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 Venus Says
A few weeks ago, I attended the Northeast Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC) at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ, and the
spending habits of the consumer was a hot topic. My father always felt that the self–service business was the best carwash business to be in during tough times. I remember watching two major companies in our area close back in the ’80s. One was the Fairless Steel Mill and many small businesses went out of business because they were the largest employer in the area. Our self-service business survived and in fact grew to 17 self-service bays, and our thought was that consumers still wanted to have pride in their automobiles and for just a few quarters they could spend some time enjoying washing their car. Of course, at that time, I think a self-service cycle was 75 cents or $1.
Talking to operators who have self-serve, exterior and full-serve
locations today it seems to be a very different story. The consensus is that consumers are waiting longer in between washes, but when they are ready to put their hard-earned money up to buy a wash, they want the best. They are willing to pay for a full-service wash so both the interior and exterior are clean. I am not sure exactly why this is now occurring, but my guess is time. Even though we are all watching our pennies, we seem to be overscheduling our lives. The days of a relaxing day driving to the carwash and spending an hour washing, vacuuming and cleaning your windows doesn’t exist anymore. Iremember having regulars every Saturday morning coming to the self serve. I could almost set my watch by them. Now, we overschedule our lives so that even if our car is dirty and we are willing to spend themoney for a carwash, we may not have the time. I know I can’t remember the last time I felt I had an hour to spend to clean my car.
I love the convenience of a full-service carwash. Time is money and at the current time consumers don’t seem to have enough of either.
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Mars Says
Over the past three or four years there is no question that the carwash industry has been affected by the state of the economy. I have heard of wash volumes that were down as much as 40 percent from were they were four years ago. That is a sure sign that
consumers have changed their spending habits.
I think though, at this point our nation has been struggling for so long now that most consumers have already changed their spending habits. The customer that was washing his car once a week in 2006 has already changed to a once or twice per month customer for a couple of years now. Most people just don't have enough disposable income to commit to weekly washes anymore. Our job as business owners is to figure out new ways to get to where we used to be. Or, at least close to it.
Now, more than ever, consumers are looking for the best value they
can find. By best value I don't mean the cheapest, although there will
always be that consumer. Consumers want bang for their buck. They
want us to exceed their expectations, but at a fair price. People do not
want to waste their money and now more than ever they will be
reluctant to give you a second chance.
In addition, creative marketing can certainly help keep customers
coming and bring in new ones. Promotions and advertisements that
used to work may need to be adjusted now.
Try different things and check out what other businesses are doing.
Social media seems to be a big part of some people’s every day lives
now.
The bottom line is that consumers have changed their spending
habits. So, if you find that your business is not performing at the level
you think it should, consider changing some of the business habits you
have gotten used to.
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