FREE VACUUMS

Does anyone have "definitive" proof that providing FREE Vacuums increases car wash volume sufficiently to pay for the investment in Central Vacuum equipment; installation and the dedicated land?

Plus the loss of self service vacuum revenue of anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 a month, net after amortization of self service vacuum cost.

Regards
Bud Abraham

I believe that my my Free Vacuums generate well more then $1000 monthly in car wash revenue. rather then vac income. we use coin op vacs with tokens. each customer recieves 1 free vac token which runs the vac for 6minutes if more time is needed the customer does have to pay $1 for additional time. Its the small things that make a big difference to customers we also offer a detail cart with courtsey towels and window cleaner.offering these items open up a whole new box where customers are now purchasing armorall, tree's, tire shine and etc from our vending machines. we sell alot of vending. if the vacs were not free they may have just pulled out on the road. getting people to stick around they will purchase other items you offer

I really like that style, I know a lot of Express operators that don't do vending because they don't want people hanging around all day. Can you say, wham bam thank-you ma’am?

FYI.... we also have signage on our vacs and change machines stating free vacs with wash, it's amazing how many people walk up to the change machine read the sign FREE VACUUM w/WASH walk away and get in line.

What is proof; statistics or anecdotal evidence?

Working with exterior owners, I have seen year-to-year increases in sales volumes of between 30% to 50% from adding on free use vacuums. However, these results are biased somewhat because other marketing improvements were involved.

On the other hand, there have been times when I did not recommend offering free use of vacuums because of constraints with the property.

As for self-service, I find little evidence that offering free use of vacuums leads to increasing sales volumes.

I have 3 self service car washes and would never offer free anything. We cannot make up the loss with wash sales. All we would get is more "free loaders" using the wash (vacs garbage etc......) I just invested $30,000 in new vacs and raised my price by $.50. Customer response was positive. We all want something for nothing. Most people will take something for free if given the opportunity. I cannot speak for full service or EE washes.

Our Vacs are Free w/wash only (1 Free use/6minutes) I actually believe that this drives my Vac income up. You take average customer, perhaps they would never had pulled over to Vacuum. Attendant ask would you like the Free Vacuum Token? YES (free is Good) They are told they recieve 1 Free/it is $1 there after. They go over, don't finish walk to change machine/recieve change, see all the great vending items, purchase a Tree & armor all pad and go pump a few more dollars in the vaccum. This customer may have never done any of this with out given that 1 Free vac Token. They leave with a positive feeling of the Free vacs we offer, the courtsey towels with free Glass cleaner. All of this stuff cost pennies to offer but time after time people tell me they love all the addons we offer. people watch, on your lot, watch actions and trends take notes and track habits. you will see patterns and you will find a solution cheaply to address it.

Sorry gentlemen, when I posed the question it was referring ONLY to a conveyorized exterior car wash.

They are the operations that are investing thousands of dollars in Central Vacuums; Manifolds, Drops not to mention the land.

The question does not relate to self service car washes or roll overs because your volume is limited no matter what you do it takes X minutes for a cycle whereas a conveyor wash can wash thousands of cars per month.

Not one operator I have talked with could prove that investing that kind of money in a "FREE" vacuum setup returned the money in increased or anymore car wash volume than they would have otherwise gotten with normal car wash marketing as Mr Roman makes reference to in his post.

The reality is that no more than 20% of the car wash customers are interested in self service vacuums anyway.

A car wash customer does not come to a car wash for a vacuum, they come for a car wash.

Regards

I think a big factor is if you have a wash of the same format that offers free vacs. Why would you give away free vacs when no one else is if your confident that you provide a quality wash?

With that said, unfortunately we had a car wash opened a few years ago that offered free vacs and we didn't think that would hurt our volume. We were wrong. We have a far superior location and according to customer feedback, we have a better quality wash, but the free vacs are a good reason to go to the competition. We already offered complimentary towels and glass cleaner but it wasn't enough. In September we started giving out 1 free vac token with extras costing $1 for 5 minutes each. Volume is starting to steadily increase over last years numbers. Customer feedback has been extremely positive. In this economy anything free can really drive the customers in.

We put a very high priority on providing excellent customer service, a high quality car wash, and maintaining a clean facility. It is surprising how the little things like 1 free vac token can affect your business.

