Free Vacuums??

[dogwasher]

I hesitated to post this but here it goes. I have a 4 bay SS wash with two IBAs. In the last two years I now have a $3 EE with free vacs around the corner and another similar full service wash approximately a mile away that lowered its price and started free vacs about a year ago. I know you guys are going tell me don't offer free vacs just keep the place clean ect... Well this wash is already known for being in top shape and well kept BUT I have lost customers to these other washes and I'm going to list a couple things that I have thought about.
1) Vacs gross about $1,000.00 per month or say $30 per day
2) I'm the only self serve in the Chicago area(as far as I know) that has my ss at $1.75 per 4 minutes all others are $2.00 or more and I wouldn't dare try to raise this to $2.00 at this time unless I'm ready to make a big gamble to loose more customers
3)I know I could get away with a quarter raise in price if I offered free vacs, I did the math and the extra quarter would get me back my $1,000.00 per month
4)So if I could add about 5 CPD(approximate average of $30 per day) to my automatics I would be ahead of the game and then hope for more cars per day in the SS and automatics due to the Free Vacs??
OK now you guys can let me have it!

 

[Kevin James]

I love it when people think outside the box. I like the idea. I think you should go for it. I've been thinking on those lines myself. But I have a board I have to convince before I can do any major pricing changes.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I know in my area free vacs would give me quite a workout, i offer free garbage now. Around here they would drop off the garbage-- vacuum and leave. Do you have a way to dispense a token from your automatic for a free vac. instead?
Sometimes even pricing the vacs at .25 would seem like free. What are the prices of the Iba's to compete with the $3 EE around the corner, do they do OK. I would try $2 in the SS , but is the SS a tough sell at any price with the $3 EE nearby. Sorry about all the questions.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW I am in the Chicago area - Niles. Tried the free vacs at my SS /ee for a month. No discernible difference in Volume.

 

[MEP001]

Your theory makes sense, however I like the idea of dispensing a token at the auto better.

 

[Waxman]

Your SS should be $2. You will lose some customers but make more in revenue even with the slight loss of volume.

I like 25 cent vacs. It could be part of your marketing. To customers it'd basically be free but to you it would help cover costs associated with the vacs (brushes, hoses, cuffs, claws, emptying them more etc).

 

[Jeff_L]

So if you went to 25 cent vacs, would you decrease the time proportionally?

 

[dogwasher]

FWIW I am in the Chicago area - Niles. Tried the free vacs at my SS /ee for a month. No discernible difference in Volume.

Thanks Earl, this is good to know.
The Automatic prices are $5 $6 $7 and $8.50 The five dollar is a single pass with a dryer.
My thought was to leave all the pay vacs in place so after hours they could be used if the customer put money in them and out near the street install a central vac with bright colored piping just like all the EE have to attract the cars passing by, the central vac would only run during business hours.

 

[dogwasher]

Your SS should be $2. You will lose some customers but make more in revenue even with the slight loss of volume.





I like 25 cent vacs. It could be part of your marketing. To customers it'd basically be free but to you it would help cover costs associated with the vacs (brushes, hoses, cuffs, claws, emptying them more etc).

I think your right Waxman I may raise it to $2.00 but I will wait until we ramp up in November!

 

[Waxman]

I make my lowest price IBA wash ($7) a wet wash (no blowers) and double up on the presoaks. I give spot free as last pass.

I think your free vacs idea is good, but I always pause before I spend money to create something free for customers to use carte blanche.

However, as Kung Fu Panda says; "There is no charge for awesomeness".

 

[captain cw]

I vend a token at both of my washes with every auto wash purchased. The token is worth $1 in the vacuum or they can collect them for discounts or a free wash in the automatic wash. Self serve customers still have to pay for the vacuum. It's helped my auto numbers quite a bit. I also had an EE built down the street and this really helped.

 

[Red Baron]

If I put up a sign that said "free vaccuums," they'd all be gone tomorrow when I got there.

 

[Greg Pack]

Raising prices works fine until you're steamrolled by an express. Consumer sentiment has shifted, people are looking for value and I don't think that's going to revert back anytime soon. Look at fast food- dollar value menus are back, Subway is running their $2 subs, etc. there was a recent article about Subway's $5 footlong being a great success, with same store sales up around 17% in a recession. Anyway, to continue to prosper in this market segment (SS/IBA) and economy I believe we're gonna have to think unconventionally and up our marketing a bit.

