Cigarette Vending
Hi, I'm involved with St Germans Community Shop in Cornwall which will be opening on the 29th May.
We have been advised that it may be worth using a staff operated vending machine for cigarettes. Does anyone have any thoughts on wether this is a good idea and/or suppliers.
Thanks, Dave Stroud.
This is certainly an idea worth exploring. As you will probably know cigarettes give you very low margins - 5% - and tie up quite alot of working capital on stock. Also loose on the shelves they are a security risk. Our shop had three attempted break-ins in the first year and the cigarettes were a contributory factor. We now lock the stock away at night. A vending machine avoids some of these issues. On the other side of the coin cigarette sales do bring customers into the shop and the chat at the counter is part of that.
It is worth exploring and the key may be the deal you strike. Is there a shop out there who has done this and can advise?
Gill
Thanks for your thoughts Gill.
Its looking like we might have to keep them out of view during the day too if the government decide to legislate!
Dave Stroud
Hello Dave - we use a staff operated cigarette machine supplied, filled and maintained by an external organisation. It has a limited range of cigarettes and we feed it with money whenever customers want to buy cigs. We put on an extra mark up (compared to the suppliers RRP) making a total of around 8%. A long way from our optimum mark up of circa 30%.
We also find that customers buying cigs rarely buy anything else so it is truly a service (?) to the community and a loss maker!!
The company is called Cherwell and I can give you details if needed.
Regards
Bryan Casbourne
Mortimer Country Stores