1. Use The Right Tags

Proper selection and application of tags is the cornerstone to accurate inventory counts. What type of tag do you use on each product?

• If the tag is likely to be microwaved with the product, use a microwave safe tag.
• If the tag will be placed on a liquid-laden, metal, or foil lined product, use a metal safe tag also known as drink tag.
• For all other products, use a regular tag.

Once you’ve selected the appropriate tag type for each product, make sure the tag is correctly applied following best practices.

Here are a few tips:

Metal safe and drink tags should be folded at the dotted line and oriented towards the top of the product, like in the video below. The RFID chip is under the folded portion of the tag, and the ample air space and orientation away from the metal and liquid ensures it is read by the antennae.

Orient tags on the product in a way where they will be “seen” by the antennae. This means tags should not be placed on the bottom of products, or end up smushed between products that are stacked. In order to do this, you’ll need to think about how products will be merchandised in the store.

2. Merchandise for Success

Merchandising is the art and science of presenting products in a way that appeals to customers and encourages them to buy. It is an important part of any retail business, as it can have a significant impact on sales. A study by the National Retail Federation found that 70% of shoppers are more likely to make a purchase if a store is well-merchandised.

Consistent merchandising also makes restocking predictable and easy. After all, if you’ve defined where a product is to be placed you eliminate that decision from needing to be made by the restocker.

What are some general merchandising principles that have helped Byte customers succeed?

• If you’re selling drinks, integrate them throughout each shelf. This not only encourages customers to purchase bundles (ex: a sandwich and a drink), but can improve the readability of inventory. Too many drinks on a single shelf can sometimes cause readability issues.
• Mealtimes can guide merchandising as well. For instance, group breakfast items on a top shelf, lunch/dinner items on the middle shelves, and snack time items on the lower shelf.
• Use baskets or merchandisers to orient small snack items upright. This makes the store look more appealing and has the dual benefit of orienting the RFID tags toward the antennae – ensuring inventory is always visible to the store’s antennae.

3. Set Par Levels

Once you’ve determined how products will be merchandised in the store, it’s time to set pars. A par is the quantity of product that should be in a store when fully restocked. When you set pars, you make every restock repeatable and predictable.

To set pars, navigate to the Stores > Restock page. Click the pencil icon on the far right. Edit and save your pars. Learn more here.

4. Use a Pick List to restock

A pick list is an itemized count of the quantity of each product to pack for a restock. Using pick lists saves time, maximizes the effectiveness of each delivery, and ensures a store is well stocked. The Byte Dashboard allows you to export a pick list to CSV or PDF.

Many Byte clients print out copies of the pick list to enable them to easily pack delivery bins. The pick list also includes the address of the store. A store’s address can be updated on the Store > Details page.

To download a pick list, navigate to Stores > click Export icon > select Export Restock as PDF.

5. Always log in using the restocker panel

Now that you’ve updated your store’s pars and printed a pick list, you are set up to make restocking a quick and predictable process. But don’t forget! Always use the restocker panel when performing a restock.

How do you access the restock panel? Hold your finger on the bottom left of the menu screen for three seconds. Then enter your restocker login information. Did you know that under Settings > Users you can edit your restocker username? Make the something short and easy to remember.

By following these tips and tricks, you can ensure that your restocking process is efficient and effective, leading to happy customers and increased sales.

The post How to Restock Your Byte Store Like a Pro: 5 Tips for Efficiency and Accuracy appeared first on Byte Technology.

The Smart Fridge: A Game-Changer for Healthcare Food Service

Byte smart fridges solve this challenge by allowing any hospital food service team to sell fresh, healthy food around the clock. The smart fridge is a small footprint unit that can be strategically located wherever you want to sell food. Its low up-front investment and labor-free model makes for a quick ROI and an ongoing revenue stream. The point-of-sale (POS) system tells you everything you need to know regarding sales volumes, product inventory, aging, and more.

The frictionless POS system allows staff, visitors, and patients to make purchases anytime, anywhere. All they need to do is tap their credit card, mobile wallet, or employee badge, grab their food, and walk away – it’s that easy.

But it’s not just about convenience. The smart fridge’s online dashboard allows your team to view transactions, manage inventories, and see sales reporting in real-time. This means smarter restocking and better inventory management, which translates to saving time for your already stretched team.

