Do you need vending in an express

[Kenneth]

Ok, I have been debating with my fellow car washers lately on the need for vending at an express exterior tunnel offering free vacs. I used to feel very strongly that you do need them but lately I do not feel as strong about it. I have used spiral vend units and a couple of drop shelf units. I have carried quite a bit of products or in the case of the drop shelf units we were very limited. Everything from multiple different types of towels, window cleaners, tire shine spray, gift cards and of course air freshers. I look at the cost of the units, profit margin, headache of keeping inventory and then replacing broken parts when some fool attempts to break into them. When looking at initial cost of units, start up inventory and installation of units and I think it is not worth it.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Greg Pack]

I agree. In addition, on a busy day people will use the products while sitting in the vac space. It might not be a problem on weekdays but those peak hours could cause some traffic flow problems and hurt feelings.

 

[Kenneth]

Agreed. I see people detailing their cars in the parking lot on a busy day and I wonder if that is attracting business or detouring it. I guess one could be optimistic and say it is better to have people detailing in the parking lot then no customers in the parking lot at all.

 

[Waxman]

A busy location creates more business.

I think Uncle Sam may disagree about your conclusion and I bet he has #'s to back it up.

At my wash, when things are slow, I take my car or an employee's car thru the carwash so people driving by see use of the place. Remember, very few people are 'leaders'. Most consumers follow the crowd. They go where others already are, figuring 'it must be good, there are always people there'.

A customer of mine said almost that exact thing to me last week. I just keep things looking as busy as I can.

 

[Kenneth]

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem getting customers in the door. We are typically as busy as could be expected. Additionally with a SS/IBA you want the customer to spend more time on the property so they can continue to buy more. That is not the case with and express nor can you run one that way.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Kenneth,

I only have a SS car wash, so I'm can not speak from exrerience about Express washes. I do have a customer that has a chain of 8-9 Express Washes 150 miles north of me in California that has one of my 39-selection vending machines at each one. Whenever he builds a new site to expand his chain, he calls me and says " I need one at such and such time set up just like the previous ones". He must think they make him money or he wouldn't keep ordering them.

I have many customers that do a $1000/month plus out of the vending machines they have, so I think that is a good profit center. If they are staying on your property "detailing" their car longer than you think is necessary and "plugging" up the system, just remember they are buying vending products which isn't a losing situation. I have no idea what your experience with "spiral vend" units has been, but don't confuse the sales of drop shelf units with the sales of product from good "so called glass-front" vendors with "Guaranteed Delivery" vending units. In most cases good Guaranteed Delivery "glass-front type" vendor units increase sales anywhere from 2 -5 times.

cfcw may agree with your "congestion" theory on the wash site, but, if you have a quality wash that people want, then they will wait to use your facility and make it look busy as Waxman says.

Uncle Sam

 

[Earl Weiss]

I have 4 EE with after care options. Pay vacs and veding at each. Issues of too many cars spending time at the exits are few and far between perhaps because tightest location can fit at least 8 cars detailing before there is a log jam.

One car wash Guru I heard remarked "The line is your sign" so there is no doubt that potential customers seeing a busy place definitley get the idea.

At my busiest location I often get asked "Are you open" on those occasions when a customer does not see anyone going in.

I like to try the Las Vegas Model. Obviously the prime business is gambling, yet when the gamblers come they offer all manner of ancillary ways to get the $ out of the customer's pocket and into theirs.

Problem and labor issues with vending are nominal. I have a secure area for vending inventory at each location and it probably takes less than an hour a week to fill vendors and address any issues. One thing I decided to do was make sure vendors had enough capacity of any item so that it is rare to run out of anything in a vendor within a week.

Example. Towels are most popular at the 8 bay and tunnel location so that location has 6 columns of towels whereas others may have one or two.

 

[swinkler]

my express

I own my first express and I think it is good to have the vending. People always want a towel, air freshener or armorall wipe for the dash so you might as well make something off of it. We do get folks who want to detail their car on site and when it is busy we point out that we ask that people limit their time to 5 minutes at the vacuum stations (we put up signs that say that as well).

The up front cost of a vending machine is a challenge. The way I dodged the cost is by making an agreement with a vending machine company that they could provide a soda machine on site, pay me a significantly reduced commission from sales in that machine in return for providing me with an extra machine which they service for repairs, but we stock and maintain with product and take 100% of the car wash products revenue. It has worked out pretty well.

Also, my partner (who watches late night TV) ordered some of those SHAM WOWs last week and since we put them in we are selling about 5 a day with average profit of $3 per towel. ($15 X 365 days can be about $5,400 of extra profit if we maintain that average)

 

[Obeco1]

Swinkler, what do you have to pay for these, and what are you selling them for?

 

[swinkler]

pay for what??

Did you mean the Sham Wows? We paid full retail from the website to try them out before contacting them to buy in bulk. Even at retail the mark up is 100%.

BTW, feel free to contact me directly as I do not check this site too frequently. sw@uwventures.com

 

[swinkler]

pay for what??

Did you mean the Sham Wows? We paid full retail from the website to try them out before contacting them to buy in bulk. Even at retail the mark up is 100%.

BTW, feel free to contact me directly as I do not check this site too frequently. sw@uwventures.com