How Coges Helped Broderick’s Increase Sales and Efficiency

Broderick’s, an award-winning luxury coffee and refreshments company, operates 5,000 vending machines across the UK, supported by boutique coffee bars and a dedicated team of 160 employees. Despite its growth and success, the Manchester-based company faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, with reduced consumption, a shift away from cash transactions, and logistical difficulties in managing vending machines scattered nationwide.

The Challenge: Adapting to New Realities in Vending

As the pandemic forced changes across the industry, Broderick’s identified the need to modernize its operations. They were eager to adopt cashless payment solutions and find ways to remotely manage their vending machines to reduce downtime and improve operational efficiency.

Simon Davies, Business Intelligence Manager at Broderick’s, explained:
“In 2019, Broderick’s were looking to start their journey into going cashless. With Covid hitting the company hard, we were looking to evolve our business into unknown territory for our industry where our products, locations and contracts are run by data.“

The Solution: Coges Nebular Connectivity and Pay4Vend

Broderick’s had already partnered with Coges, thanks to the Pay4Vend smartphone payment system. However, the challenges brought on by the pandemic required a more comprehensive solution. Coges introduced the Coges Engine system integrated with the Nebular connectivity platform. This advanced technology allowed Broderick’s to not only enable cashless payments but also manage vending machines remotely through real-time, bidirectional data transmission.

This digital transformation involved revising some of Broderick’s traditional operational procedures. Working closely with Coges’ sales and customer service teams, Broderick’s successfully transitioned to the new system.

Key Benefits of the Nebular Connectivity Platform:

• Real-time Data Transmission: Enabled real-time monitoring of vending machines, reducing downtime and improving efficiency.
• Cashless Payments: Increased the adoption of cashless payments via Pay4Vend, providing a seamless customer experience.
• Remote Management: Allowed for remote diagnostics and error resolution, decreasing the need for on-site visits.

Simon Davies recalled:
“After reviewing several competitors, we decided on Coges and with Nebular. The main selling points were the live data and the use of Pay4Vend. This was a very complex time for us, many archaic operating techniques were heavily shaken and new procedures were created. We quickly started to invest in more and more Engines as we saw the benefit of going cashless. Simultaneously, we worked on using the data to make basic reporting tools. The Coges team have helped us every step of the way and over the next few years we increased our engine capacity and today over 70% of our operated business runs through these Engines with this amount growing.”

The Impact: Increased Sales, Reduced Costs, and Improved Customer Satisfaction

The introduction of Nebular connectivity has transformed Broderick’s vending machine operations. By leveraging real-time data, the company has optimized engineer visits and refilling schedules, significantly reducing errors and improving machine uptime. Additionally, sales have increased, and customer satisfaction has grown due to faster response times to issues and enhanced reliability.

Broderick’s now has 1,800 vending machines connected via Nebular, allowing for precise stock management and pre-kitting, leading to an estimated savings of £100,000 to £200,000—equivalent to 1-2% of total costs.

Furthermore, Broderick’s continues to monitor machine sales down to the minute, addressing signal issues and ensuring optimal performance.

Simon highlighted the real-time benefits:
“We are able to monitor the sales to within the minute to find out if there are any signal issues and how badly it affected us. We have live alarms and signal data which help us identify buildings which may need signal boosters and which don’t need them.”

Pay4Vend: Enhancing Customer Loyalty and Engagement

The Pay4Vend app has also played a pivotal role in boosting sales and enhancing customer engagement. With over 70,000 downloads, the app has allowed Broderick’s to run loyalty programs and special offers, leading to a 5% increase in sales.

“We have regular prize giving and special offers with our 70,000 users and regularly have dialogue with them regarding different queries they may have. Our customers love that we are able to keep their workforce/staff and students happy,” Simon said.

Looking Ahead: Future Collaboration and Innovation

The partnership between Coges and Broderick’s continues to evolve, with plans to integrate marketing and advertising capabilities through Nebular, further optimizing customer engagement and driving sales. Broderick’s looks forward to ongoing collaboration and exploring new opportunities to enhance vending machine management and customer satisfaction.

Contact Us to Learn More

Are you ready to improve your vending management efficiency with cashless payment systems and real-time data? Contact us at marketing@coges.eu to learn how the Coges Nebular connectivity platform can help transform your business.