After 10 years in the vending machine business, I’ve had the opportunity to watch customer behavior evolve firsthand. One thing I’ve noticed over and over again when someone uses a smart cooler for the first time is that they rarely walk away with just one item.
What starts as a quick stop for a bottle of Dasani or Smartwater often turns into a Monster Energy, a bag of Doritos, and maybe even a sandwich for later. That’s one of the biggest differences between traditional vending machines and smart coolers.
As smart coolers continue gaining popularity in apartment communities, office buildings, manufacturing facilities, healthcare environments, and employee breakrooms, vending operators are seeing a major shift in how customers shop.
The question is no longer whether smart coolers work.
The real question is:
What are customers actually buying from smart coolers, and why are they spending more than they do at traditional vending machines?
As the owner of Big City Vending, I’ve operated traditional vending machines for years while also working with modern unattended retail solutions. What has become crystal clear is that customers shop differently when they can open a cooler, browse products, and make purchasing decisions naturally.
Traditional Vending vs. Smart Cooler Shopping
Traditional vending machines are built around a single transaction. A customer decides what they want, enters a selection, pays, waits for the product to dispense, and moves on with their day.
Smart coolers completely change that experience.
Instead of staring through glass and selecting one item, customers can open the cooler door and shop the way they would inside a convenience store. They can compare products, read labels, examine packaging, and grab multiple items before checking out once.
The result is higher average ticket sales and larger transactions.
In many locations, customers are no longer buying just a beverage. They’re creating a complete snack, meal, or convenience-store-style purchase.
The Top Products Customers Buy From Smart Coolers
1. Energy Drinks
Energy drinks continue to be one of the strongest-performing categories inside smart coolers.
Brands like Monster Energy, Celsius, Ghost Energy, Alani Nu, Red Bull, and Rockstar consistently attract customers looking for a boost during the workday, before a workout, or during long shifts.
What’s interesting is that customers who purchase energy drinks rarely stop there.
A typical transaction often includes:
- Monster Energy or Celsius
- Quest Protein Bar or RXBAR
- Doritos or Lay’s Chips
- Smartwater or Dasani
Those bundled purchases happen far more frequently in smart coolers than they do in traditional vending machines.
2. Bottled Water
Water remains one of the top-selling categories, but smart coolers have changed how customers purchase it.
When customers can physically browse products, they’re more likely to compare beverage options and add complementary items to their purchase.
For example, someone may stop by intending to buy a bottle of Smartwater but leave with:
- Smartwater
- Wonderful Pistachios
- Nature Valley Protein Bar
- Bubly Sparkling Water
The ability to browse naturally encourages additional purchases and increases transaction value.
3. Grab-and-Go Meals
This is where smart coolers truly separate themselves from traditional vending machines.
Customers love convenient meal options such as:
- Fresh sandwiches
- Chicken wraps
- Caesar salads
- Hillshire Snacking Protein Packs
- Chobani Yogurt Parfaits
- Fresh fruit cups
Traditional vending machines can offer some fresh food products, but smart coolers showcase freshness much more effectively. Customers can see the packaging, ingredients, expiration dates, and overall quality before making a purchase.
In apartment communities, office buildings, and healthcare facilities, grab-and-go meals often become one of the highest-revenue categories available.
4. Better-For-You Snacks
Health-conscious snacks continue to gain momentum across nearly every location type.
Some of the most popular products include:
- Quest Protein Bars
- KIND Bars
- RXBAR
- Jack Link’s Beef Jerky
- Wonderful Pistachios
- Blue Diamond Almonds
- Nature Valley Protein Bars
- SkinnyPop Popcorn
Customers appreciate being able to pick up products, review nutritional information, and compare options before purchasing. That added confidence often leads to more sales.
5. Convenience Purchases
One of the biggest surprises operators experience with smart coolers is the number of impulse purchases customers make.
A resident may stop by for a Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
While browsing, they notice:
- A breakfast sandwich for tomorrow morning
- A Gatorade for the gym
- A Snickers bar for later
- A bag of Cheez-It crackers
Suddenly, what would have been a $2 purchase becomes an $8 to $12 transaction.
That’s the power of grab-and-go retail.
Why Customers Buy More Per Transaction
The biggest advantage of smart coolers isn’t necessarily the products themselves.
It’s the shopping experience.
Traditional vending machines create friction. Every additional item requires another selection and often another payment process.
Smart coolers eliminate that friction entirely.
Customers simply grab everything they want and complete one transaction.
That creates a significant psychological shift.
Instead of asking themselves:
“Do I want this one item?”
Customers begin asking:
“What else should I grab while I’m here?”
That subtle difference dramatically increases average transaction values and overall revenue.
What This Means for Vending Operators
For vending operators looking to grow their business, smart coolers present a tremendous opportunity.
Rather than relying solely on adding more locations, operators can often generate significantly more revenue from existing customer traffic.
The key is securing the right locations.
Some of the highest-performing smart cooler locations include:
- Luxury apartment communities
- Employee breakrooms
- Manufacturing facilities
- Distribution centers
- Student housing properties
- Healthcare facilities
If you’re looking to find better locations for your vending machines or smart coolers, my Training Module: Finding Profitable Vending Locations walks you through how to identify, pitch, and secure high-traffic accounts:
Building a Smart Cooler Business
Many operators see the success of smart coolers and immediately wonder how to get started.
The truth is that success begins long before the cooler is installed.
You need a solid business plan, a location acquisition strategy, vendor relationships, contracts, and a repeatable sales process.
If you’re brand new to the industry, my Vending 101: Starting Your Vending Machine Business training covers the fundamentals of building a profitable vending operation from the ground up:
If you’re already operating machines and looking to improve efficiency, my Vending 102: Staying Organized & Running Your Business Like a Pro training covers inventory management, route planning, financial tracking, and systems that help you scale:
Winning More Smart Cooler Locations
One challenge many vending operators face is getting in front of decision-makers.
Property managers, office administrators, HR directors, and facility managers receive countless vendor requests every week. Having the right approach can make all the difference.
My Cold Call Script for Vending Machine Placement provides a proven framework for starting conversations and booking meetings with potential accounts:
When it’s time to present your services professionally, my Vending Machine Business Proposal Template can help you stand out from competing vendors:
Once you’ve secured the account, my Vending Machine Placement Contract Template helps formalize the relationship and protect both parties:
The Future of Unattended Retail
The growth of smart coolers shows no signs of slowing down.
Consumers have become comfortable with self-checkout technology, mobile payments, and grab-and-go shopping experiences. They expect convenience, speed, and variety.
Smart coolers deliver all three.
As a result, customers are purchasing more items per transaction, spending more money per visit, and treating unattended retail locations much more like convenience stores than traditional vending machines.
For operators willing to embrace the technology, the opportunity is enormous.
Final Thoughts
After a decade in the vending business, the biggest lesson I’ve learned from smart coolers is simple:
Customers don’t just buy products.
They buy convenience.
When people can browse, compare products, and grab multiple items before checking out once, sales naturally increase.
That’s why smart coolers continue to outperform traditional vending machines in many environments.
They’re not changing what customers want.
They’re simply making it easier for customers to buy it.
If you’re looking to start, grow, or scale your vending machine business, visit the Big City Vending shop for training modules, templates, location resources, and tools designed specifically for vending operators:
