Every business needs to boost revenue, including laundromats. At first glance, it might seem like laundromats are a business model without many opportunities for change, but you may be surprised at the difference a few small updates can make to your bottom line. From new services to flexible payment methods, plenty of options exist for improving your laundromat business.
If you’re exploring how you can make your laundromat more profitable, try the following tips.
Add More Revenue Streams
One of the most straightforward ways to boost profits is to open up new revenue streams. In laundromats, many of these options also add value for customers, helping you attract more people and strengthen your existing revenue stream.
Here are some additional revenue sources for laundromats.
- Extra services: Many people will happily pay more for services like washing and folding, dry cleaning and ironing. Offering them in your laundromat is an excellent way to appeal to new and returning customers.
- Vending machines: A vending machine makes it easy for guests to grab a snack while waiting for laundry. You can even stock it with laundry products, like travel-sized detergents and fabric softeners, for people who forgot or ran out of supplies. You can rent or buy a vending machine for your laundromat and start earning money from the sales.
- ATMs: Even if most of your sales are cashless, an ATM can offer convenience and allow you to profit from the fees. You can rent an ATM for a lower initial investment, but you must ensure your security is sufficient.
Improve Your Amenities
Usually, spending time at a laundromat is not very exciting. You can improve the guest experience and encourage more business by offering extra amenities, such as:
- TVs
- Arcade and board games
- A small community library with books and magazines
- A cafe
- A workspace with a desk and outlets for remote work
- Kids’ play areas
Most of these benefits are affordable and go a long way in making the laundromat feel more inviting. An enjoyable waiting space can be a differentiating factor that encourages someone to visit your laundromat instead of your competitor’s. Upgrading the facility is an easy way to attract more customers to your laundromat.
Modernize Your Equipment
Old, clunky equipment can cost you money in a several ways. It’s typically less efficient and more likely to break down, which increases utility and repair costs and creates slower cycle times. Slower cycles and worse performance — such as a dryer that doesn’t dry all the way or a payment system that eats quarters — can hurt your reputation and send customers elsewhere.
Updating your equipment can help you avoid these situations and impress customers. While modern washers and dryers are energy-efficient, you don’t need to overhaul your entire laundromat. An easy way to modernize your equipment is to add more payment options. Over a quarter of American consumers prefer digital payments to traditional ones like cash and check. You can appeal to these preferences by adding more payment options to your existing equipment.
For instance, our SpyderWash system allows you to accept contactless credit and debit card payments, mobile wallet payments and laundry cards. You can even use it alongside coin payments. SpyderWash also provides modern benefits and is a complete management system. Plus, you can reduce the time you spend collecting coins.
A modern upgrade like this offers more options to draw in cashless customers and provide convenience for your existing guests.
Offer Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are an excellent way to keep your customers coming back. About 70% of Americans say loyalty programs inspire allegiance toward their favorite brands, and 80% of consumers say these programs affect their likelihood of doing business with a brand in the future. You can boost your revenue by offering your guests a loyalty program with benefits and perks.
You can use a loyalty program to offer advantages like:
- Earning points or perks based on how much the customer spends with you
- Getting a free wash or dry after a specific number of transactions
- Automatically linking payment methods with loyalty accounts
- Tailored marketing based on user activity
- Automatic enrollment options
- Occasional perks like birthday or holiday rewards
A loyalty program also helps you as an owner by providing extensive insights into user activity. You can improve your marketing efforts and learn all about your users. The incentives encourage new and existing customers to return more often, while boosting your laundromat’s reputation. Loyalty programs offer a win-win for both parties. With the ideal system, they also don’t require long registration processes, buying laundry cards or even downloading an app.
Control Utility Costs
Not surprisingly, a significant portion of laundromat expenses go toward utilities. Unchecked water, gas and electricity costs can eat into your bottom line. Taking measures to control utility usage can help you save on one of your largest expenses.
A typical utility bill will tell you how much you owe but won’t provide much detail about where it’s coming from. One way to control costs is to implement a solution that tracks machine use. SpyderWash can monitor machine activity and provide insights into your utility costs.
Investing in high-efficiency laundry equipment is another strategy to control your energy bills. It may have high upfront costs, but new equipment could offer an excellent long-term return on investment if you pay a lot for your utilities. Plus, you could get faster cycles, modern capabilities and happier customers.
Boost Your Revenue With Flexible Payments
You can increase revenue at a laundromat in many different ways. Experiment with these tips and see what fits best for your unique business. From revenue streams and equipment to loyalty perks and utility costs, these tactics can help you boost laundromat revenue.
We offer support in many of these areas with SpyderWash, a comprehensive payment system that attaches to existing laundry machines and allows you to accept modern payment methods like contactless cards and mobile wallets. It also supports remote management, flexible loyalty programs and a host of other valuable features. The SpyderWash system is ideal for appealing to new customers and increasing value for existing ones.
Reach out to us today to learn more about SpyderWash and start boosting your bottom line!
