Whether you own a vended laundry, or plan to develop one, be sure to consider the many ways to maximize your washer and dryer profit in order to reap more from your investment. Today’s washers feature programmable controls and capabilities to take your business to the next level. Read on for some tips on maximizing your washer profit.
Add Ozone /Sanitize
Ozone is a huge differentiator because it’s not commonly offered. Ozone is a gas injected into the wash cycle that effectively sanitizes laundry. If you have washers that are compatible with ozone, like Continental, it’s simple to add into your mix of offerings. With ozone, you’ll stand out from competitors, attract customers from apartment laundries and draw in homeowners.
Hybrid Controls
There are new controls on some brands of washers that allow owners/staff to switch from a self-service customer touchscreen and programming to a full-service commercial touchscreen and programming. This allows laundries to process WDF and full-service commercial work — which requires sophisticated programming in order to remove oils and stains — during idle hours or at night. I know laundries that by day have a self-service touchscreen on for customers and then switch to the commercial touchscreen at night to process WDF and commercial account laundry. It’s like having a vended and commercial washer all in one. A hybrid control allows you to get maxed productivity out of a single machine.
Programmable Cycles
Many vended washers are programmable by cycle. So, programs can be tweaked to specific water temperatures and levels, time, extract speeds, number of baths and number of rinses. Owners can program generic cycles like Cold, Warm and Hot to use less water by tweaking baths, rinses and levels; reduce natural gas costs by lowering water temperatures; or decreasing cycle times for a faster wash. Vend prices can be adjusted accordingly.
Extras
Some washers on the market offer cycle add-ons like Superwash, Extra Spin, Extra Rinse or Extra Wash. Customers can opt to select an “Extra” in addition to the standard cycles like Hot, Warm and Cold. Every “Extra” can add to overall vend price for more revenue per machine, plus every “Extra” is programmable. In some machines, storeowners can have up to six cycle add-ons. It’s also easy to make one of the “Extras” a cold water ozone rinse “Extra Ozone.” The point is it’s easy to upsell your customer by giving him/her more washing options.
Automatic Detergent Injection
What about those machines that are 80- to 130-pound capacities? They are often a laundry’s most popular washers, but because they are so big, customers can have a hard time adding detergents. So why not have the chemistry automatically dispensed and included as part of the vend price?
This speeds up the wash process because customers don’t fill washer hoppers with cups of product. It also keeps washers cleaner by eliminating spills and messy soap hoppers. Many washers are compatible for automatic detergent injection. There’s a product on the market — Express Clean — that automatically dispenses specially formulated detergents, brighteners and softeners into washers. This particular one is in a clear box that lights up when different chemicals are injected into the washer. I know a lot of store owners who are very successful doing this, and of course, they charge more than a typical vend.
On-Screen Advertising New to the market last year was the Genius control which that features a 10-inch customizable touchscreen that doubles as an advertising platform. It’s yet another way to get more out of your machine and services by reminding customers of offers, promotions and services. You can add your own logos, customize content, and more.
At the end of the day, there is a ton you can do to maximize washer profit. And in the process, you differentiate your laundry from all the rest with options and conveniences that build customer loyalty.
About the Author
Tod Sorensen is a regional business manager at Girbau North America and vice president of Continental Girbau West, a full-service distributorship serving the Southern California vended, on-premise and industrial laundry markets. He holds more than 20 years of experience in vended laundry development and market analysis. Please contact him with any questions at tsorensen@gnalaundry.com or call 866-950-2449.