Automatic Merchandiser - 25

live, work and play. Our trajectory of
growth has never been better."
A LOOK FURTHER AHEAD

Hessling said that while the immediate future may look bleak, micro
markets are still poised for success in
the long run.
"Short-term, [it's] negative for
micro markets just because no one is
going to work, but long-term, extreme
positive," Hessling said. "We see opportunities growing immensely because
the safety and removing the human
from the scenario."
Reilly said that while many operators will likely experience a short-term
decrease in sales, micro markets were
born out of a time of economic downturn during the Great Recession of late
2007 to mid-2009, which led to a period
of massive growth for the industry.
"That's where the birth of micro
markets started," he said.
Hessling also noted that micro
markets emerged from an economic
slowdown at a time when customers
were asking for more service, longer
hours of operation and more products
on a lower budget.
"If people stop going to work and
people stop eating, then we've got
a serious issue on our hands. But I
don't see those two things happening,"
Hessling said. "Micro markets are a
very affordable and flexible product,
especially the newer ones that are coming to market. Operators will tell you
that when they convert [from vending],
revenues go up."
Hessling said that in the future, we
can still count on businesses wanting to
retain talented employees.
"There's always going to be a need
for talent, and talent always desires
benefits," Hessling said. "An employee
benefit is food and beverages at work.
If we believe that will continue forever,
then the need to facilitate that will continue forever. And that is where micro
markets fit in, or vending machines, or

anything else that's unattended retail. I
wouldn't say we're recession-proof, but
we're recession-strong."
Hessling added that he's optimistic
about the future of micro markets and
advises that operators use the opportunity of slowed business to convert
vending machines into micro markets.
"The biggest thing I hear from
operators is, 'I can't put them out fast
enough.' Now is a great opportunity to
do that," he said. "It's a good opportunity to prepare yourself for the future.
A micro market is a great example,
but there's a need for everything, from
vending technology to mobile technology to dining to micro markets. To us,
self-service is undoubtedly the winner
of the argument, and we're obviously
bullish regardless of the economy
because we're all so bullish on selfservice as a social trend."
Reilly said that he's been optimistic
about the future of micro markets,
and the current slowdown due to the
coronavirus pandemic has shifted his
focus to helping operators get through
this difficult time.
"Before today, we were very optimistic about the market and about
growth and expansion," he said. "It's
really an interesting environment.
Now, we're seeing things happen that
we never thought could happen, and
there's a lot more to come - it's still a

I think the micro market
operators are uniquely
positioned to be the last
mile suppliers, to run
the back office systems
and to support the
community."
John Reilly, president of Avanti
Markets

very fluid situation. I don't know what's
going to happen in the market space,
but we'll continue to focus on what we
can deliver that helps operators. And
if they come out of this with fewer
at-work environments, then we have
solutions for them to grow in a different channel."
As for what these channels could
include, Reilly noted that operators
have the capability to expand into
rapidly growing areas like contactless
delivery, frictionless environments and
more public locations.
"We were pretty bullish on the
micro market space in our extension into other channels, and I think
we're even more so now as we look
to see what happens," Reilly said. "I
think the micro market operators
are uniquely positioned to be the last
mile suppliers, to run the back office
systems and to support the community. I can only talk about Avanti,
but we can continue to innovate in
the market and bring a frictionless
experience to [operators] on the same
platform so they don't have to go and
learn a whole different system. We
can continue to offer our operator
base the tools, the application and
functionality to address the changes
that the market is going to have. That's
how we can best support them."
While the severity of the coronavirus pandemic may have caught some
business owners off guard, McMullan
advised that operators use this opportunity to be better prepared in the future.
"Operators will see a correction in
their growth in the event of an economic slowdown only if they allow it
to," he said. "I always recommend that
our clients have a two-year, forwardlooking plan that includes a shock
scenario that includes an economic
slowdown. In that event, they adjust
their planning including ROI plans
based upon that. But even with an economic slowdown, businesses are out
there that need our services." ■
April 2020 * VendingMarketWatch.com

25
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