Mar 8, 2017 | Company News, General
Tips for Better Health Houston 2017! Houston… we have a problem; Houstonians love to eat. In fact, Houston offers some of the best restaurants in the USA. It is hard to pick the best bbq, seafood, tex-mex, etc. restaurant because they are all good. Furthermore, the portion sizes are large here as well. Therefore, all the good food is adding to our waist lines. Your not alone… many are packing on pounds year over year. Also, we are working harder than ever with longer hours thus making it important to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack.
What you can do to improve your health in Houston?
- Knowing what healthy product choices offered in your workplace vending machine can help.
- Many of the main stream manufactures, smaller ones too, are already improving calorie count, fat and sugar content per serving, and more.
- When considering buying from vending machines, take the time to look over the nutrition fact sheet located on the back of the package or online.
- Product companies now are adding the important nutrition facts on the front of the packages. That way you can read the facts before purchasing.
Product companies have started adding some or more whole grain into baked goods. For example, Cheez-Its now have the regular baked version and another made with whole grain. Whole grains are packed with nutrients, including protein, fiber, B vitamins, antioxidants, and trace minerals (iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium). A diet rich in whole grains has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some forms of cancer.
In summary
Sticking to lower fat, nutrition rich choices from vending machines can make a difference. Furthermore, water choices have increased tremendously over the last few years. Life Water (by Pepsi) is a purified water that is pH balanced with added electrolytes. The electrolytes are for added flavor, making it easier to make the switch from unhealthy soda to water with your snack.
Mar 2, 2017 | Company News, General, Uncategorized
Hometown Vending decided to upgrade operations by implementing a VMS vending route software system in early 2014. Using a vending management software system helps vending companies run day-to-day operations both in the office and at customer locations. Hometown Vending decided to take the leap and invest in a system that helps with scheduling, customer commissions, cash management, schedules and more. In our opinion, it would be really difficult to compete in 2017 without such a system to help keep things organized and running efficiently. We invested in Stream VMS and feel that the system is both easy and robust.
In the past, all customer commissions were dependent on drivers pulling the internal cash meters from each machine during service and then bringing back to the office so that we could manually enter into an Excel spreadsheet. This was incredibly tedious and time consuming… not to mention difficult to insure accuracy. Balancing the books and customer commissions took hours and hours each month. With Stream VMS software, all cash meters are automatically entered into the cloud during each service. Furthermore, all commissions are automatically calculated and our customers have their own login credentials so that they can view sales, current and past commission reports, etc. We feel that this creates a valuable level of trust with our customers.
Scheduling was another challenge for vending operators in the old days. Managers would have to layout schedules on paper and make sure drivers had a copy. Stops and machines would often get skipped due to communication errors, etc. Our vending management software automatically schedules and organizes routes. Our customers all seem really happy with the fact that we never overlook restocking their machines. Stream vending route software makes it really easy to schedule the really slow accounts that may require service once every two or three weeks. The system remembers the date of the last service and makes sure to show up in the drivers Stream iPhone app every two or three weeks, etc. No more overlooked slow stops!!
Stream vending route software also keeps track of all our cash management and tells us exactly how much we should expect back from the drivers each day by machine, location, etc. I am almost certain that most vending operators have experienced a driver stealing some cash at some point and this is precisely why we are really happy to have implemented a software system to run our business.
In conclusion, we couldn’t imagine running our business the old fashion way… spreadsheets, driver theft, inconsistent commission reports, etc. We made the jump in early 2014 and have been really satisfied with the results of using vending machine route software. We are the leading vending machine company in Montgomery County Texas and feel that having Stream VMS run our backend management has been crucial to our success.
Feb 4, 2017 | Company News, General
Hometown Vending now offering the next generation of cashless vending machine technology… eport Interactive. The ePort® Interactive offers our customers vending machines that are the most advanced cloud-based interactive and cashless capable machines available. It enables the delivery of nutritional information, remote (by text) refunds, loyalty programs, and robust, potential multimedia-marketing campaigns for select vending machines from Hometown Vending. The eport devices supports traditional credit and debit cards, as well as NFC (Mobile Wallet) payments including Apple Pay and Android Pay.
Innovative Technology
The simple, clean touchscreen device is a vibrant, full color touch screen allowing the display of national or custom marketing and promotional campaigns. Basically, it combines cashless payment with nutrition info into one device. Furthermore, if an employee or staff member loses money… we can text back a code that will allow them to make another purchase on us.
Broad Applications
The simple design of the device and superior security features of both the device and the ePort Interactive platform make it the coolest and best-in-class solution for our vending customers in Conroe, Houston, Magnolia, or the Woodlands looking for a payment solution offering a high tech consumer engagement and content delivery options.
Features
On-screen nutritional Facts, colorfully displayed, detailed product information is available prior to purchase, informing the consumer about their selection.
