Tag: smart vending

Coges was chosen by SERIM for the cashless vending in Milan!

Posted on by Marketing Marketing

Coges is proud to announce that SERIM chose Coges as a supplier for some vending systems for the City of Milan. The installation foresees the activation of 400 Coges Engine cashless systems equipped with a 4G connection module and a PMT Nebular Pay Credit Card Reader to be completed within the first months of 2021. The systems will be installed inside some schools, offices and public buildings of the Lombard County Seat.

“This configuration represents a unique and revolutionary event for the Italian vending, because most part of the systems will be installed without any device for the cash validation and will work only with the MyKey key and physical or virtual credit cards” observes Mario Majo, Coges Commercial Director “It will be the greatest installation of pure cashless systems in Italy in a moment of institutional thrust as regards electronic payments.”

SERIM is a top 10 company in the Italian vending sector with about 50 Euro millions of yearly revenue and it is a key member of the Coven consortium. SERIM involved Coges in this project of high strategic and symbolic value at the end of a long negotiation. It involved many company’s positions: from the Sales Dept. to R&D one, with the help of the Customer Service; the aim was to answer to the needs of SERIM in an excellent way, considering the high-profile opportunity was given to Coges.

One of the most appreciated aspects by the consumers who purchase a product from a vending machine is its easy use and the PMT Nebular Pay Credit Card Reader will guarantee to the users an immediate experience: to make the payment it is enough to move the credit card or the smartphone near to the Reader.

The payment with virtual cards doesn’t require any app download. Nebular Pay is compatible with all the credit and debit credit card circuits (Visa, Mastercard, VPay, Maestro, American Express…) and the virtual electronic wallets (Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc.), which foresee a rapid cash transfer on the Customer’s bank account. In addition to the direct purchase of products from the vending machine, the Nebular Pay Reader will allow the end user to recharge the credit on his own MyKey key. Thanks to the Nebular connectivity service, the payment solution requested by SERIM will also permit to the Operator to benefit from an online technical portal with some functions: product stock management, remote firmware and database update of the payment systems, remote refund of the credit on key and much more.

“The elimination of cash will not be a problem for the end user” – adds Majo – “Italy is moving rapidly as regards cashless payment and this year there will be an additional acceleration of this trend thanks to the demand of more hygienic and sure payment methods, due to the Coronavirus. Surely this is a challenge for us and we are proud that SERIM made this choice; we believe that Milan is the ideal lab-territory for this innovation.”

With this solution Coges and SERIM intend to be pioneers in the development of digital applications for vending; a partnership based on a mutual trust which will be an important step for the evolution of our sector.

Optimize the vending management by smart working

Posted on by Marketing Marketing

While the COVID-19 pandemic keeps on arousing worries around the world, the Operator’s company of vending keep themselves busy to face the difficulty of the moment and find out new business solutions.  To work in a “smart” way means to exploit all the advantages offered by the new technologies to adapt to the rapid changes in progress, by reducing the costs and keeping firm the trust of the users: the connectivity is an investment which permits us to be near to the customer even where we can’t go in person in this moment.

Health reasons and economic opportunities suggest, for example, to reduce the frequency and the duration  of the visits to the point of sale of the fillers and the technicians.  To this need answers the integration of the payment systems and Coges Nebular platform, which brings online the technical portal by permitting to intervene by remote on the firmware update of the master system and the peripherals, on the change of prices and parameters and on the coin and bill database. By means of Nebular, available on the online portal or integrated in the main management software, it is furthermore possible to display in real time the sales and the recharges carried out on the cashless keys, by sending also credit refund by remote in case of missing sale without meeting the user physically. These functions, together with the notification of the alarms and the management of the product stock, permit to the Operators to save on the technical visits and to reduce substantially the time devoted to the visits for filling the vending machines connected.

How to increase, at the same time, the sales on the vending machine? It is necessary to grow the trust of the users and to offer them, together with a service and some quality products, some payment options which make them feel sure. We know that in all Europe the cashless is finding the interest of the consumers: the more intuitive cashless solution is always the MyKey, which in the new embodiment amazes the users with the brilliant colours and involves them with the exclusive customized web showcases with the Operator’s colours and logo. When the vending machines are connected to Nebular, furthermore, the users can display on the showcase their credit and other exclusive functions, while the Operator has some always updated data available on their consumptions and can send some offers and promotions to make them feel more cuddled.

If Coronavirus takes you away from your Customers of from your vending machines, the connectivity of the advanced payment systems permits you to keep them at hand. Contact the nearest Coges dealer to find out the best solution for your needs!

Remote controlling of the distribution of masks and PPE

Posted on by Marketing Marketing

Cashless Coges Systems represent an opportunity for the Operator who desires to offer to the locations an essential service such as the distribution of masks and other types of PPE, permitting the free distribution only to whom are entitled and by keeping under control in real time the product stock to avoid any lack or  waste.

Discover our guide to solutions for dispensing masks and PPE with Coges payment systems.

While it seems that finally the health situation is coming back to normality, to speed up the passing of the crisis the public health authorities recommend the social distancing and where this is not possible , the adoption of Personal Prevention Equipment such as masks and gloves and the use of disinfectant gel. These necessary tools have become in short time integral part of our life even and moreover on the working place where every day we live in contact with colleagues, customers and suppliers. How to guarantee a precise safe and controlled distribution, of these devices to the employee? The channel of automatic distribution is surely one of the most suitable, as it avoids the direct contact between the persons and it hugely limits the risks of contamination. Furthermore, the public or private employer should not use some internal resources to these activities by subtracting them to much productive tasks.