Bud,

I agree that no one can quantify the increase volume from just free vacs. As Mr. Roman refrences it can be a marketing tool, I do not think he was saying that the same results could be acheived without this tool (maybe-maybe not). In some cases, too much competition in the market, 'Free' vacs can be used in your overall marketing mix to give a potential customer a reason to stop by your facility. Again it is not easy to say I offered free vacs and X increase in customers because it is either offered from the start of a new facility or combined with an overall marketing campaign. I use it in a market where a population base of 50,000 had 7 tunnels and more IBA and self serve washes-I can't say an exact number but some customers did comment that they either switched from a competitor or stayed with me because of my free vacs so it can work. Just thoughts.

Aaron

Bud...

While your post may likely piss off some equipment suppliers, I respect the assumptive courage of your convictions.

However, your comment prompts a few follow-up questions: When assessing value, what impact does FREE have when compared to PAID (and controlled) vacuum usage. Is the loss-leader an effective marketing ploy aimed at providing a competitive edge? And if so, which vacuum system is a wiser choice? Some operators see the individual self-serve vacuums as having the benefit of control that can tie a token to entitled usage while the carwash is open and demand is higher... as well as for off-hours afterlife revenue from consumers who simply seek self-serve vacuum availability when the carwash is not open.

So, I guess a fundamental question is the operator's choice and versatility of individual vacuums versus a single central vacuum system. Is it more flexible to install individual units that can separately lead a dual life of token-driven as well as "Paid" by coin, credit or gift card... or a less adaptable centralized system?

It would seem that individual self-serve vacuums can effectively lead a dual-life; promotional value as well as revenue generating. In either case, the flex-serve paradigm recommends creating a vending area for food, beverage and auto appearance-related sundry sales as a sensible profit-generating inclusion. It also makes sense to consider having gift card readers on the individual units for pre-sold card-swipe usage.

Just a few more thoughts on the subject...

-Steve

The way I see it if you rely on your vacuum income to pay the bills your wash isn't gonna last long. Free Vacs is one tool to generate extra income through many diferent avenues. Currently my free vacs have gained over 50 accounts for us. funeral homes, taxi/airport shuttles, state farm ins., hospital security, courriers, utilty comp, us govt. and many many more! I put out the best wash around and I doont rely on produing a mediocre wash to justify my free vacs. We wash over 100k in our tunnel and over 40k in our IBA both w/free vacs. My wash volume from my free vacs that I see monthly out weighs the amount of quarters (Vac revenue) im gonna empty out each month out of them. The way I see it, if my favorite restaurant offered free desert with any meal they would see me every saturday nite!

The way I see it, the challenge would be where you'd eat every Saturday if your favorite restaurant didn't offer free desert... but their competition did. Bottom-line, it probably comes down to which restaurant offers the best food, right? You see, if all it takes to get your business is a free desert, the main course must be incidental in your value system!

No offense, but your logic cried out for a balanced response.

I guess I am in the 20% that likes the inside of my car clean as well as the outside. I read buds post this morning, and have been thinking about it all day. That’s a bold statement "A car wash customer doesn’t come to a carwash for a vacuum, they come for a car wash." I couldn’t disagree more, and thought that there would be several opposition posts to that statement when I got home. I guess I was wrong; everyone seems to agree with that. I still don't get it. I think that everyone (customers) want something for nothing. Free vacs are exactly that.

So, 80% of the population never vacuums their car? Or is it that everyone only vacuum on every fifth visit?

Free vacs might not be needed by every customer on every visit. But perhaps they will develop a habit of washing where the vacs are available when they need them.

Given the choice between two equally good car washes, one with free vacs, one without, where am I gonna go? Free vacs for me, please.

The way I see it, if you put out a dynamite wash w/Free vacs you are a force to be reckoned with.

Like I said we offer 1 free vacuum token after that they have to pay $1. Are attendants ask would you like the free vacuum token today, new customers always ask, what? why? the vacuums are free? yes one free use with any wash... Wow. ya thanks! This Great! You just set your self aside from all your competition. Some people look at every carwash as being the same. regaurdless on the final outcome of the vehicle. Now you have found your niche in with these people too. young kids on a budget waxxing and vacuuming that rusted out honda civic. they love the free vacs, glass cleaner and towels to use. Taxi and airport shuttles, they love rolling in washing up and vacuuming for free. bottom line for fleets like that is value you offer a great wash with an extra value, it's a homerun. we wash over 50 cabs alone daily regaurdless of the weather.

