Evoca machines: We’ve all heard the operators and end-users grumble: ‘it’s all very well to have machines with fantastic HD media screens, but when you have to update the content on every individual machine with a USB stick, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.’
Well, that’s all history because from now on, you can order your new Evoca machines with the superb Hawkr system on board and ready to go. ‘This is the innovation that many stakeholders in the vending industry have been waiting for’, Evoca UK Technical Director Craig Jukes said. ‘By teaming up with Hawkr we can now give operators and brands the unprecedented opportunity of taking maximum advantage of the high-definition LED monitors that come as standard on our machines. Hawkr’s web-based management system allows remote access from anywhere there’s an Internet connection, enabling instant updates to multiple machines at the same time. Where there are five or more machines on a single site that need to have the same media content, that’s a real improvement in efficiency.’
The Hawkr system is available now, factory-fitted, in the sector-leading freestanding Evoca machines Canto, Canto Touch and Opera Touch.
Hawkr Founder Chris Davison takes up the story: ‘We came into the world of vending about 2 years ago’, he said. ‘Basically, our business is digital signage and the remote management of digital content in vending. By ‘digital content’, I mean menus, special offers and other promotional information. On top of that, the businesses in which the machines are installed can use the screens as virtual notice boards to communicate with both staff and visitors.’
It’s an innovation that comes to the UK having been tried and tested on Evoca machines in France. Over the last 12 months, Evoca and Hawkr have combined on a growing list of projects across the Channel, including a national project with a well-known supermarket chain.
Lidl France, which operates 1,500 outlets, has started a trial process in several stores. The aim is to confirm a business model based on installing Necta’s free standing Opera Touch machines front-of-house for the use of customers. The digital content featured on those machines is updated using the Hawkr system.
It’s a potential flagship deal in the making for both Evoca and Hawkr and Chris is eager to share news of it with UK operators. ‘We hope that the scale of the Lidl project in France will encourage UK operators to take another look at what’s out there and what’s possible’, he said. ‘A large proportion of people in the industry still believe that the remote up-dating of digital content on vending machines is not possible.’
It is now.
To find out more on Evoca machines, e-mail sales@evocagroup.com
For more info on Hawkr and its features and benefits click HERE or contact enquiries@hawkr.io.
Planet Vending’s Evoca Group News Archive is HERE