Making Money for Nothing with a Slush Machine

There are very many retail businesses in the UK whose owners are probably not aware they could be making extra profits - and large ones at that - without doing any work or having to sell anything. If that sounds like an impossible dream, it is not. We are talking about impulse sales here, when customers who are in your shop, or even passing by, spend some money because they have just seen something that you have for sale and they decide on the spur of the moment that they want it.

This is what happens when you have a slush maker machine in the UK. People may come into your store to buy a magazine, cigarettes, a paper, groceries, a hammer and nails, a bottle of wine, fish and chips, or whatever else it is that you sell and then they suddenly spot your cleverly sited slush maker machine. It is sitting there just calling to them - metaphorically speaking - and they suddenly realise that what they want above all else at that very moment is a cup of ice-cold slush. The hotter the day, the better, but in practice slush sells all year round.

What is slush? It is an ice-cold drink that was invented by an American, Omar Knedlik, in the late 1950's when his soda fountain broke down and he had to put his sodas and Cokes in the freezer. This had the effect of turning them slushy and ice cold, and shortly he was advertising them as the "coldest drinks in town" in Coffeyville Kansas. Having an old ice cream maker, Knedlik fiddled with it until eventually he managed to make it produce the slushy drinks that he wanted.

He then took his machine to a company in Texas to refine it and manufacture it. It took five years to produce a properly functioning machine and he then patented it in 1960. A local artist and friend came up with the name ICEE and that was what it was called. The company in Texas built around 300 of the machines and the ICEE company was inundated with lots of sales orders.

In 1965 the 7-Eleven convenience store chain bought several of the machines and the sales really took off. They changed the name of the drink to Slurpee, and if you have ever heard a crowd of kids drinking them through the straws you will know why. Today the ICEE company has its headquarters in California with around 850 employees and 100 service centres in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Various versions of the Slurpee slushy drink are today sold around the world. If you have a slush machine in your shop it is a silent salesman. There is nothing to do but fill it up with the slushy syrup mixed with water and then just take the customer's money. OK, the machines need cleaning once a week, but that's about the only thing that a retailer needs to do, and it only takes about ten minutes. You just place the machine where customers can't help but notice it, such as next to the till or by the shop door, and you are taking money.

Furthermore, the profits on slushy drinks from a slush maker machine in the UK are insanely high. You can sell slushy drinks in cups of varying sizes, and suppliers will have these along with straws and advertising materials such as things you can place outside your shop to draw customers inside. Profit margins can be as high as 90% or even more in some cases. And the beauty of it is that, as we said, you don't actually have to do anything to make the sales.

When you install a slush maker machine you will find that not only does it make impulse sales for you, it also makes other impulse sales. This is because when customers know you have a machine and it is a hot day, they will come into your store in order to buy a slush drink and then perhaps make impulse purchases of other items. So you are making even more sales than you would have done.

Of course, a slush machine is not going to do much in a shop selling beds, because there isn't enough footfall, but any store that has a steady stream of customers will benefit hugely.

Us4slush is a leading supplier of slush machines and slush syrups in the UK, along with all the necessary accessories such as environmentally friendly paper cups, plastic cups