Selling points at holidays. We do newspaper ads 10 Carwashes $50 w/FREE VACUUM. Boom the person looking for the most value to give as a gift not only was lured in by the ad but now they also know that you offer a Great add on FREE service. What I like about the token thing is even know alot of people take it and not use it they have an excuse to come back rather then draggin out the shop vac and cord. or they give them to someone else. it's almost like free advertising. so many times we have people come in and say OH my grandma gave me this free vac token. can I use it in any vacuum? they then see other great looking clean cars with clean rims and shiny tires and boom they are in line getting washed.

My question is, you go out for dinner. the owner comes up to you at the bar. let me get you and your wife a drink, on me. now is the owner stupid? he just gave you $16 in free cocktails, it didn't cost him that though! But gave you a positive experience and you feel appreciated. my theroy is it is the same thing just a different scale. in the end dynamite wash with Fre vacs....Homerun! Especilly in the last 2 years economic spiral. People find value in the word FREE!

MY favorite Restaurant
I would still be there every saturday nite! like I am now. but probally would be there thursday and friday nite too!

Free vacs are a great socail tool too! gives you a reason to go chitchat with customrs get feedback wants and dislikes about you wash. also for us it's like a nite club fri-sat afternoons all the young 16-24 year old guys and girls cleaning out and waxxin up there rides turns into a carwash bootycall! things are alot different then they used to be

What I find interesting is that you, Buda, ask for definitive proof and then respond with generalities to explain the carwash industry. For example, “The reality is that no more than 20% of the car wash customers are interested in self service vacuums anyway. A car wash customer does not come to a car wash for a vacuum, they come for a car wash.”

One thing I have learned over the years is the difficulty of trying to characterize the carwash industry by throwing a blanket over it. Common experience has shown that individual markets exhibit similarities as well as nuances. If this weren’t the case, we could assert that the needs and wants of people in San Diego are no different than people in Tupelo, Mississippi. Of course, this is not necessarily the case.

For example, I would have no qualms about having a fried food concession at a carwash located in Tupelo because people in this region love fried food. On the other hand, I believe this might be a poor choice for a carwash located in a tony suburb of San Diego where people are generally more health conscious. In this case, a sushi bar or tofu-burgers and cappuccino might be a better choice than fried okra, catfish or chicken and a Big Gulp.

As for vacuums and other amenities at a carwash site, it has been my experience that the decision of what to do and how to do it usually boils down to the investor’s personal preference, the competition, available space and other factors.

I have a friend in the Midwest who has converted several small gas station/convenience stores into gas stations with substantial carwash and no convenience store. At one site, there are only several vacuums because the opportunity to wash high volumes far outweighed the benefit of compromising the carwash facility for the sake of having more vacuum spaces.

I have another friend in the northeast who doesn’t offer free use vacuums at his express exterior because he doesn’t like to give things away for free and, for the time being, he doesn’t have to. The competition is located at a sufficient distance and the market can bear the price charged.

On the other hand, I live in a small area county with a population density of over 3,000 people per square mile and there are only two express exterior carwash facilities. The one closest to me is a converted full-service conveyor that offers a $5 base wash and free vacuums. However, there are not enough vacuums, the spaces are way too narrow and the vacuums are located before the point of sale. Consequently, on busier days, it is very difficult to use the vacuums. If the vacuum spaces are full of customers, it is very difficult to exit and re-enter the property to get to them. It is such a cluster that my wife refuses to ever use the place again.

I could go on but I hope you get the point.

Express Exteriors are the fast food sector of the car wash industry. Free vacuums are a marketing tool to differentiate yourself from your competition, especially in over-saturated markets. I liken it to "free refills" in the restaurant industry, more than likely started by a fast food chain as a competitive advantage, now 99% of restaurants do it. I'm not saying all car washes will go this way, but if you need a competitive advantage it should be considered as an option. Problem is what do you do, when "everyone" in your market does it and you lose that competitive advantage.

Personally I have never heard anything, but anecdotal info to justify free vacs. I guess if you were an express exterior for several years with pay vacs or no vacs and then added free vacs with no other changes you could probably provide some concrete numbers to show that your business increased due to the free vacs, otherwise its just conjecture.

To me, free vacs are strictly a marketing and competitive tool.

John Moran

I know this question is in reference to conveyors instead of ss but I think the same principles apply.

