January 3, 2023
The Vytal system is deposit-free for customers and therefore completely free of charge. We are financed by the restaurateurs, who pay a small fee per filling of our Vytals. If a Vytal is not returned to our partners within the free 14-day return period, customers are automatically charged 10 euros per bowl and 4 euros per cup. Therefore, it is also necessary to deposit a means of payment directly when registering our app. This serves as security for us, but can also be used for pre-orders within the app.
A high deposit is a barrier to the use of reusable products, as customers perceive them as more expensive. For a large order of food, a deposit of 30-40 euros would be required - we wanted to avoid this. Our system should be easy to set up and use for partners and customers.
Deposit does not provide an incentive to return the reusable containers quickly: with a return rate of 75%, only 6% of the cups are still in circulation after ten uses. Our return rate is 98%. Even though our return period is 14 days, most of our containers are back in circulation after just four days.
A high deposit (purchase price in our case: 10 euros per bowl and 4 euros per cup) would immensely increase the risk of theft, since the containers can be exchanged for cash.
Deposit handling is expensive: payment processing fees for (margin-free) deposits, separate booking of deposits with 0% sales tax and the formation of provisions are necessary. Economically and in terms of accounting, this is a major expense.
In order to act as sustainably as possible, only one thing is important: The sooner the containers are back in circulation, the sooner they can be reused. When the containers are returned to the partners, they are scanned, rinsed and can then be used again. So you can forget the deposit bottles in the corner until you have saved up some extra Christmas money at the end of the year; our Vytals, on the other hand, are looking forward to a speedy return to the cycle.
