In today’s competitive environment, it’s necessary for convenience stores to distinguish themselves from the crowd. By fulfilling customers’ need for a one-stop shopping experience, you can stand apart. One potent strategy to achieve this is incorporating an express carwash into your business.
Focusing on Consumer Desires
Modern consumers are smart and value their money and time, necessitating the one-stop shop approach at your C-store. Added perks attract and retain customers.
- Cleaning Convenience: simultaneous refueling and vehicle clean-up services, such as Carwashing, waste bins, mat cleaners, and free vacuuming, are attractive to clients
- Loyalty Lure: establish loyalty programs and frequent rewards as added value to cultivate repeat patronage
- Discount Appeal: by cross-promoting carwash sales with unique deals at the pump, your convenience store stays competitive
Advantages to You
The integration of a Carwash leads to multiple opportunities for your convenience store. With over 71% of customers preferring commercial Carwashes, and at-home washing dropping by over 20%, the market is ready for exploitation.
- Growth Potential: the surging demand for carwash services is driven by customers’ dwindling reliance on home carwashing, a trend that will continue to accelerate
- Reduced Costs: cutting-edge carwash technology minimizes labor and utility expenses, maximizing profits
- Decreased Maintenance: advanced equipment and point-of-sale systems maximize uptime and productivity
- Profit Enhancement: added services offer up-selling opportunities at the pump and terminal to boost profits
Ingredients for Success
Ensuring a profitable carwash is not difficult, but has some key requirements:
- Market Research and Site Planning: enables you to set the right course
- Investment: modern, efficient equipment allows you to expand, customize and maximize margin
- Technological Innovations: “connected carwash” systems help in curbing labor, maintenance costs, and water and chemical costs, while improving control, convenience and reporting
- Integrated Marketing: sync your promotions with your convenience store
Upgrading your Existing Carwash
Already have a traditional carwash? You’re primed for profit. Upgrading to a mini tunnel, also known as an express tunnel or express wash, is a sound choice.
Mini Express Benefits
- Higher Throughput: expect an increase from 9 to 50 cars/hour.
- Higher Sales: the sheer increase in volume drives higher profitability
- Incremental Sales: extra services like wheel dressing and tire cleaning can boost revenue by up to $2.50 per vehicle
If you already have a wash at your location it is far easier than you may think to convert your wash to a higher-throughput, more profitable express model. In fact, from beginning to end the process can take as few as seven months. And with wash sales that can double or triple after conversion, the investment really makes sense.
From “Eh” to Exceptional
A carwash addition not only diversifies your offerings and attracts more customers but presents a promising revenue stream. The express wash option, whether new or a conversion, maximizes throughput and sales. It’s a smart move to bolster your C-store’s sales and profitability today with the express carwash solution.