I know of two ss locations that converted to "pay one price"-gated with auto cashiers and FREE VACUUMS. Both have 6 months under their belts. Both here in the SE. One is up 100% the other is up 400%...yes those are the numbers. So you tell me..are you happy with a few quarters in your vac islands are do you want some real money. It radically changes the entire washing experience to gate off the public from your facility. People like not having to reach in their pockets several times. Plus it gets rid of a lot of problems that occur at self serves.

I'm seeing the natural evolution of car wash prototypes. I don't have enough faith to believe in Darwinism (at least not macro bio-evolution) but I'm seeing survival of the fittest in our industry for sure.

Car wash evolution:
Express evolved out of combining auto cashiers from the IBA segment, with self vacuuming from the ss industry, gates from the parking industry, and a low cost marketing strategy from the Detroit conveyors. Now there are two self serves that have taken the gate concept and free vacuum concept from the expresses and charging $5 or $6 to enter the property.

I love it ... what's next?

Jim,

That's an idea worth looking into. I was thinking of using an auto vac system setup at my self serves that would only have access through some kind of gate system. I would have it setup like the ezpass system on toll roads with some kind of ACW machine to enter the vac area. People would drive up to the ACW machine, spend let say $2, and once in vac as long as the want. The reason for the auto vac setup would be cost and space. The system would always be on when some would enter, the system would only ramp up when the demand was needed.

On the other hand, do you think the self serve customer wants more time for more money or lets say 50 cents at a time on any machine?

I just put in new stand alone vacs and was thinking of charging $2 for 10 to 12 minutes. To me the most frustrating thing for a vac customer is not having enough time to finish. Right now I am $1.25 for 4 minutes. I realize I may lose some money, but I think maybe the customer would be happier knowing they can finish want they started...vaccuming the entire car, not just the floors or just the seats. It's not free, but very convient for the customer. Most people need at least 8 to 10 minutes to vac the entire car.

I know this concept works in the bays $5 for 15 minutes, wash as long as you want etc. Why not the vacs in a similar manner.

Do the two washes that are charging $5-6 to enter let the customers wash in the bays and vac for that price.

The location here in PC, is a 6/1 I built in 1988 and sold in 2005. Yes customers get everything on site, including vacuums and touchless IBA for one price. The new owners took out triple foam from the bays (to speed things up) and removed all cannister vacs and put in central. I think the most important factor is not requiring customers to reach in their pockets(and make change) more than once or rush to beat a clock. Both situations ruin their experience.

They told me yesterday: in the last 4 months, the two dry months were up 4 times..one month was up double and one was up triple.(that's 400%, 300% and 100%) The most important requirement is a large site.

Operators are coming here from all over the country to see this. Robert Greene is the operator in S. GA that's also done it. I predict "pay one price" helps the self serve industry more than the foam brush, as it spreads like wildfire. That industry is in such devastation now it's exciting to see something that might revive it.

Jim,
do you get unlimited IBA washes for that one price system? or a code for a sngle IBA use?

This “one-price” unlimited use concept with entrance gates is certainly a good move in the right direction especially if it helps self-service owners eke out more than the typical meager income from renting space and selling chemicals and utilities and vending merchandise.

Perhaps it would also make sense to take this retail concept even one step further.

Consider a self-service that could offer wash packages with each one priced according to level of service and without unlimited washing, just like an in-bay.

For example;

Basic wash, one price, you get detergent, foam brush and spot-free, bay stays on for ten minutes.

Deluxe wash, one price, you get detergent, foam brush, spray wax, spot-free and vacuum token, bay stays on for ten minutes.

Premium wash, one price, you get detergent, foam brush, spray wax, triple foam, spot-free and vacuum token, bay stays on for ten minutes.

No need for fences/barricades or automated point of sale or gated entrance, people that want to use only the vacuum/shampoo/fragrance or vending have access, you can employ proven carwash retailing strategies, helps differentiate the in-bay, lowers operating expenses as compared to unlimited use, etc., etc.

Of course, this concept would require an entire reworking of the current state of technology employed in the wand-bay segment. However, the prospects of something like this could be as equally exciting as gated, unlimited use.

