How to attract more customers to the laundry
Differentiate
Consider giving your laundry a theme or gimmick. For example, in the United States one Laundromat plays classic black-and-white movies on their TV, and other walls are covered with photographs of movie stars from the 1920’s and 1930’s.
Another store displays the owner’s collection of antique laundry equipment. A theme gives your laundry more personality; customers will remember it, and they’ll find your laundry a more interesting place to come to. A clever gimmick may also get you some free publicity from the local press.
If you want to create a gimmick for your Laundromat, think about who your customers are and what sort of theme they will appreciate.
For the kids
When selecting a venue for your business, look at what is offered close to your shop. If there is a children’s play area in the centre, it will make a visit to the Laundromat so much more attractive to moms and caregivers.
A supermarket will be a draw card and so would coffee shops, a video store, game arcade and even a hairdresser. Other options include pinball and video games; you could approach a video game supplier about having a video game console fitted in the shop and share the profits with the supplier.
If you want to start a self-service coin operated Laundromat, and you’re thinking of putting in an area especially for children, check with your insurance company that you are properly covered with regard to liability.
Professional advice is needed to help you design the area to maximise safety and make sure that you won’t be responsible in case a child gets hurt. In fact, you may need to place signs saying you’re not responsible for children’s’ safety.
Even the big kids get bored
Even adults will get bored at a Laundromat. After all, mostly what they are doing is waiting around for clothes to wash and dry. Many laundries these days have one or more TV’s mounted on the wall or has music playing and offer a selection of magazines to read.
Some laundries keep the TVs tuned to one channel, some play videos, and others let customers change channels themselves.
If your laundry is unattended and you want to let customers change the channel, mount the TV low enough on the wall so they can reach the channel and volume buttons. Customers are likely to walk off with the remote control, even if it’s tacked to the table.
Snack time
It’s likely that customers who are at a coin operated self-service laundry will get hungry or thirsty while waiting for the laundry to finish.
Even if your shop is in a shopping area or near one, customers wisely don’t want to leave their clothes. So having a vending machine that has cool drinks, chips and sweets or even a hot drink vending machine can create extra profit.