selections that vending machines provide! Choose from 100’s of products that meet your employees wants AND needs, from local products, organic, fresh, to your standard options that you’ve always had!
Superior Technology:
- touch screens
- fingerprint technology
- mobile apps
- and so much more!
Customization is key!
A micro market is not one-size doesn’t fit anyone, it’s built to suit your needs in the space that you have available. Add fixtures to your market to make the market fit in with your existing decor seamlessly! Markets come in ANY size and ANY shape … call your 32M Micro Market Expert to learn how you can get your market started today! 715.386.2233
Your Operator Takes Care Of Everything!
At 32M, we like to think our operators are the best operators (probably because it’s true)! When you partner with a 32M operator they will take care of everything from repairs, delivery, updates and management of the market inventory! With 32M’s patented application you can be sure not only your employees get the best experience but so does your operator!
Best Inventory Management!
Our inventory management system is different from other technology providers. 32M uses a user generated par level system that will assist operators in finding just the right amount of their product mix. Paired with suggestions from your employees the market is a sure-fire success!
A few little-known facts:
- Studies show employees are happier when there is onsite access to fresh food and snacks.
- Companies that implement wellness programs (easy and fast with 32M) have 28% reduced sick leave & 26% reduction in medical costs.
- A company loses 20 to 60 minutes of productivity every time an employee leaves the building for a break.
- Studies show when healthy food is available, workers are 25% more likely to have higher job performance.
- Breakfast restores glucose levels, an essential carbohydrate linked to healthy brain function.
- Employees who eat healthy all day long are 25% more likely to have higher job performance.
- 31M Americans skip breakfast each day which decreases blood sugar and brain function.
- Having snacks available throughout the day can increase motivation and productivity & even decrease absenteeism.
Top 17 for ’17
2017 is in full swing & now is the time to take charge and make it YOUR year! It’s going to be the most successful year yet for all of your markets. How do we know? Because you’re going to stock them full of the most popular, delicious, convenient items out there …
& we’re going to help you. We got down to the nitty gritty and
found the top 17 products for some of the most important categories in your market.
Go ahead, take a look … You know you want to 😉
Candy Cold Beverage Frozen Hot Drink
Non-Food Pastry Refrigerated Snack
- Snickers Bar
- Peanut M&M’s
- Twix Caramel Cookie Bar
- Skittles
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- 3 Musketeers Bar
- Butterfinger Bar
- Milky Way Bar
- Twizzlers Cherry Nibs
- Peanut Butter Chocolate M&M’s
- Welch’s Fruit Snacks
- *Jolly Ranchers
- Pearson Salted Nut Roll
- Extra Crispy Kit Kat
- Milk Chocolate M&M’s
- Strawberry Twizzlers
- *Starbursts
*32M’s private label Snack Time candies know how to satisfy a sweet tooth! & we have lot’s to choose from … Check ’em out! Click Below –>
- Nestle Pure Life Purified Water
- Nature’s Crystal Spring Water
- Ice Mountain Spring Water
- Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail
- Ocean Spray Orange Juice
- Monster
- Dasani Water
- Mountain Dew
- Red Bull
- V8
- Crystal Light Lemonade
- Mountain Dew
- Welch’s Cranberry Juice Cocktail
- Welch’s 100% Orange Juice
- Welch’s 100% Apple Juice
- SunnyD
- Coke
- Mrs. Freshley’s Buddy Bar
- Hudson Baking Company Peanut Butter Crispy Bar
- Cloverhill Big Texas Cinnamon Roll