That could work...but I think the gates do a lot for the site that you may be underestimating.
1) Everyone on site is a paying customer...no more "dump and go"...thieves have to pay to enter or walk on site(which looks suspicious)...no more loitering or easy drug dealing
2) If one bay malfunctions, customer can easiley move to another without loss of money
3) Bill changer un-necessary
4) Less hassle from cheap mud knockers
5) Better security for customers
6) No more clock ticking (which could be a problem on weekends)
7) More credit card usage
8) Less vandalism
9) Less trash
10) Soap, water, power goes up some but not at a one:one ratio

To employ multi level marketing, you could offer an upgrade for car and boat/4 wheeler (some honest people would pay extra to wash both). AND buy today's wash plus additional wash tokens at a discount. AND/OR wash + token for vending purchase. Just trying to come up with different ideas for the usual 4 button auto cashier.

I have been reading this post with allot of interest. I have a express wash 100 foot Belanger equipped tunnel. When I was in the design phase of the wash I wondered how many customer's were afraid of using a friction type of wash.

So I incorporated up to four Splash&Dash units So I could also grab the self serve customer's. To date I have installed only one Splash&dash unit and priced it at $2 for four minutes.

I am now thinking about going with a $5 unlimited self serve with free vacuum's. In order for it to work I would give a token for the self serve and install a loop detector under the pad. when the car leaves the unit would reset itself for the next customer.

What do you think?

Shawn,

You may or may not know that I had the opportunity to evaluate your site in depth several years ago.

Based on my understanding of the location, I would not expect the demand for self-service to be robust or desirable to pursue given the retail composition of the surrounding area.

In the absence of your neighbor, I believe you have a unique opportunity to stay on course and employ other retail strategies to your advantage.

Jim,

As you know, only a fool would knock rather than applaud someone’s success.

However, you did mention several things about this one-price/unlimited time/controlled access self-service concept that merits further discussion.

1) “The most important requirement is a large site.” With my proposed idea, it could be employed at self-service locations of any size. No need to miss out on the opportunity to improve because you are of a smaller-scale.

2) “The new owners took out triple foam from the bays (to speed things up) and removed all cannister vacs and put in central.” In other words, it was necessary to take away from customers a proven, highly desirable to the customer and very profitable product to the owner for the sake of increasing throughput perhaps a bit. This doesn’t seem to make sense. After all, OEM’s have shown the average is about 2.3 cycles per customer or about 8 to 10 minutes or about 6 cars per hour per wand-bay. How much are you going to speed things up by taking away triple foam? Moreover, consider that you have to remove a sunk cost of $20,000 or more in vacuums and then sink another $30,000 or more for a central system. With my idea, none of this would be necessary.

3) “no more "dump and go", loitering, cheap mud knockers, security for customers, less vandalism, less trash, malfunctions (issue)”, etc. One FTE would eliminate just about all of this. Survey after survey, shows attended self-service sites typically perform better financially than unattended ones. Consider the cost to install a barricade, maybe $15,000 or more and one pay station/gate, about $30,000 plus installation. I believe my idea could be done for far less money. Moreover, as for drug dealing, what would stop a dealer from paying the entrance fee and hanging out (cheap rent) or his customers from paying the fee to gain access? LOL Additionally, what happens when the pay station/gate breaks down?

4) “you could offer an upgrade for car and boat/4 wheeler” ICA studies show that motorist dislike very much having to pay extra because they do not have a “standard” vehicle. Why build-in something that customers obviously dislike so much?

5) “More credit card usage” DRB and others have shown people typically spend more per purchase with plastic as compared to cash. If you are charging $5 or $6 for unlimited time, how would you be able to benefit from this consumer trait?

6) “Soap, water, power goes up some but not at a one:one ratio” Some? How would you know or control cost or the length of time any customer will consume resources with unlimited time? Would customers be chased off the site arbitrarily?

Again, you can’t knock success and God knows many self-service owners need a shot in the arm to offset a customer base that has had to make the most dramatic spending adjustments and the increased competition from low-priced express conveyors. I just happen to believe there is another way to do it that has lower cost and greater profit potential.

PanamaJim,

What is "clock ticking"?

Thanks,

Judd

Let me put my question another way:

a. If I invest an additional $100,000 in vacuums, manifolds, installation (not including the cost of the land and construction. Are the FREE vacuums going to increase my car wash volume enough to cover those costs, plus the lost revenues from pay self service vacuums?

b. If I do not invest the $100,00 + in free vacuums would my car wash volume be the same?

These are not trick questions in the least, but a number of respected car wash operators that I know do not believe in the FREE vacuum concept and do not believe it will have any effect on their car wash volume.

Do any of your operators who give FREE vacuums know what percentage of your car wash volume uses the vacuums? Honestly?

