OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. — Modern laundromats are incorporating a range of amenities designed to transform the traditionally mundane chore of doing laundry into an enjoyable and efficient experience.
From high-speed Wi-Fi and comfortable lounge areas to varied payment options and premium detergents, these small but important changes in service and environment can have a big impact on customer satisfaction and business success.
A recent CLA webinar titled “The Customer Experience: Trends in Laundry Amenities” took a closer look at laundromat amenities through the eyes of a small panel of store owners.
Panelists were Carlie Canfield, LaundroLab, St. Petersburg, Florida; Josh Chapman, Wash Bar, Ardmore, Oklahoma; and Bruce Westfall, Big Kahuna Ozone Laundry, Newark, Ohio (their responses have been edited for length and clarity).
Part 1 discussed customer preference trends and leveraging technology. Part 2 centered on community-focused spaces and programs. Let’s conclude.
Q: Have you tried testing different vending machine drinks or snacks or do you stay with the same choices?
Westfall: I’m testing all the time. The Mountain Dews are popular, but I guess that’s true nationwide. The things that are selling like crazy, we don’t mess with. People are expecting a Pepsi, a Coke and a Mountain Dew, right? But we’ve got two vending machines, I forget how many positions in each one, but we are constantly moving things around. Has anyone tried the Tahitian Treat fruit punch? It’s probably all sugar. Everybody loves it but it’s hard to find. We always put it in our machines when we can find it. Of course, it goes with our tropical theme, too.
Canfield: The nice part about the franchise is they give us statistics on what sells best but that also depends on the market. That store’s only been open for six months so I’m still playing around with it. I’m keeping a lot of the same things in it. There are three different energy drinks and the flux in which one’s the favorite always changes. I don’t have any consistency yet.
Chapman: I find the most unhealthiest stuff I would never drink. [Pauses for laughter.] My wife is a nurse and we’re fairly healthy. We tried putting in healthy stuff; we sell a lot of water. We sell bottles of Dr. Pepper and Coke, and everything else we do in cans. We sell Mountain Dew and a lot of Orange Crush, but the one that surprised me is chocolate Yoo-Hoo. I can’t keep that stuff in stock. You have to put out what sells.
Q: Do you offer any amenities for your wash-dry-fold (WDF) customers, your commercial accounts or your pickup and delivery accounts?
Canfield: I guess this would be something small but just kind of a visual convenience. I created a menu board. Just like you go to a restaurant, you see a menu with pictures and the options that you have. We hand our laundry customers our menu and it shows all their options for soap, the ones that are included, but also add-on options so they can customize their wash. So, if they wanted an oxygen cleaner, if they wanted extra sanitizing that day. The visual just makes it easier than us discussing their preferences.
Chapman: We do free pickup and delivery for everything. Our WDF software uses an app so customers get a text message. We’ve set it for 24 hours before and one hour before our driver arrives, the customer gets a text message reminding them and asking that if they don’t have anything to pick up to let us know. That’s so we’re not driving all over the place. Using the app has been big for us.
And we offer free digital signage inside our stores to promote our commercial accounts. We do work for gyms. There’s one gym in particular that we do 90 pounds of towels for every single day. I know for a fact that they’ve gotten new memberships from us, so it’s all coming full circle.
The CLA frequently offers free webinars covering topics such as marketing, store operations/management, and new investor education. Visit https://laundryassociation.org/webinars to learn more.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