- State Fair Mini Donuts
- Otis Spunkmeyer Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Hudson Baking Company Monster Cookie
- Hudson Baking Company Chocolate Chunk Cookie
- Ne-Mo’s Banana Bread
- Mrs. Freshley’s Chocolate Cupcake
- Cloverhill Jumbo Iced Honey Bun
- Mrs. Freshley’s Mini Chocolate Donut
- Hudson Baking Company Gourmet Cookie Bar
- Cloverhill Strawberry Cheese Danish Claw
- White Castle Cheeseburger
- Hillshire Brands Bagel Deli-Bake
- Ne-Mo’s Coffee Cheese Cake
- Cloverhill Chocolate Iced Honey Bun
- SwissMiss Hot Cocoa Mix
- Starbucks Colombian Coffee
- Alpine Spiced Apple Cider
- Nestle Rich Hot Cocoa Mix
- Good Earth Sweet & Spicy Tea
- Folgers Classic Roast Coffee
- Starbuck’s House Blend Coffee
- *PodPack Donut Shop Pods
- Tazo Zen Tea
- Tazo China Green Tea
- Tazo Organic Chai Tea
- *PodPack Hazelnut Pods
- Good Earth Citrus Kiss Tea
- Starbucks Breakfast Blend Coffee
- Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea
- Caribou Regular Coffee
- Bigelow Green Tea
*Did you know? Mention 32M when you order from PodPack to get a FREE SAMPLE kit! Click Below –>
- *Tylenol Extra Strength
- *Claritin Non Drowsy
- *Advil
- *Aleve
- *DayQuil Sever Cold & Flu
- *Pepto Bismol
- Visine Advanced Relief
- *Allergy Sinus Relief
- *iPhone Compatible USB Sync Cable
- Original ChapStick Lip Balm
- Kleenex Go Pack
- *Micro USB Sync Cable for Android & Blackberry
- Scope Outlast
- *Zantac 150 Maximum Strength
- *Multi-Symptom Sinus
- *USB Universal Wall Charger
- *Power Bank
*32M’s Lil Drug Store and Power Tower Store Starter Kit is the perfect solution where value meets convenience … You will LOVE this option! Click Below –>
- Mrs. Freshley’s Buddy Bars
- Mrs. Freshley’s Chocolate Mini Donuts
- Mrs. Freshley’s Chocolate Cupcake
- Cloverhill Big Texas Cinnamon Roll
- Dolly Madison Chocolate Frosted Mini Donuts
- Mrs. Freshley’s Texas Cinnamon Roll
- Cloverhill Strawberry Cheese Claw
- Mrs. Freshley’s Blueberry Cheese Claw
- Mrs. Freshley’s Mini Powdered Donuts
- Mrs. Freshley’s Crunch Mini Donuts
- Dolly Madison Iced Chocolate Zingers
- Cloverhill Cherry Cheese Claw
- Mrs. Freshley’s Big Cherry Cheese Claw
- Cloverhill Blueberry Cheese Claw
- Mrs. Freshley’s Cherry Pie
- Cloverhill Big Dutch Apple Claw
- Mrs. Freshley’s Apple Pie
- Lunchables Turkey & Cheddar with Crackers
- Lunchables Ham & Cheddar with Crackers
- Sargento String Cheese
- Lunchables Ham & Swiss with Crackers
- Crystal Farms Hard Cooked Eggs
- Sargento Colby Jack Cheese Stick
- Cheesewich Colby Jack & Salami
- Shamrock Whole Chocolate Milk
- Sargento Mild Cheddar Cheese Stick
- Cheesewich Pepper Jack & Salami
- Shamrock Reduced Fat 2% White Milk
- Chobani Strawberry Greek Yogurt
- Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Pretzels
- Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Panera Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chobani Blueberry Greek Yogurt
- Sargento Pepper Jack Cheese Stick
- Crunchy Cheetos
- Nacho Cheese Doritos
- Cheddar & Sour Cream Ruffles
- Original Gardettos
- Original Rice Krispies Treats
- TGI Fridays Cheddar & Bacon Potato Skins
- Cheez-It Big Bag
- Regular Lays Chips
- Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart
- Crunchy Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos
- Cool Ranch Doritos
- Chili & Cheese Fritos
- Fritos
- Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Jack Links Beef Stick
- Flamin Hot Cheetos
- Grandma’s Mini Vanilla Creme Cookies
P.S. Want all of these top-selling products but don’t have a warehouse to keep them in … Let us take care of that for you. With Pick & Ship, all you have to do is stock your shelves, collect your money, & maintain your inventory. Ask your 32M sales contact for the details – you’ll be so glad you did!
Use Coffee to Boost Market Sales!