Bud Abraham

BUd,

Alot more info is needed to answer your question: 1) are these existing sites or new builds? Already express exteriors or converted to express? Mature sites or growing? 2)Do they already have pay vacs available? 3) what's the competition look like? 3) $100k at one site? or multiple? 4)What's their time frame for ROI?

Clock ticking: having to work hard at cleaning your vehicle plus beat the clock...how many times have you seen someone either: drive off with aoapy vehicle because they ran out of money or run to the change machine because they were running our of time and had no change.Taking away the clock (like the express concept does for vacuums) could make the self serve esperience enjoyable.

Yes, they can go thru the automatic multiple times or use both the automatic and the ss bay.

Yes, my old site..they put in 4 gates and 2 cashiers...spent $70k but it could have been done cheaper.

Trailers/boats/rvs, why make an option for them: 1) it's easier than trying to police it 2) they are already locked in as ss customers 3) There again, lot size and # of bays would be the determinant.

Like Robert says, it's hard to argue with double,triple or quadrupling your money.

Time will tell...I think it's going make ss sites viable for const loans again. Maybe not as big(widespread) as the foam brush but close.

(the foam brush took the ss segment from cheap metal buildings to the beautiful locations we have today) Think about it.

I remember the day I suggested to my fast food operator brother, to allow customers to fill their own drink cups. "O my God they will get FREE refills" he responded. I told him "But think of the money you will save not having to pay employees to do it for them"...some times our vision is too myopic. How do "all you can eat"(pay one price) buffets survive?

I think a lot of sites could gate their IBAs. My plan would be to leave my IBA pricing as it is, but allow entrance onto the site for unlimited SS & vac. This would allow the customer to touch up his car in spots wher the IBA missed and use other site services such as shampoo and fragrance. Another strategy might be to perhaps have the unlimited SS for five or six dollar, with one standard IBA wash with "the works" that is two-three dollars more than SS pricing.

Jimmy,on the ACW, you could but a timer on one or two of the wires going to the ACW buttons for a "night owl" or "weekday special". You could have a standard price at $6, weekday special and/or nightowl special of $5. It may help marshal some traffic to hours that are normally not high traffic,thereby making more room on the site for peak hours.

Bud,

Since most express exteriors have free use vacuums in place from launch, it is not be possible to have a baseline measurement to draw a conclusion.

Of the few occassions when I have worked with owners that added free use vacuums to an existing carwash site, the results were dramatic. In one case, the wash volume increased by over 50%. Aside from advertising on a highway billboard, I have not seen a single tactic that has produced similar results.

I have also worked with several carwash owners that moved from coin-operated vacuums to free use. Generally, the improvement from this tactic was about 25%.

Is this proof positive? I would think not because of the small sample size. However, the results I see are undeniable.

Are free use vacuums at an express conveyor commercially viable or feasible?

Consider the notion that a feasibility study extends beyond benefit cost to the extent that it includes an examination of evidence of the need for a use. Presentation of sufficient evidence of need for a use is usually required by anyone before they would grant it. For example, is there unmet demand for a use and is the use convenient and useful to motorists?

Consequently, if you can satisfy these two conditions, you can make the argument that there is sufficient evidence of need for the use.

Jim,

I also have relatives in the restaurant business. Due to the long hours, increasing cost of goods and loss of pricing power, many mom and pop restaurants need to operate at 75% of capacity to earn the owners a decent living wage. As for all-you-can-eat buffets, the obese are literally eating them out of business in certain markets. I would estimate that mabout 40% of buffets here in Pinellas County have closed their doors.

Robert if they had to feed me everyday, they certainly would go out of business. And I would end up 500 lbs.

Greg, I think that's a fantastic idea...having different POP prices for different times of day or days of week. I'm not sure how it would be done electrically in the ACW...unless you have one controlled by a separate PC.
But think about it. Average price weekdays during the day...let's say $5...drop it down all night-everyday to $3....then on Saturday and Sunday it goes up to $6 during the day and $4 at night. I love it! Trying to keep the site busy 24/7...that would make some $$$. That's 4 different prices during the week using the four different buttons on the ACW. I guess you would have a separate timer(7day) on each button to make the button "hot" when it was supposed to be.

I believe volume is king, Hands down!! If you are actually washing cars most financial troubles disappear. You don't have to worry so much about labor, variable expenses, and cramming (or driving away customers)for a higher ticket average. Your not so concerned with $1000 dollars revenue from a vacuum.