Why the Byte Smart Fridge is the Perfect Solution for the Healthcare C-Suite

The challenges faced by the healthcare C-Suite are vast and complex, from nursing recruitment and retention to patient satisfaction and managing financials. Byte Technology understands the challenges and offers a solution that can help ease the burden.

Byte’s smart fridge is a 24/7 solution that shows your staff you care. It boosts morale by providing a “true” break for nursing staff, with fresh food available anytime. The presence of a smart fridge on-site has had such a profound impact that some Byte clients have even received thank you cards from grateful third shift team members.

Plus, it offers a quick ROI and high returns, fitting perfectly within the healthcare mission’s financial framework. The Byte smart fridge addresses many of these business challenges, offering a high return solution that doesn’t require extra work or the worry of theft. It’s an automatic quality control system that adds to revenue and the bottom line.

The Future of Healthcare Food Service is Here

The Byte smart fridge is not just a food service solution; it’s a tool that can significantly improve the work environment for healthcare staff. It can help address major challenges faced by the healthcare sector, from nursing retention to financial pressures.

“What’s great about it is I don’t have to add any extra labor. There’s nothing extra I’m doing. It’s basically taking items from my cafe that closes at 6 and selling it through the night. Now I easily bring in over $10,000 a month. It’s just funny to think about how much revenue is being generated by stocking a machine with items you already have”.

District Manager at Sutter Health

Most importantly, it’s easy to use and provides fresh food 24/7, promoting well-being and satisfaction among staff.

In a world where healthcare professionals work around the clock, having access to fresh food anytime is more than a convenience – it’s a necessity. And Byte Technology is here to make it happen.

Join us in reinventing the way your people eat, and see the difference it can make in your hospital.

The post Why Every Hospital Should Have A Byte Technology Smart Fridge appeared first on Byte Technology.

From inputting and labeling products via the Byte Dashboard, through stocking the fridge and selling fresh food with a full array of state-of-the-art payment methods, this video shows you how Byte’s system works and why large foodservice industry companies and supermarket chains are using Byte to implement fresh food vending at corporations, universities, hospitals, retail locations, and more. 

To get your questions answered, please book a demo.  

The post New Bottom Line 5-Minute Video Demo: Learn How Byte Fresh Food Vending Works appeared first on Byte Technology.

• Our story of how we got started
• How you can get started
  • Place: how to find your first location
  • Stock: create your product set (it’s as easy as a visit to your local Costco or Sam’s Club)
  • Earn:  break down the unit economics to understand your gross margin
• Audience Q&A

We put our entrepreneurial boots back on and made a visit to Costco earlier this week. We spent $300 and created a set that was well-balanced with salads, soups, breakfast items, snacks, and drinks. This trip fully stocked a Byte Technology kiosk (photo below), with ample leftovers for restocking.

We hope you enjoy!

The post Webinar Recording: Getting Started with Byte Technology appeared first on Byte Technology.

The take home message is clear: fresh food delivers clear ROI to any location. As the first provider of a small footprint unattended kiosk solution that supports fresh food, Byte partners have an innovative opportunity to launch the service in their market. With our tri-step formula, it’s easy to know who to approach, how to sell to them and what exactly will capture their attention.

1. Determine the best target to approach

We’re hardly realtors, but we know firsthand that determining the spot for your first Byte location is of tremendous importance. In the 6+ years of operating this business, we’ve noticed a variety of locations perform well for our clients. We’ve seen exceptional success with: apartment buildings, workplaces, warehouses, hotels, airports, community centers, hospitals or health clinics, universities, or anywhere else you can imagine someone wanting a quick bite to eat. Whether you’re just starting out, or meaningfully scaling your business, the right location can make or break your business.

There are two core tenets of who to sell to – the location type and the decision maker within that location. Who is a decision maker within a workplace? Knowing the appropriate person within a location to sell to is crucial, so invest time researching the roles within the company you’re targeting. It’s useless to pitch a marketing manager somewhere only to realize they don’t handle anything to deal with food. 