Two things come to mind right away Monday morning … Coffee and Work. As a micro market operator, why wouldn’t you capitalize on the current coffee craze! Including a single cup brewer that works with either pods or cups can be a huge boost to your profits.
Take a look at this article for more facts and ideas to boost your market sales with the inclusion of coffee.
Use Coffee to Boost Micro Market Sales
We’ve pulled out the best takeaways for you!
One thing many operators agree upon, however, is that hot beverage offerings provide an opportunity to drive micro market sales.
What type of operator are you?
Coffee programs vary widely between micro markets and are often based on the type of coffee available prior to the installation. Multiple approaches are being utilized effectively around the country by operators including the use of single-serve brewers, hot beverage vending machines and liquid coffee equipment.
Nearly every large business and industry location has coffee available in some form prior to a micro market installation, generally either OCS offered on a no charge basis to employees or a single cup, vended product. Coffee is generally handled in one of four different ways, consider these when installing your markets:
Option 1: No micro market coffee
The pre-micro market OCS system is retained as the sole option for location coffee, often providing fresh-brew coffee at various points at the account and with no incremental coffee program within the micro market.
Option 2: Augmented OCS, employee paid
Retention of the prior OCS system as it existed, augmented within the micro market by the installation of an employee-paid upscale, multi-variety, coffee system. The popularity of upscale, quality coffee shops has proven that consumers often prefer a better coffee product, and will pay for better or different coffee blends as well as other types of hot beverages.
Option 3: OCS in market, company sponsored
An addition of micro market coffee as an OCS inclusion funded by the location and at no charge to the employee. This provides the highest micro market hot beverage volume, but with increased employer cost.
Option 4: Upscale OCS, employee paid
Not having any coffee in a micro market is the least preferred option. On average, coffee is a top-5 seller in micro markets.
Every time a consumer comes into their micro market for any beverage, there is always the opportunity for incremental, purchases. Similar to convenience stores, micro market operators should also be working towards increasing morning food purchases in combination with providing in-market coffee.
Current challenges and solutions
John Ward of Serenity Vending located in Rockford, IL, witnessed the benefits of a hot beverage program firsthand when he noticed coffee became the number one seller in 70 percent of his micro markets. Remember to look at your location and the customers that you are serving when deciding on a path to follow. Ward looked into pod and single-serve brewers when he first got into micro markets, but they weren’t right for his locations. Most of Ward’s locations are on a limited time schedule, and he found they would not have time to make their own coffee in the micro market. “I came across liquid coffee early on and I had machines for it,” he said. “So I’ve been using that in micro markets.” He likes this option, and so do his locations. He also places a 3- to 5-head cappuccino unit alongside the liquid coffee dispensers. Customers pay for their drink by selecting their drink option at the kiosk. Ninety percent of Ward’s micro markets provide coffee that is employee-paid for.
Changing to a premium coffee, Pete Johnson of Quail Vending, increased the gram throws on coffee and cappuccino to create a “coffee house” coffee and cappuccino. All of Johnson’s micro market locations are high-volume, with more than 450 employees, so he needed a solution that did not require a lot of maintenance and could accommodate the numbers. His solution was to place a hot beverage machine on free vend with 12- and 16-ounce cups that the customer then scans at the kiosk. The 12-ounce cups are $1.00 and 16-ounce cups are $1.50. He has seen sales slightly increase.
For many operators, finding a micro market coffee solution depends on the individual location. Single -serve and bean-to-cup machines work well in many smaller micro market locations, although some single-serve cartridges do not have UPC labels. Operators can get around this by either printing off their own UPC labels and placing them on the item or by making each single-serve drink one price. “Single-cup has been doing well in micro markets because the customer is already in the micro market purchasing items,” said Kevin Searcy of deORO Markets in Odessa, TX he has found pod machines to work the best, especially because pod packages can fit well onto shelving.
Searcy charges either $.45 or $.50 per cup on the lower end and about $.80 for higher quality hot beverages. In each of Searcy’s micro market locations, the employer is providing either cups or mugs for the coffee, which has helped keep the end sale price down. He noticed that some locations are more willing than others to pay for gourmet coffee.
