Gas / C-Store Cross Marketing

What are some industry standards with selling car washes at the pumps. How much is the norm for kicking back to the company. What % of volume of the wash high/low could be expected to gain from it?

A dollar kick back per wash is about the average that I have seen. As far as a high low % gain, I wouldnt know where to start. I will just say...go for it, your volume won't go down if you try it.

In addition to the financial compensation issue, another factor should be a part of the marketing equation. That factor is MARKETING.

Cross-marketing requires an active linkage of complementary merchandising that promotes the sales initiative. A combination of conspicuous as well as subtle communication to motivate sales. Often overlooked, the effective use of signage along with take-along counter card menus or product promotional pieces will provide the support linkage needed to bolster the mutual sales effort.

When early morning commuter traffic is farmed for carwash customers, often a complimentary cup of coffee with a wash is a simple cross-merchandiser that can be promoted at the pumps as well as in the store. A brightly colored banner offering the enhanced-value washing opportunity is usually an effective tool. Or the choice of a FREE local newspaper for non-coffee drinkers. Another good promotion utilizes fresh flowers, a very cost-conscious premium that provides a unique premium that provokes positive word-of-mouth promotional opportunities.

Hope this helps...

-Steve

To answer your question regarding industry standards, the most recent information can be obtained from the National Petroleum News magazine and National Association of Convenience Stores. Both organizations publish annual profit center surveys for carwash. These reports contain a wealth of information that pertains to selling carwash services at the pump.

You can also find similar information from sources like Ryko and the ICA by searching on the www.

From my experience of comparing the “national averages” found in those sources and my own customers. I don’t take their numbers seriously. I think they are grossly inflated. The only reason that I could think of was because, people that have a more successful car wash operation might be more inclined to respond to such a survey. Also, inflated numbers might be just that, inflated at an attempt to make a site look more valuable/profitable. That’s just what I think, I am assuming that they don’t have cold hard verified numbers to back their studies.

We kickback 6% to the c-store. Volume from the car wash (as a percentage of total cars washed) used to be in the 22-23% range, b t lately it's been around 14-15%. The current operator of the store does not give any incentive to buy a wash at the pumps i.e. money off for filling up. Consequently, the percentages bought at the pump has decreased. We used to split the discount (eg. $1 off the top wash with 8 gal min. split 50/50 between the c-store and the car wash), but the current c-store owners don't want to offer any discount.