How to choose a vending machine for your office

Office vending is the most common request we get and the easiest to get wrong, because the decision usually starts at "which machine" when it should start at "which floor".

1. How many people, and when are they there?

Headcount sets capacity; hours set the product mix. A 200-person office working nine to six wants snacks, cold drinks and coffee. The same headcount running three shifts wants hot food and a machine that works at two in the morning, and will support a very different investment.

2. Which floor, and what is the competition?

Put the machine where people already congregate and cannot easily leave — near the lifts, the break area, the floor furthest from the canteen. If there is a cafeteria on the ground floor, the ground floor is the worst place for your machine and the fifth floor is the best.

3. What do you actually want to sell?

If you want to sell	You need
Packaged snacks and cold drinks	A chilled spiral cabinet — the standard workhorse
Hot coffee and tea	A countertop unit, or a combo cabinet that also does snacks
Sandwiches, salads, cut fruit	A smart fridge — spirals handle fresh food badly
Full meals	A hot food machine with a built-in microwave
Fresh juice	A squeeze-to-order juice machine
Glass bottles or anything fragile	Elevator delivery, not a spiral drop

4. Payment: skip the cash

For an Indian office in 2026, UPI plus a card reader covers close to every transaction. Bill acceptors and coin changers add cost, add failure modes, and add the job of counting and banking cash. Unless you have a specific reason — a factory floor where phones are not carried, for instance — leave cash out. You can add it later if you are wrong.

5. Power and access, checked before you order

You need a suitable power point within reach, on a circuit that can carry the machine. You need a route in wide enough for the cabinet, and a lift with adequate capacity if it is not going on the ground floor. These machines are heavy. Measure the doorway before you sign anything — it is the single most common cause of a failed delivery day.

6. Who restocks it?

Settle this before the machine arrives, in writing, with a named person. The most common office vending failure is not mechanical — it is that restocking was everybody's job and therefore nobody's. Decide whether your facilities team does it or your supplier does, and what the agreed frequency is.

Start with one machine, properly placed. A single well-sited cabinet that is always stocked will teach you more about your office's demand in six weeks than three machines scattered hopefully across floors. Expand once you know what sells.

Send us the floor plan, the headcount and the working hours, and we will tell you which machine fits and where to put it — including when the honest answer is that your site only supports one.