Cashless And Contactless Sales in Unattended Retail Post Robust Gains

Cashless sales in unattended retail locations, such as vending machine and kiosks, jumped significantly in 2021, totaling 62% of sales in October 2021, up from 51% in January 2020, says a report from vending-machine specialist Cantaloupe Inc. As a result of the rise in cashless sales, the percentage of cash transactions in unattended retail locations declined to 38% from 49% during the same period.

The rise in cashless payments is being driven by consumer adoption of contactless payments, or any payment method that uses either near-field communication or radio frequency identification technology to tap to pay, such as a chip card or a mobile wallet, according to Cantaloupe.

In addition to the overall increase in cashless sales, sales generated using contactless payment technology rose steadily each month between January 2020 and October 2021. In January 2020, cashless transactions totaled 18% of sales in unattended retail locations. By October 2021, contactless transactions represented 43% of total cashless transactions.

Cantaloupe, which analyzed 160,000 cashless devices across  its network, conducted the study with Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business.

In addition to an overall increase in cashless sales, unattended retail sales at low-volume locations, i.e., locations generating less than $2,000 a month in sales, reached pre-pandemic levels, totaling 60% of sales at those locations as of last October. At the same time, contactless payments on low-volume machines increased to $14 million, up from $7 million in January 2020.

After posting strong gains in 2021, cashless and contactless sales at unattended retail locations continue to grow in 2022, totaling 69% of sales through June. Contactless sales represented 48% of cashless sales during the same period. The average cashless ticket through June totaled $2.30, compared to $1.83 from January 2021 through October 2021.

“When we analyze our entire network of devices throughout the first half of 2022, we’re seeing contactless payment methods make up nearly half of all cashless transactions,” Cantaloupe chief executive Sean Feeney says in a prepared statement. “And these trends aren’t slowing down. The data indicates that by the end of 2022, more than two-thirds of all transactions will be cashless, driven by consumers preferring to tap. For vending operators, this underlines the importance of offering contactless payment options if they want to increase revenue and remain competitive.”