There is nothing tiny about the potential of a micro market. These small, cafeteria-like markets offer diverse, affordable food choices for company employees. A vast improvement over vending machines, micro markets can feature a fresh, healthy variety of both standard and ethnic foods that can be customized by the employer to reflect their particular employees’ needs.
Why a Micro Market?
Employers who replace vending machines with a micro market can expect to see revenue from employee purchases to increase by up to 80 percent. There is no vending machine maintenance, lost employee items or service calls. A micro market can be any needed size, from a small corner to a whole room. Since the employer can decide the micro market’s size, all available space can be utilized. There is less concern for theft and vandalism, because the whole market is contained within the employee’s building. New foods can be added at any time, preserving employee interest and boosting sales.
A micro market offers a wider choice of healthy foods than a vending machine can. These foods can be easily held at a correct and safe temperature for as long as necessary. This feature is especially important for businesses with 24-hour shift employees. These employees will appreciate not having to always bring food from home, because many food venues are closed at the time they are at work. The employer has no need of the added expense of hiring and supervising food service staff.
Benefits for Employees and Employers
Employees want a reasonable work-life balance. Employers want to reduce expenses as much as possible. A micro market offers both. Employers who offer a micro market tend to rate higher in employee satisfaction and attract the best talent for their industry needs. Employees see these micro markets as a valuable and convenient perk. There is no need to deal with limited selections from temperamental vending machines that tend to offer selections with limited nutrition value. A micro market is always ready for fast self-service. Employees can select their items quickly, paying with prepaid cards or other convenient options, such as preloaded employee cards. The Monyx Wallet application transforms employee cards into virtual ones, allowing payment from employee cell phones. Employers can add value and further enhance the buying experience and employee morale by offering discounts and employee performance reward cards.
The versatile micro market can also offer non-food items, such as common over-the-counter medications, beverage holders, possibly with the company logo on them and perhaps small electronics.
Micro Markets Statistics
The lucrative micro market is springing up everywhere, with the current 23,600 locations representing a six percent increase from the preceding year. 2017 reported some one billion in sales. There will be an expected 39.000 micro markets by 2022 nationwide. Micro markets have spurred an average of four percent higher revenue growth for employers. There are 18 percent more visits per day and an increase in total sales of 80 percent for those innovative employers who have replaced vending machines with an attractive, employee-customized micro market.
Micro markets can offer more food products than vending machines typically can. Cold beverages represent about 27 percent of sales, followed by food at about 20 percent, snacks at 14 percent and confections and health items both at about 10 percent. Candy follows closely behind them at about nine percent, with ice cream and frozen foods selling at about two percent.
Micro Markets Have Bright Future
Typically, micro markets are available in companies with about 150 to 200 employees, However, they work well for smaller ones, too, such as those with 50 to 100 employees. As smaller companies realize the value of a micro market for their employees, the market size for this important perk will also increase significantly.