Today, unattended retail is a thriving business. What was once synonymous with vending machines selling candy bars, has now grown into a multi-layered segment covering a wide variety of items, like electronics, over-the-counter medicines, and others. Also, the absence of the typical retail setup is making unattended retail more attractive to customers who do not want personal interactions every time they buy something. However, the one aspect that can be a hindrance to the growing unattended retail market is the use of cash-based payments while today’s consumers increasingly seek cashless payments. To this end, USA Technologies Inc. (USAT), with over two decades of experience in the market, is helping unattended retail clients make the transition to cashless payment and telemetry so that they never miss a sale due to missing change.

USAT’s flagship, ePort Connect, is a complete suite of cashless payment, telemetry, and value-added services for the self-serve retail market which includes kiosks, vending machines, micro markets and more. The PCI compliant service platform with built-in NFC capabilities handles all the card processing and settlement for the clients. The platform also seamlessly integrates with the clients’ diverse systems to provide end-to-end services and helps them extend their business. On the other hand, the company’s advanced cloud-based interactive media and content delivery management system, ePort Interactive, takes care of the delivery of remote refunds and enables robust multimedia-marketing campaigns. Furthermore, the company also enhances end user’s experiences with the most innovative technology, including comprehensive customer support, and loyalty and prepaid programs, like MORE– an ultra-convenient payment account and rewards program, where the more consumers pay through the card, the more they can save.

Explaining what makes USAT different from its competitors, Maeve McKenna Duska, VP and Group Manager at USAT, says that they provide a back-end operational software solution, Seed Cloud, which enables vending operators to optimize their operations. With Seed Cloud, the machines out in the field can be easily managed without having to physically visit them as it takes away the guesswork by knowing which machines to visit, how to merchandise each machine’s planogram, and how much product to bring. It also helps simplify operations and takes care of route scheduling, warehouse pre-picking and reporting for vending, micro markets, and office coffee service.“Our customers do not have to be experts to implement this technology, we take that burden as well, and that is primarily the difference maker,” states Duska.

In an instance, Accent Food Services, a Texas-based refreshment services provider, was struggling to expand its reach to new regions and markets because of its platform’s inability to scale efficiently to manage wide-sweeping operations.