Enough with the nickel-and-diming — Apple Pay is a hit at vending machines.
Apple’s mobile payments platform goosed sales dramatically when advertised at snack food machines — as well as at Laundromats, mall kiosks and parking lots — even in a limited rollout this spring.
Vending machines advertising Apple Pay increased overall revenue by 22 percent, according to a study begun in March. Contactless purchases — mostly completed through Apple Pay — soared 89 percent.
“As consumers engage with these machines, that helps accelerate adoption across the whole payment landscape for Apple,” according to Steve Herbert, chairman and CEO of USA Technologies, an electronic payments provider that performed the study.
Apple Pay could use some help, according to some analysts.
While the service was billed as “revolutionary” in a splashy September 2014 launch, only 20 percent of iPhone 6 users had tried Apple Pay as of December 2015, according to First Annapolis Consulting.
Earlier this week, Apple extended Apple Pay to Mac computers. This fall, shoppers will be able to use Apple Pay while surfing on the Safari browser for such things as designer shoes, handbags and travel packages.
In the meantime, adding a simple Apple Pay decal or video ad to a vending machine’s touch screen (see above) has boosted business substantially, says Tom Murn, CEO of the Answer Group, one of the country’s largest vending-machine operators.
In addition to increased volume, Apple Pay appears to be encouraging bigger-ticket purchases — headphones, padlocks and $30 charging cords for iPhones, for example.
“The millennial users seem more apt to use it,” says Murn, who has been testing Apple Pay in vending machines at hundreds of Manhattan locations, including Citibank’s headquarters in Tribeca.
An Apple spokeswoman declined comment.