In a larger company, decisions around food or vending will most often fall within facilities or wellness, if that role exists. In smaller companies, try targeting the office manager, HR, or even the CEO. The goal of prospecting is to get the direct contact information associated with the spots you’re interested in. There are many tools that can be used to do this, and, yes, it’s very possible to prospect without spending a dime!

2. How to sell Byte to your prospects

Now that you’ve got a clear picture who you’re targeting – both the location type and the roles within those locations – you’re ready to start prospecting. When it comes to being a business development machine, consistency is key. It takes persistent follow-up to make contact with your prospect, so be ready to dial for dollars. Once you’ve made contact, your pitch must be on-point. This is your only chance to impress them, so make it count. Think of this as your 8-Mile moment. 

One point of emphasis is that building a lead list with really accurate information will come in handy in the short and long run, so it’s worth digging deep before you begin prospecting. If you’re not extracting enough value from your lead list, go back to the drawing board to research more context about your prospects. Making a list and checking it twice…wait, didn’t someone famous once say that?

3. Byte’s specific selling points

Byte isn’t simply a vending machine of chips and candy—this is a totally new service. Hospitals can offer 24/7 access to fresh food and further support visitors, patients, and workers after hours. An apartment complex is able to provide tenants another amenity, thus setting themselves apart from the competition. Byte isn’t your grandpa’s vending machine!

When it comes to selling Byte Tech, we’ve done lots of the legwork, so please use our sales deck template as a jumping off point to customize your own.

Below are slide-by-slide talking points:

Grab a Byte or two

Workplaces surge forward from the benefits of improved productivity, stronger culture, and enhanced wellness derived from fantastic food. Byte’s unattended kiosks are the future of retail innovation and we’re delighted to share our knowledge with our partners who are setting up their first or 100th kiosk.

We know that location, location, location is crucial when it comes to setting your Byte food business up for success. Prospecting like a pro doesn’t need to cost a lot, but it requires building a list that will serve your needs, now and into the future. Investing the time to find the appropriate contacts will make reaching decision-makers much more fruitful. Once the list has been finalized, being persistent and consistent is the next step. When it comes to pitching, this is your one shot, so make it count. Hopefully these pointers get you off to a strong start or augment your existing sales process.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into best practices, check out our recent webinar on Selling the Service.

The post The Proven Formula For Acquiring Your First (or 100th) Byte Location appeared first on Byte Technology.

Byte Technology’s platform was purpose-built for fresh food. The real time data, the not-a-vending-machine shopping experience, and the shelving that supports nearly any packaging form factor are just a few of Byte’s innovations that unlocked this massive market opportunity. Tens of thousands of locations in the US can benefit from having a range of fresh, healthy food available to their patrons, employees, students, or staff. You just have to know how to reach them. We’ve talked about how to acquire your first (or hundredth) location before, but there’s always more to share.

In this short video, our founder Lee Mokri walks through:

• Free tools to use to find potential locations
• How to get a prospect on the phone
• How to pitch a prospect
• An overview of the value your service adds to a location
• Walk through a sample sales deck

Get your notebook, as this one is chock full of great information!

The post Sales Tips from Our Founder appeared first on Byte Technology.

Because you are buying in bulk, wholesale clubs like Costco or Sam’s Club are great resources for an affordable array of drinks, snacks, and even fresh prepared meals. In one thirty minute shopping trip, Lee shows how he’s able to fully stock a Byte kiosk with $300 of food that should retail at a total of nearly $750.

The post Need products? Try your local wholesale club. appeared first on Byte Technology.

• Long holiday weekends. On a long holiday weekend some of your locations may not have people on site. Instead of making an unnecessary delivery to remove food that may perish, you can lock down the kiosk, and wait to remove the perishing food until the next delivery.
  
• A delivery driver calls out sick and you have no backup. It’s happened to all of us. Someone calls out sick, and you’re not able to get backup to make the planned deliveries. If you have food that may have reached its best by date, you can lock down the kiosk until the next delivery.
  
• A vendor has a product recall. Within seconds you can log into the Dashboard, see where the product is in stock, then lock down kiosks until you have the opportunity to remove the recalled product.

In this video we walk through just how easy it is to remotely lock down a kiosk – as well as remove that lock down. Enjoy!

The post The Power of Byte’s Remote Lockdown Feature appeared first on Byte Technology.