In regard to the short term experiment, I think you will have to hang in there longer than a month to see if it makes difference. It really does take a while for word to travel around. I recently picked up a wash with c-store competition. One store gives a free wash with fill up, the other offers rain-x and free vacuum with IBA purchase. I have been offering bonus tokens for several months with any IBA wash. Long-time customers just are used to the drill and have for the most part ignored the free token machine that makes an ear-piercing noise when you purchase a wash. Once I explain it to them they love it. It's been several months now, and is finally catching on with customers. One new customer told me she heard about the token deal from a friend, so she thought she would visit. Just last week I had a guy tell me that he loves the wash but also used an express. He said the vac token sealed the deal for him and is "through" with the express tunnel that is a fifteen minute drive away. Now, he may have been exaggerating, but it's so nice to have a raving fan once in a while! Although there is no discernible increase in revenue as of yet I have only owned this wash since February. I think it will have a positive impact over the next year. Time will tell.


BTW, the one price concept of two self serves has been largely a success. pay a fixed price and wash&vac to your heart's content. One wash in Georgia is averaging about 40% higher revenue, another in Florida has supposedly more than tripled (second hand info on that one) . There will be a brief presentation at the SECWA Memphis road show in a couple of weeks on the Georgia site.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

Fwiw I drive past a wash every day that has free vacs on my way to work. There is ALWAYS someone at the vacs. I know that if I see a car in the auto there, that means I will have a line at my place (30 miles away). It just looks to me like he's wearing out his vacs for nothing. He did it because he has a tunnel across the street with free vacs but it doesn't look like it's helping to me.

 

[dogwasher]

Fwiw I drive past a wash every day that has free vacs on my way to work. There is ALWAYS someone at the vacs. I know that if I see a car in the auto there, that means I will have a line at my place (30 miles away). It just looks to me like he's wearing out his vacs for nothing. He did it because he has a tunnel across the street with free vacs but it doesn't look like it's helping to me.

Thanks, when you see one car in the auto how many are in the tunnel across the street? what type of wash do you have 30 miles away?

 

[captain cw]

I think the only way to successfully do it is to give a token only to paying customers that have purchased a wash. That way non-paying customers still have to pay for a vacuum cycle. The best of both worlds. When I started giving a free vacuum token with my wash, I raised my prices on my automatic $1 across the board. I raised traffic and still have the customers paying for the vac cycle. It just happens to be rolled into the auto price.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

The tunnel across the street just went through a total renovation and business seems to have picked up quite a bit. The ss had, until recently an Oasis Typhoon that seemed to be broken a lot. They just replaced it with a new Water World unit. Mind you what I know about these 2 washes comes merely from driving past them twice every day. The traffic count on their road is probably 45k/day or so. It took me a long time to realize why there were always people at the vacs. It never occured to me that he would be giving away that service.

I have a 4/1 with a Ryko Softgloss in a small town about 30 miles away.

 

[Jeff_L]

I think the only way to successfully do it is to give a token only to paying customers that have purchased a wash. That way non-paying customers still have to pay for a vacuum cycle. The best of both worlds. When I started giving a free vacuum token with my wash, I raised my prices on my automatic $1 across the board. I raised traffic and still have the customers paying for the vac cycle. It just happens to be rolled into the auto price.

I think you're right on captain. Tunnels can do it because you have to pay for a wash to get to the free vacs, so they can build it in their price. You can do it at your autos, and give a token away for certain packages to make the vac appear free. For the ss business, giving away vacs to compete with the tunnels doesn't make sense. SS business is a different market than the tunnel customers.

I've seen a ss wash a few miles down the road from me started giving away free vacs, and he's busy all the time. BUT, he was busy BEFORE he gave away the vacs. Therefore, I don't know what he gained by it.

(Of course, these are my feelings today, I may wake up tomorrow and say "Hey, I've got a great idea, free vacs!") hehehe

 

[robert roman]

Researchers like Nielsen Media find that more people are buying more of their goods and services at locations that provide incentives tied to spending levels at the stores where they shop. People are also doing things like combining shopping trips and errands to save gas. In general, the low and middle income households (most likely to use self-service) are making the more drastic spending adjustments and the lowest and highest income groups (least likely to use self-service) are less likely to. So, self-service markets are under more pressure in general.

In this situation, the express exterior becomes a threat to self-service markets because the business model is based on marketing strategies that mostly boil down to tactics or techniques used to improve loyalty.

For example, motorists are inclined to purchase most of the products and services they need near their homes. So, we often find that express exterior facilities have superior locations as compared to self-service facilities in terms of household income, densities, proximity to businesses and homes, etc.

Express exterior owners establish a recognized or differentiated product by providing a level of customer service not normally found at self-service carwash facilities, discounting price (low base price), offering free use of vacuums, etc.

To effectively compete against similar products in the market, express owners will accept all forms of payment, many will offer a customer loyalty program, they provide a carwash that is capable of producing a first-class clean, shine and dry and minimizing wait times, etc.

Arguably, the offer of free use of vacuums alone may not be enough to offset the considerable competitive advantage that an express exterior can represent.

Consequently, I would look to niche market retailing to help identify the things that you may be able or willing to do to compete effectively.

 

[dogwasher]

Oh Boy....got the permit!!