Westways: Cashless technology expands unattended retail’s cashless payment capabilities beyond just accepting transactions. One such development is consumer engagement tools and digital loyalty, which can boost interaction and sales and is the natural progression in the cashless payment scene.
Nayax launched a consumer engagement platform along with its own mobile wallet app, Monyx Wallet, last September. ‘The platform allows operators to integrate tried and true retail marketing concepts into their vending businesses’, Nayax UK Operations Director Lewis Zimbler told PV. ‘Since consumers already frequently interact with their phones, our digital channel gives operators a means to communicate more meaningfully with consumers. At the same time, consumers benefit from a richer sales experience. Monyx Wallet provides digitized punch cards, gamification with cashback, bonus credit and discounts, along with the customization of the app’s look and feel with operators’ own branding.’
A feature of Monyx Wallet that operators are sure to appreciate is that it can deliver instant digital refunds, providing immediate customer satisfaction should a vend ‘fail’ for any reason. It works in one of two ways: if a consumer doesn’t have the app, they are sent a link to download Monyx Wallet after contacting the operator and they’ll find the refund waiting for them. If they already have it, the operator refunds the money directly to Monyx Wallet.
Sounds great, right? But how does Monyx Wallet work in the real world and what effect – if any – does it have on sales? To find out, PV will be monitoring the progress of Westways Vending, a highly respected family business based in East Sussex, as they rollout the new technology. In the first of a series of articles, Finance Director Natalie Baker fills in the back-story…
‘Westways started with Nayax right at the beginning of our cashless development. That was around 6 years ago and gradually, it’s built up and built up and built up’, Natalie says. ‘Then Paul (Morgan, Nayax Sales Director) came down to see us in the Autumn last year. He mentioned the Monyx App and I said to him, ‘actually, I’m really interested in that.’ With one thing and another it’s taken quite a while to get off the ground: we were getting to the end of our testing schedule and we were very close to launching it when lockdown happened.
‘I was hooked straight away as Paul went through the features and benefits and it’s been the same for our customers; they think it’s a really good thing to be able to offer people.
‘Going forward, it’ll be an additional benefit, something that will help us to stand out from the crowd by giving Westways a u.s.p; but to begin with, we’ve been adding the facility to our existing machines. Our sales team is raring to go with it, we think it’s going to be something that will appeal to the younger generation.’
It’s rare that a new product is introduced to the market without any snags or glitches and the support on offer from a supplier can be the difference between success and failure. Natalie concedes that there were some teething issues…
‘As usual, Nayax have been very supportive’, she says. ‘We can access help via telephone or e-mail and the guys at the other end are brilliant. Any questions I’ve had have been answered right away; but to be honest, the user guides that they send you get you through most of the initial issues. They walk you through what needs to be done step-by-step, so you can just run with it.
‘We went ‘live’ just a few days ago and to date, we have Monyx Wallet on just 5 or 6 machines, so it’s way too early to analyse any effects on sales. Having said that, many more machines are coming online in the next fortnight. A large percentage of our equipment is fitted with Nayax units, so with the majority having Monyx, we’ll be able to assess things properly and roll it out from there.
‘If not for COVID-19, I’m sure Monyx would already be a significant element of our customer offer’, Natalie says. ‘Westways had identified the advantages of embracing cashless long before the pandemic raised it to the top of the agenda. Cashless is built into all of our deals. Every new machine we send out has a Nayax reader. We made that decision a couple of years ago but now, with what we know about the virus, the need to go cashless is massive. So many retailers are refusing to take cash. We’ve had quite a few requests to ‘turn off cash’ on our existing machines. That’s not a problem, because we have our Nayax units. Everybody has a card in their purse or their wallet, or on their phone, so I’m sure we’re not losing any sales by not taking cash.
‘Besides, cashless is much easier for us’, Natalie adds. ‘We don’t have to handle coins and that has a lot of benefits, for instance in lowering our costs and helping to eradicate fraud. Having Nayax on board eliminates those issues, so our job is to try and get as many of our customers as possible to embrace cashless and come with us on our customer engagement journey.’
Visit Westways Vending: https://www.westwaysvending.co.uk
Visit PV’s Nayax news archive, HERE
* PV will return to Westways Vending when the company has analysed the impact of Monyx Wallet across its cashless machine park. Good, bad or indifferent, we’ll share the facts with PV readers. Meanwhile, we’d like to thank the Baker family and all at Westways for kindly agreeing to take part in this series of articles.