I think bud you need to put yourself in the customers shoes. What is a carwash to them? ALL carwash are expected to provide a clean, dry, shiny car. If you don't provide this un-negotiable you wont have much of a business for long.

I believe the free vacuum gimmick does drive volume. Any intangible side benefit to the consumer is what will set you apart from the competition. Which as we all know is what everyone is striving to achieve.

An example I will give is we purchased a existing fullservice. We ran it as a fullserve for 6 months, we also offered exterior only with a towel dry for a considerable amount more then surrounding exteriors. (no free vacs)This business model "survived" but was not profittable. We made the decision to go to a exterior only with free vacuums. We did no advertisement aside from 2 weeks of free carwashes. The first full year of this model we washed over 100,000 cars (110 ft tunnel) The net profits (ebitda) were $450,000...We purchased the place for $400,000 dollars the year prior.

I also would like to say that a lot bustling with activity does attract more customers. This can not be quantified however I know personnaly if I had a choice between a wash that was crickets or a wash gleaming with activity I would choose the busier location because "all those people can't all be wrong" Customers buying habits often reflect that of sheep..

Hope it helps
Rob

POP self serve

POP self serve

There are lots of ways, so to speak, to skin a cat. Here is an old tale of three washes, not fictional, all located within several miles of each other.

Wash 1 is a Caribbean style hand wash; a long wash-bay or tunnel with no conveyor, no brushes and no dryer, everything is done by hand. The owner, a veteran owner, acts and dresses like Jamaican tour guide. The staff is eclectic to say the least. The wash does a good business. I’d give it a solid B+.

Wash 2 is a traditional full-service conveyor. The wash has a reputation as slap and dash; quick wash, cheap price and not much in the way of customer service. The owner is mostly absent, the crew is primarily migrant or white trash. The wash is located on a high volume highway and appears to be in the 100,000 wash range. I’d give it a C.

Wash 3 is also full-service with express detail and detail shop. The wash has a reputation for excellent quality and customer service. The crew is mostly kids attending college. The owner pays them very well including several unique perks and makes them toe the line for it. Screw up more than twice in a month and you are gone. This wash has maybe half the volume and at least double the average revenue of Wash 2. The owner likes it this way. I’d give it an A.

People vote with their feet and pocket books.

If you can cut a fat hog with a $3 or $4 base price and freebies or by picking up a wash for $0.50 on the dollar, more power to you. That’s the nature of being an entrepreneur.

However, there is no such thing as a perfectly contestable market. As long as sunk costs are involved, any carwash business, even an express wash with free vaccums, is susceptible to having its pockets picked.

All true Robert...but what's a "perfectly contestable market"?

Jim,

A perfectly contestable market is economic jargon for a situation where there would be no sunk cost involved for someone who enters and then exits a market. In other words, entering and exiting a market would be costless.

Its just a theory that can be used to explain something in a concise manner. Economic theories can be explained with math but usually it is very difficult to apply them in the real world besides stuff like demand and supply, etc.

I guess I should get a low grade. LOL

Consider someone who builds a new express conveyor with free vacuums in a market with few competitors. Assume that everything is fine and dandy until someone comes into this market and builds a flexible service carwash across the street from the express.

The flexible service wash offers exactly what you do; ride-through wash experience in three minutes, low price for the base wash, graduated package washes plus an area with self-service amenities like free use of vacuums plus coin-operated vending machines. In addition to having exactly what you do, the flexible service wash offers express detailing and reconditioning services plus a lobby with sundries, beverages and snacks, etc.

How would you, the express wash owner, defend your turf?

You most likely can't lower prices because you are already low and probably have a mortgage to cover. If you have no mortgage, you could lower prices in an attempt to drive the flexible service out of business but at what cost to your profits and return on assets.

To counter the flexible service capacity to appeal and attract a much broader customer base, you would need to sink addition capital, resources and management to ramp up to a higher level of service.

The same can be said if someone built a much smaller scale flexible service wash because it has far less sunk cost and needs to wash far less volume, working much like a flea on a big dog.

Conversely, you would not have much to worry about with, say, a dual in-bay because you have a superior value proposition and scale economies that most in-bays just can't match.

