FRISCO, Texas — Just off the ice at the Star Center rink, Jenafir Chant held a credit card against a vending machine. A second later, a bottle of Diet Dr Pepper tumbled into view.
The machine takes plastic.
"We were all excited when these went in last week," said Chant, who leads a team of girls who clean the ice between periods at Dallas Stars games. "I was scrounging around for $2 for a Monster. Now I don't have to scrounge."
The machine at the ice rink is one of 750 that Cadbury Schweppes PLC and MasterCard Inc. are testing in the Dallas area, New York and Chicago to answer a key question: Will people spend more at vending machines if they can use plastic?
The early answer is, yes.
Some of the machines were installed in January and have seen sales increases of 5 percent to 35 percent without any change in prices, said Mark Jackson, a vice president with Cadbury's U.S. beverages subsidiary, which markets Dr Pepper, Snapple, 7UP and other drinks.
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Cadbury's experience fits with sales increases that other companies have reported when they shift consumers from cash to plastic. Possible explanations vary from consumers not wanting to carry change, to ATMs that dispense only $20 bills, which can't be used in most vending machines.
Cadbury is retrofitting machines in Dallas, New York and Chicago to take all major credit cards and debit cards. They still accept cash, too.
The beverage giant carefully selected locations for the machines, looking for locations frequented by adults likely to have and use plastic. They've installed them at Dallas city hall, the convention center, hospitals, a college and recreational facilities like the ice rink in Frisco. After three months, Cadbury will evaluate sales data and decide whether to retrofit more machines and introduce them in other cities.
"There is always going to be a degree of cash transactions," Jackson said. "But we recognize the fact we're moving more and more to a cashless society. We wanted to offer consumers a convenient way to buy our products out of a vending machine without having change or getting change."
According to Vending Times, an industry publication, vending was a $46 billion business in 2005 and it was virtually all cash. That makes it an appealing target for banks that issue credit cards.
Tests like Cadbury's are taking place now because the declining cost of wireless communications has helped make operating the machines economical.
Less than two years ago, air time to connect one machine to the supplier would have run about $20 a month. It's now one-tenth that, Cadbury CEO Stephen Herbert said.
"I was scrounging around for $2 for a Monster. Now I don't have to scrounge."
Jenafir Chant
Likes vending machines that take credit cards