Coges answer to this need with Coges Engine Plus and Unica System, which permit the vending operators  to give a rapid answer to the Customers’ needs, by exploiting the vending machines already installed. On these payment systems it is possible to get some free sales by means of the MyKey or MIFARE supports  on specific price lines, which could be devoted to the masks or to other EEP for the employees. Thanks to the controlled sales, furthermore, it is possible to limit the withdrawal of a defined number of PPE by day or by week, avoiding thus any waste. The same limit can be differentiated per key category /MIFARE, granting a higher number of PPE to some particular categories of employees who don’t have particular needs: for example maximum 3 masks per day could be distributed to the workers of the plant  and 2 masks per day to the employees in the office, also exploiting the same vending machine. If the employer desires that the free distribution of masks occurs only during the working time, it is enough to set on the payment system  some time schedules with differentiated prices as well (gratis/ on payment). Furthermore the Operator can add to his offer some high margin products such as the disinfectant gel, preventing the users from going to the pharmacy and buy them.

All the data concerning the distribution can be recorded by means of pendrive, but the activation of Coges Nebular connectivity service adds, in the case of the PPE as well, all the advantages of the remote management: first of all the possibility of monitoring the product stock in real time. In this way a constant level of supply can be guaranteed, also setting some alarms which warn when the reserve on a specific price nears to the minimum. Nebular, registers in real time all the sales, free sales included.  The service permits to display on which vending machine the sale was carried out, and permits moreover to display on which vending machine the sale was carried out, the exact date and time  of the withdrawal and even the serial code of the key or the MIFARE support which made the purchase. This precision contributes to avoid the abuses and to guarantee all the devices they are entitled. Nebular also helps to reduce the frequency and the length of the visit to the vending machines on the Operator’s side with time schedules, they can be updated directly by the office, Coges and Nebular time schedules can be remote updated directly by the office. Coges and Nebular payment systems permit the setting of the a different VAT among the different price lines, offering the possibility to sell food products not in the same vending machine (in this case it can be necessary the change of description on the site of the Income Revenue Authority).

Thanks to Coges and Nebular systems the Operator could supply a new service to his customers by using the vending machine already used, guaranteeing a monitor of the reserve of the distribution even with report which ca be exported.  At the same time the employers and the employee could go on to operate with the maximum safety, with respect of the law and healthy needs.

 

 

Coges’ MyKey becomes “smart” and takes you to the web

Posted on by Marketing Marketing

Coges is proud to present the new generation of MyKey rechargeable cashless keys, already available for purchase. With the new version, Coges intends to transform MyKey into a point of contact between the physical media and the Internet of vending, without sacrificing the solidity of proprietary technology and the simplicity of use that make this product an indispensable element of the coffee break. The evolution of MyKey passes through the unprecedented possibility of connecting to a “showcase” on the web (product pending patent), which also represents a communication platform between the Operator and his customers.

“This is an important technological innovation for the world of vending.” Mario Majo, commercial director of Coges says “The web showcase connected to MyKey allows the user not only to read the information on his key, but also to send information directly to the Operator, a service previously impossible for a physical token. Thanks to the integration with our Nebular connectivity service, the Operator now has a tool to get in direct contact with end users of the vending machine without leaving their office, send refunds on a specific fob and analyze habits of consumption of his customers in greater detail. These are just some of the functions currently implemented: the development potential is extended.”

MyKey is a small electronic memory, ideal for holding a credit and making purchases on unattended points of sale such as vending machines. With over 30 million tokens on the European market, MyKey has been for over fifteen years one of the most known and loved rechargeable media for vending machines in Italy and abroad. The novelties of the new series are not limited to integration with the Cloud world: the physical token has also changed, with a new design and 5 brilliant colours that will not fail to attract attention. The new MyKey is compatible with all Coges Key readers of the second and third generation. Thanks to the new technology adopted for the key manufacturing, moreover, it is possible to print the Operator’s logo directly on the key with a personalized, accurate and long-lasting laser engraving.

The connection between MyKey and the web showcase is immediate. On one side of the new MyKey there is a QR code, a simple technology known by everyone: by framing the QR code with your smartphone, the user will be directed to a page already personalized with the logo, colours and contact information chosen by the Operator. The MyKey web showcase can do even more for Operators who use Nebular, the connectivity service provided by Coges. In this case, the user registered on the web showcase has access to exclusive functions such as reading their credit on the key, sending feedback, contacting the Operator and viewing their purchasing history. Registered MyKey users and their messages are automatically integrated into the Nebular platform: in this way the Operator will be able to view the feedback received, respond to requests, check all transactions (purchases and top-ups) made on the connected vending machines and even send a refund to the user, remotely topping-up the credit on MyKey.

“Being close to the customer is essential for a service like this.” confirms Alberto Conte, Site Director of Coges “The web showcase extends to the key the typical advantages of mobile solutions, but at the same time offers the Operator a dedicated and customized space: a way to make your business known and give importance to your brand. Each web showcase is, in practice, a page distinct from the others, of which the Operator is the protagonist. It is also a service that could make a difference in the case of public or private tenders.”

Practical, lively and ever smarter: in 2020 MyKey continues to be the symbol of Coges, a bridge between electronic technology and innovation more and more driven towards connectivity and software solutions.

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