Contestable market
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"In economics, a contestable market is a market served by a small number of firms, but which is nevertheless characterized by competitive pricing because of the existence of potential short-term entrants. Its fundamental features are low barriers to entry and exit; in theory, a perfectly contestable market would have no barriers to entry or exit. Contestable markets are characterized by 'hit and run' competition; if a firm in a contestable market raises its prices much beyond the average price level of the market, and thus begins to earn excess profits, potential rivals will enter the market, hoping to exploit the price level for easy profit. When the original incumbent firm(s) respond by returning prices to levels consistent with normal profits, the new firms will exit. Because of this, even a single-firm market can show highly competitive behavior.

The theory of contestable markets has been used to argue for weaker application of antitrust laws, as simply observing a monopoly market may not prove that a firm is exploiting its market power to control the price level. The applicability of the theory to real world situations has been questioned, however, particularly as there are very few markets which are completely free of sunk costs and entry and exit barriers.

Low-cost airlines remain a commonly-referenced example of a contestable market; entrants have the possibility of leasing aircraft and should be able to respond to high profits by quickly entering and exiting. In practice, however, there may be entry/exit barriers in the form of terminal leases, availability and predatory pricing by incumbents, signalled through built-in overcapacity."

So conveyor operations, because of greater entry costs, tend to be less contestable. Whereas, self serve and especially detail shops are perfectly contestable because of so many "hit and run", leased operations springing up.

Less contest...more possibility of market monopolies. I guess the adjective "perfectly" is what confuses me with this term.

With as mobile as people are now...with the internet market place...monopolies are very hard to find. Unless you work for the gov't.

Perfectly, Jim.

"Perfectly" does get you thinking ass-backward, doesn't it?

Maybe that is why people dislike economics, the dismal science.

Again, theory is just that, theory.

In the real world, someone would actually need to take the investment risk of building the flexible wash to compete against the express.

Like I frequently say, Flex-Serve really is the quintessential professional carwash operating platform.

I have 7 coin vacs on my property for both the self serves and the auto service. I offer a token for $1 at the automatic for customers to use on the vacs. The vacuums are set up with a slug 2 so it takes quarters or a token. I set up the slug 2 so that on token = 7 quarter pulses. My vacuums take 1.00 to start but using a new multi count timer in line with the slug 2. I can regulate how long that token runs in comparison to a customer putting in 4 quarters to start. That way the vacuums stay open to everyone wanting to use the. Now they make more money because the automatic customer doesn't want to miss out on the savings that they can get only a that time when they are inline for an automatic wash. It's a win, win Baby.

I have a question. If you give away a token with wash purchase how much does the token cost and how many people drive away with your token.

the token cost $1.00. It cost 1.00 in quarters to start the vacs. the difference is that the token makes the vacs run longer so the customer is getting a savings. I use to give out free tokens with every wash. I found that it was a waste of tokens because most customers would not use the vac and just drive off. So then I had the greeter ask each customer if they would like to use the vac. Most say yes just because they wanted that shining free token and still would just drive off. So now they pay for it, I save tokens, they get to vacuum the entire car out for a buck, and I make money. I am almost two years into this and so far this is the way to go. Also the investment into changing out the vacuum components is way less than going with a central vac.

Newtunnel, I have one wash that dispenses a token with the automatic wash. I bought the wash earlier this year. The pricing was on the high side for the market it is in. Instead of reducing wash price I decided to increase perceived value. The token dispensers to hook to the ACWs were about $1800.00 each. The cost for the token for me is about .15. It is good for free vac or spray fragrance. I also made it good for 1.00 off the customer's next wash, or a self serve cycle. I present it to the customer as versatile. They can prep their cars before their next auto wash, vac, fragrance, or just save on their next purchase. By far the most popular usage of the tokens is in the vaccums. I would estimate of those tokens redeemed, 90% of them are in the vaccums, 8% in the auto cashiers and 2% in the SS bays. I am still finding tokens left behind by customers. Some don't notice them, others have said they don't need to vacuum. When I explain it is also good for a 1.00 off their next wash everyone takes it. The site is unmanned, so I need to improve signage out there to better explain the token to customers. I'm guessing 80% take the token now, with better signage and time I hope to get it to 90 plus%. I'd estimate 50% of the customers use the token on the same visit.I don't mind token drive offs because they have a little reminder of my carwash in their change and that might bring them back another day to the site to spend some more money. If it keeps my carwash in their mind it is a good thing IMO.

I have heard some very positve comments from customers. One told me that he has quit going to an express tunnel that is twenty minutes away when I implemented it. Hopefully with time it will increase the bottom line. I'm in my first year so I don't have a baseline for revenue yet.