In Utah, Trevor Booth of Fuel Vending has seen tremendous success with single-serve coffee in micro markets. “I use a single-cup brewer in every location with the exception of two highrise office locations. At those, I use a bean-to-cup machine which is much more expensive, but they are willing to pay for it,” he said. Coffee makes up 5 percent of Booth’s overall micro market sales and is the number one selling product, even above fresh food. “I was hesitant at first to get into coffee in micro markets, but since I’ve put resources into it, we make about $3,000 per month in seven locations just off of coffee sales.” Booth prices cups of coffee at $1.00 at the majority of his locations. “The right location makes all the difference when it comes to maximizing coffee profits in micro markets,” he said.
Future forward
Although operators are making coffee a part of their strategic plan in micro markets, many are waiting for other operators to move, to find the best option. It is unlikely that one standard will work for every location and operators are quickly finding that it takes trial and error. “Operators should be aware of their customer profile in selecting what coffee solution to offer in a micro market location and how to price it,” said Caston. “It’s a question of understanding the customers.” Caston advises that operators avoid looking at coffee service and micro markets as two separate entities. “Integrate coffee service into your micro markets and into [your] initial micro market design,” he said. “There is an opportunity for cross-pollination, so to speak,” he continued. “Marrying coffee service and micro markets should be an emphasis for full-line operators.”
Three Square Market has a simple solution for one-cup brew locations. In partnership with PodPack, 32M offers two excellent options for pod brewers to fit in with any micro market. By contacting Pod Pack and informing them that you are a 32M customer you will receive a free sample kit worth $100!
What is this “Millennial” thing anyways?!
GREAT QUESTION!
Did you know? In Q1 of 2015 Millenials (although the exact years are debated, think current 20 to 36-year-olds) surpassed all other generation and now holds the largest share of the American workforce. So this Millennial thing, is a pretty big deal!
What does Millennial generation really mean?
Here are the major demographic points:
- 77 Million individuals in the US
- Median income for younger Millenials is $25K, while older Millennials average $45k
- Only 21% of millennials were married in 2014 compared to 45% of baby boomers at their age.
- 1 in 4 have a Bachelor’s degree or higher, making them the most formally educated generation
- 38% of Millennials are bi-lingual
How does this affect the workplace?
This article “5 ways Micro Markets Serve the Millennial-driven Workplace” lays them out for us. We highlighted the takeaways for you!
Strong Company Culture
Millennials are not easily “impressed by the sheer scale of a business, its age, or the general buzz that surrounds it (Deloitte, 2016).” Therefore, companies striving to attract and retain Millennials should invest in tools that will foster a strong culture, including organization transparency, technology, and food. MicroMarkets offer quality products, open layouts, multiple payment options (including fingerprint and payroll deduct), and employee discounts.
Work-Life Balance
Having a MicroMarket is a great way to show millennial employees that their employer is not only interested in work output, but their nutritional input. According to Forbes, for Millennials, “a job is no longer just a job ― it’s their life as well.” To attract and retain this type of worker, companies need to demonstrate mutual investment in their lives by offering ways to maintain the lifestyle they envision for themselves while working hard for the organization. That includes diverse product offerings, dietary foods, and the ability to make choices based on nutritional information.
Open, Collaborative Space
MicroMarkets lend themselves well to modern spaces. The open flow of the market combined with comfortable seating, such as couches or booths, gives the millennial worker a place other than the boardroom to interact and collaborate with coworkers. MicroMarkets are the new water cooler.
Healthy Food Options
Nearly 80% of Millennials say that they are using healthy foods as a preventative measure for illness and disease (USA Today, 2015). MicroMarkets can help employers capitalize on this growing trend towards healthier lifestyles by stocking nutritional foods, including gluten-free and protein-rich options. Items such as Jack Link’s beef jerky and Wonderful pistachios are simple offerings to start with. Believe it or not, many common vending products serve this purpose if you know what to look for. KIND Bars, Sargento cheese sticks, and Orville Redenbacher popcorn are some healthier gluten-free snacks. (But be careful, as gluten-free products can vary by brand!) MicroMarkets also enable the availability of fresh fruits, vegetables, yogurt, salads, and other prepared foods. These products can be leveraged to tie the breakroom experience into a company’s overall wellness initiatives.
