At my store, roughly 40 percent of my overall laundry business comes from homeowners who actually own their own washers and dryers? In fact, I would argue that, in many markets across the country, this demographic is gradually becoming more of a mainstream self-service laundry customer, rather than a “non-traditional”one.
Here’s a typical scenario at my laundry: Mom and Dad have two kids – one in high school and the other in junior high, and both of them are involved in sports, band, etc. Both parents work outside the home, and after a long day, both of them are already exhausted by the time the dinner dishes are in the dishwasher. Then, one of the parents (or both) takes one of the kids (or both) to an evening activity (band practice, a game, whatever). The kids’ extracurricular activities produce a lot of “extra”laundry – and the family can never seem to keep up with it at home. So, they come to my store one night a week and load up four of my larger machines with (1) towels and athletic gear, (2) whites, (3) bedding and sheets, and (4) jeans and colors. Then, they combine the four wash loads into two mega-dryers – one on high heat and one on medium heat – and they knock out an entire week’s worth of family laundry (about 60 to 80 pounds worth) in 90 minutes. Of course, to do that laundry at home would have easily taken 10 to 14 hours.
This type of customer is very likely in your marketplace as well. Of course, it’s relevant to note these particular customers are seeking a different “product”than simply pure vended laundry and clean clothes. They are buying convenience and time. Homeowners with perfectly good laundry equipment are patronizing self-service laundries on an increasingly regular basis, seeking four specific characteristics that our laundromats offer – a facility that’s clean, safe, easy to use and fast.
Clearly, big washers and dryers are a must. As I noted, these customers typically are families, not single adults with only 20 pounds of laundry to do. They’re looking for equipment with 40-, 60- and 80-pound capacities and higher.
Along those same lines, convenient and ample parking is important to these customers, as they normally bring in 60 to 100 pounds of laundry at a time.
Reliable, high-speed WiFi access also is critical to this demographic. In my experience, these customers are not as interested in watching television as they are in streaming video content from Netflix or YouTube on their smartphones and tablets. What’s more, this customer base also can be a strong consumer of your store’s soap, snack and beverage vending options as well – if you offer what they’re looking for.
The homeowner demographic requires and truly appreciates a personal touch and first-person customer service. Whether it’s helping these customers get their loads to and from their vehicles or showing them exactly how to program and start up an 80-pound frontloader, this type of hands-on customer service can go a long way. For example, we “top off”the dryers for this crowd when needed – at 25 cents for six minutes – and they love that we not only notice but care enough to do so.
In addition, offering the convenience of more than one payment option will impact your ability to attract homeowners to your store? In fact, more than half of the homeowners who use my laundry pay with credit or debit cards, and they regularly comment how much they like not having to pay with quarters.
All in all, we go out of our way to make the laundromat experience easier than doing laundry at home. Again, these customers are, in essence, buying convenience and time – and that’s the bottom line.