On-screen advertising with interactive user interface: Brilliant touchscreens attract more customers and influence consumer purchasing patterns. The Interactive touch screen offers positive consumer patterns and encourages interaction of your staff with the vending machines.
On-screen assistance: Save time and money by quickly returning lost money with unique credit codes that can be sent to customers via SMS text messages. Also, we can manage subsidized ‘free vend’ location occasions without ever needing to visit a machine.
The eport Interactive system is a high-speed wireless connection and state-of-the-art cashless option that offers Hometown Vending customers the best possible experience. Contact Hometown Vending today and we can help you decide if an eport device is an option for your location.
Feb 2, 2017 | Company News, Micro-markets
Hometown Fresh Micro-Market! the Best Houston Texas Decision You Ever Made… and it didn’t cost you a dime!!
For years vending machines have been loved by break rooms everywhere. They offer convenience, provide delicious/healthy snacks for your staff employees. However, in these same years, vending machines have been loved to be hated. Products getting stuck, coin jams, dollar bills (no matter how many times you flatten them) won’t read and in some scenarios products (when they do vend) deliver only to be expired. In short, vending machines are just that: machines. And machines are not perfect sometimes causing frustration. But what if there was a system that was closer to perfect? One that prevents lost money and stuck products? One that offered even fresher food and guaranteed that customers never had to purchase an outdated product again? A micro-market from Hometown Fresh Markets is the answer.
A Hometown Fresh Micro-Market operates as a mini convenience store in break rooms or lounges in place of typical vending machines. With open shelving for shelf stable products, reach in coolers and freezers customers (your staff members) can touch their products before making a purchase. Imagine the possibility of touching and feeling your product choices prior to purchasing! Checking expiration dates and examining nutrition content is easy.
And for freshness?
Those reach in coolers, in addition to beverages; hold FRESH food like delicious sandwiches, salads, burritos, yogurts, parfaits, wraps, fruit, etc. are now readily accessible to your staff without ever having to leave their Houston, Conroe, Woodlands offices.
So what does all of this mean for your business? How does happier and healthier employees, less off-site staff lunches, and improved employee efficiency sound? Which in turn increases your company’s bottom line as happy employees produce better results.
Want to revolutionize your Houston area break room with a Hometown Fresh Micro-Market service of your own? Call your local Conroe Woodlands vendor, Hometown Vending today at (281) 305-VEND and ask what requirements need to be met to qualify for a Hometown Fresh Micro-Market at your place of business.
May 30, 2015 | Company News, Micro-markets
Hometown Vending, a micro market vending company, held the Fox Sports Network micro-market grand opening last week. The micro market turned out great and we are really happy with the overwhelmingly positive response received thus far. The Fox Sports Network management and staff have all accepted the change. We provided Fox Sports with traditional vending machine services for over five years now and management approached us with interest in converting over to a micro-market. With the micro market concept, we now able to offer fresh foods… including fresh made sandwiches, hamburgers, dinner platters, breakfast items, fresh salads, fruit bowls, as well as other fresh healthy choices.
Micro market vending companies are now becoming more popular in the Houston area and growth should continue over the next few years. The neat thing about micro-markets is the limitless offerings now available to our customers. For example, we had a Fox Sports staff member ask for fruit… we simply added fruit as an option and now able to offer fresh fruit. It would be nearly impossible to add fruit to traditional vending machines. Hometown Vending looks forward to converting a few more existing customers to micro-markets and securing new locations throughout the Woodlands, Conroe, Tomball and other surrounding areas around Houston Texas!
In conclusion, adding a micro-market to your business is a great way to keep your staff and visitors happy. Fresh markets look great and can compliment your business.
Jan 28, 2015 | Company News
We are excited to inform our customers that we are now using a vending route software system.. a.k.a. VMS system! The company is called Stream VMS and the system tracks our drivers, cash management, scheduling, customer commissions, machine and location reports and more. The iOS Stream app is utilized and data is pushed to our realtime dashboard for enabling total control of our business. We know exactly how money each driver should be bringing back each day from each machine or location. Furthermore, all commissioned customers now have a unique user name and password they will use to login and view all current and past commission reports. Upgrading our business is extremely important now days to keep up with the competition. Most of the large vending operators have been using some sort of system for years now. The small to medium companies are now starting to get on board with technology.
Stream VMS vending machine management system is cutting edge technology and we are pleased to offer it our valued customers. Stream VMS is located at www.streamvms.com and we feel the investment has allowed us to grow and not have to worry to much about drivers skimming the money. Furthermore, customers now want the best service possible and an organized consistent schedule is key. Route drivers forgetting stops or machines causes frustration and can lead to changes in vending companies. Hometown Vending’s customers now longer have to worry about accidentally skipping their location, etc. The Stream scheduling feature makes it easy to keep track of things.