Local, Sustainable Products
MicroMarkets enable stocking of locally-sourced products, thus protecting the environment and supporting the local economy. According to a 2015 Nielsen study, 66% of Millennials say they’re willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. Millennials want to feel good about the products they’re purchasing and their impact on the world. Providing local products enhances positive experiences and loyalty with MicroMarkets.
Creating Your Micro Market Planogram
Here’s an article that is really beneficial to micro market operators everywhere! Although this article is from the Summer of 2014 it’s still relevant to your process. Take a look!
How to Create Your Micro Market Planogram
By Brad Bachtelle
Here Are Some Great Take Aways:
Operator questions continually arise as to how to merchandise and planogram micro markets. What are the difficulties in creating a planogram for a micro market? How do I assign shelf space to new products when I still have older products that haven’t sold? How often should I change my market planogram? Should I have visible prices?
- Don’t apply “heritage merchandising” from vending to micro markets. Micro market open shelving allows for a much greater set of product options. A major operator miss-step in micro market merchandising and product selection is to rely upon vending experience as the primary basis.
- Planogram development is a two-step process: 1) shelf space allocation based on a space-to-sales calculation and 2) selection of category products, including core and variety/rotational products.
- Allocation by shelving type:
Shelf space allocation is straightforward and begins by analyzing and totaling micro market sales by both major product categories (food, beverages, snacks, etc.) and sub-categories (soft drinks, energy drinks, juices, etc. within beverages; cookies, salty snacks, candy, etc. within snacks). As most product sub-categories have common temperature requirements for all sub-category products (juices are always refrigerated; chips are always at ambient temperature), the second step is to group sub-category sales by the type of shelves (ambient, refrigerated, etc.) on which they are presented to consumers. We now have a total dollar sales level for each shelf type. - For Example, Salty snacks represented 33 percent of total snack sales and candy 28 percent. Accordingly, an appropriate planogram for these markets should initially allocate one-third of the snack shelf space to salty snacks and, similarly, a 28 percent portion of candy.
- It is very important to ease consumer shopping by grouping same-category products together. Examples: The smaller footprint and space between shelves for bar goods will enable better consumer access by moving their category positions onto higher shelves. Larger graphic items can be easily identified by consumers regardless of their shelf positions, so lower shelf placement makes sense without losing consumer visibility. Gum and mint items are generally impulse purchases, so placement high on shelving units or near the checkout kiosk makes sense to gain that incremental purchase.
- Products should always include a combination of core products that are leading, proven items, plus new or variety products that present consumers with options within a category. The general rule of thumb is that core products should represent 70 to 80 percent of category SKUs to ensure strong consistent sales.
- It is also important to understand that every top selling product at some point was “new” and that every retailer has at some time added products that have underperformed versus expectations. “New” is okay!
- Rotating second-tier brands within a micro market product set will often deliver a sales spike and also make the micro market look “fresh” to consumers.
- Draw attention to new products with signage: As operators add new products to their micro markets, there are two options for their location – a separate “new item” shelf area just for such items, or the placement of the new products within their general category shelf space. Whichever approach is taken, new products need to be clearly identified as such to draw attention.
- It is important that the slow sellers are identified and “moved out” to allow that shelf space to be used for better selling items. The worst thing is to leave poor sellers in a market to just “sell through.” Once a decision has been made to discontinue an item, do something to eliminate the item from the micro-market within a short time period.
- Micro-market planograms need to be adjusted or “refreshed” for two reasons: 1) to keep market product sets looking new and interesting to consumers and 2) to tweak individual location shelf space allocations according to the specific sales and consumer demand at the account.
- After about six weeks following a micro market installation, it is important to do an initial planogram review. A category sales analysis on the new market will show the specific consumption pattern for that location. Category shelf space adjustments and elimination of slow moving products can then occur to better offer the location a product set that best matches demand.
- It is best to routinely and relatively frequently change the micro market product set to keep the overall micro market and its appearance from getting “old” or “stale” from the consumer’s perspective.
- Market planograms should be refreshed at least every four months to let consumers know their micro market operator is on top of product selection and merchandising.
Three Square Market 
