How Unattended Retail Became a Cashless Market
Guest Editorial by Lynda Clarke, General Manager UK at Nayax
Cashless acceptance is now fitted to 95% of pay-vend machines in the UK, and close to 30% of the estate has stopped taking coins altogether. Mobile payments account for 62% of cashless transactions, against 8% in 2017. For an industry built on coin mechanisms for the best part of a century, that is a fast reversal.
The AVA's 2025 Census & Market Report, drawn from returns covering more than 150,000 machines, puts UK vending, coffee services and automated retail at £3.78 billion in 2025, up 3.3%. UK GDP grew 1.4% over the same period. Operators reported average revenue growth of 7%, with 90% expecting further growth in 2026. The two things are connected, and the payment layer is where the story starts.
What Changed Inside the Machine
Those barriers have largely disappeared. Modern platforms combine connected devices, mobile connectivity and cloud-based processing into a single payment system. Machines can accept cards and mobile wallets instantly, transmit transaction data in real time and operate reliably in a wide range of environments, which means unattended services can be deployed at scale with far greater confidence.
The revenue effect is the part operators tend not to anticipate. Cashless customers spend roughly twice as much per transaction as those paying with coins, which makes sense once you consider that a coin-operated machine caps every basket at whatever the customer happens to have in their pocket.
Every Transaction Now Reports Back
Another advantage of connected payment systems is the data they generate. Every transaction provides valuable information about usage patterns, peak demand times, pricing performance and customer behavior. This visibility can prove incredibly useful for businesses operating multiple machines and locations.
Performance can be monitored remotely alongside stock levels and price points, and operators can identify underperforming sites without relying on manual checks. Restocking runs get planned around what the estate is actually doing rather than around a fixed calendar. This level of insight was rarely possible in traditional coin-operated environments, where a driver found out what had happened when they opened the door.
The Staffing Math Stopped Working
The commercial case has been strengthened by what is happening on the staffing side. Labor costs have risen sharply across hospitality and retail, employer payroll tax rises have added to the bill, and recruitment remains difficult in plenty of regions. Maintaining consistent staffing levels across extended opening hours can be difficult and expensive.
Unattended payment environments offer a way to continue serving customers without adding headcount. A self-service coffee machine in an office building can generate revenue throughout the day without requiring staff to operate it. Micro-markets and smart fridges have grown quickly in buildings where hybrid working made a staffed canteen uneconomic, because they survive a three-day-a-week office that a serving team cannot.
Why Customers Stopped Waiting
Consumer behavior has made all of this easier. After years of deploying these systems, I have stopped being surprised by how little patience people have for waiting on a small purchase. Someone buying a £2 coffee at a station will walk past a queue of three people, then wait 10 minutes at a counter for something that genuinely matters to them.
Self-service environments meet that expectation naturally. Whether someone is buying a drink from a vending machine, charging an electric vehicle or using an automated laundry service, the experience is built around independence. Customers can arrive, pay and leave within seconds, which is particularly appealing in transport hubs, workplaces, leisure venues and public spaces, where unattended services do not take a break, form a queue or close at five.
Open When the Shop Is Closed
Perhaps the biggest structural advantage of unattended payments is availability, with traditional retail models often being constrained by staffing hours and physical space. Automated environments do not face the same limitations. A vending machine, EV charger or automated retail point can operate continuously with minimal intervention, creating revenue in environments where a full retail presence would not be viable, from a small residential development to a rural charging point or a hospital corridor at two in the morning.
Importantly, the growth of unattended payments does not come at the cost of traditional retail, with staffed environments remaining essential for considered purchases and for the kind of service and brand experience a machine cannot deliver.
What began as a cost decision about coin handling has turned into something closer to a channel strategy. The operators seeing the strongest growth are the ones treating unattended as a business in its own right rather than a supplement to the shop floor.
About The Author
Lynda Clarke is General Manager UK at Nayax, a global commerce enablement and payments platform. She works with UK operators across vending, automated retail, EV charging, car washes and laundry to make payments easier for customers and help businesses manage their unattended operations.
