Vianet & C : mpass Group collaboration on Profit Protection results, shortlisted for Retail Risk Awards

Vianet & Compass Group collaboration on Profit Protection results, shortlisted for Retail Risk Awards

1 December 2021, Contactless Payment

Vianet have worked closely with foodservice giant, Compass Group UK & Ireland, since 2018, offering payment and business insight solutions across their vending estate that contribute to their overall goal of protecting their people, property, profit, and brand.

As a result, Vianet and Compass have been shortlisted for Retail Risk's Fraud Awards for their collaboration, with the awards taking place on 2nd December 2021. The awards shortlisted for are, 'Award for best collaborative retail risk management solution' and 'Award for most innovative retail risk management cross-functional or supply chain solution'.

Together their collaborative approach to risk management and profit protection is a strategy that involves gradually eliminating cash as a payment method from the Compass business. By adopting contactless payment through Vianet's technology, Compass manage, minimise, and reduce the risk of theft and cash loss from their vending machine estate, both protecting their clients, protecting their profits, and protecting their exceptional brand reputation.

Compass currently host 1200 of Vianet's contactless payment devices on vending solutions across six different sectors and 150 locations across their estate. These contactless payment devices are all protected with high level PCI security, and supported by NMi and Elavon merchant banks, which are updated regularly to increase payment functionality.

Moving forward, they have a long-term plan to expand, installing a further 5000 devices over the next two years across their wider estate. Some of their existing contactless payment readers are in-situ across sites support businesses with 24-hour operation to allow quick and simple access, as well as secure transactions and convenience.

Not only do Vianet's solutions offer a secure payment method that protects profits, but it also minimises risk from a health and hygiene perspective through reducing machine contact and cash handling from both the engineers and the consumers. With keyworkers in their locations as well as those returning to work in distribution centres and office spaces, the hygienic element of using self-service machines is now an essential consideration.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Vianet saw a massive shift in the use of contactless payment versus cash, seeing a more than 50 per cent increase in contactless payment usage due to the risks presented by the pandemic and fear of contamination through surfaces and cash handling.

Alongside contactless payment readers, Vianet's telemetry devices also send data automatically from the machine to Compass to give them an overview of their estate eliminating any manual data readings or human error. These telemetry devices send data from the vending machines straight into Vianet's real-time insight platform' through the Internet of Things (IoT). This provides Compass with a digestible overview of their vending machine estate and cashless sales data, whilst also eliminating the risk of any manual or human error which may otherwise occur when taking readings.

It also gives Compass the ability to monitor and manage their vending stock and levels, as well as machine upkeep and performance, eliminating the risk of cash loss through machine break downs and theft. It also aids them with time management and profit protection through specifying labour levels and how many machines need filling, managing stock levels, optimising labour, revealing top-selling products so they can ensure they are meeting client needs and requirements, as well as creating efficiency.

Business Development Manager, Cole Little at Vianet said,

"We offer Compass Group UK & Ireland a product service that assists in supporting and futureproofing their tenders when pitching to clients, as well as efficiently managing their business remotely in the current unpredictable climate.

"Vianet's products also help Compass employees with time management and profit protection by illuminating required service levels across the estate, optimising labour, ensuring hygiene requirements are met, as well as revealing top-selling products so they can ensure they are meeting client needs and requirements."

Keep checking back to find out whether Vianet and Compass Group take home a trophy in this years Retail Risk Awards 2021.

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