Whether you currently own a laundromat, are looking to invest in a laundromat, or own a multi-housing property, there is a payment system that will fit your needs. There are several factors to consider when deciding which payment system to choose. Here are the top 4 things to consider when choosing a laundry payment system.

1. What types of payments do you want to accept?

If you’re not ready to completely part with coins, a hybrid system is a good fit for you. Hybrid systems allow you to still accept coins, while giving your customers the option to also pay with credit/debit cards, physical loyalty cards and a mobile app.

If you’re ready to ditch coins for good and have 40 or more machines, a full card system is the way to go. Owners who are interested in implementing card only loyalty programs favor complete card systems.

If you’re looking for a more cost-effective coin replacement solution, but also want the freedom to add additional payment options later, you’ll want to look into a flexible system.

2. How do you want to manage your store?

With more owners wanting to spend less time in their stores, remote management is an important factor when choosing a payment system. Make sure the system you choose provides the ability to remotely change your prices incrementally whenever you decide. Instead of raising prices by only quarter increments, you can easily just adjust it by just pennies at a time, all from your laptop or smartphone.

Make sure the system you choose allows you to run reports, configure alerts, and monitor the status of the system and all equipment remotely. Monitoring this information can be conveniently accessed from any device, regardless of whether you are in the office, traveling, or at home.

Don’t forget to consider employee management. You’ll want to find a system that allows you to remotely create, edit and monitor employee work schedules and task duties for multiple locations. A product that allows employees to use the system to clock in and out of their shifts, view work schedules and check off when they have completed scheduled tasks is ideal.

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3. What is the cost/benefit analysis?

While cost is likely high on your list as an important decision factor in which laundry payment system to choose, it’s important that you don’t sprint for the cheapest product out there. Do your research. Why is one product more expensive than another? Does it have more features? What is the long-term payoff?

Remember, a laundry payment system is an investment in your business and it’s important to choose a product that provides true value.

4. What about loyalty programs?

Laundry card systems do much more than simply provide an alternative payment method, they build customer loyalty. You can reach new sales goals with integrated loyalty programs like Loyalty Points, Bonus Packages, Free Dry, Group Discounts and more.

Loyalty card programs serve as your base of operations for both customer retention and the forward-thinking marketing promotions that drive new business, so it’s important that the payment system you choose incorporates them.

All of these factors are important to consider when choosing a laundry payment system. Once you’ve determined what payment system is right for you, it’s important to choose a payments partner to process those transactions.

Contact us today and let our experts help you find the best system solution that fits both the needs of you and your customer!

Incremental vend pricing proves to be a huge advantage within the laundry industry. This strategy enables owners to increase their pricing by an amount less than the traditional quarter. When utility rates increase, laundromat owners can take advantage of incremental vend pricing by slightly increasing the cost of their washers. This increase not only helps to offset the increase in utility expenses, but also helps owners in other areas of their business strategy.

Here are just a few of the advantages to utilizing incremental pricing in your laundromat:

Little to No Customer Pushback

Because incremental pricing can mean increases in vend price by just a few pennies, customers don’t feel the weight of the rising utility costs. Consumers remain satisfied and therefore loyal to their trusted laundromat. While other laundromats may notice pushback as their customers’ pockets get heavier due increasing costs, LaundryCard members often don’t notice the change. Incremental pricing helps to not only retain loyal customers, but also attracts new consumers in the market.

“By raising prices consistently but in small increments, we get very little pushback from customers and most don’t even notice. This allows us to keep ahead of utility and other cost increases. Our competition has to raise by an entire quarter which provides us with a competitive advantage.”
– Bill Norteman, Chicago Area Laundromat Owner

A Competitive Edge

Incremental pricing allows for a competitive edge in a saturated marketplace. As the cost of water continues to rise, laundromat owners must look for ways to counteract increases in utilities. Typically this looks like an increase in the cost of the laundromat’s services. While traditional laundromats must increase their machines in increments of $.25, LaundryCard owners can increase their cost of service by much less. This slight increase in vend price allows LaundryCard owners to remain competitive in the market as an affordable solution to the customers needs.

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Less Limitations

When asked what trends are quickly evolving, Karl Hinrichs, president of HK Laundry Equipment, Inc., responded saying,

“Laundry card systems are the way of the future. The biggest evolutionary jump is eliminating the quarter. With card operated laundromats, there is no limit to the number of laundromats you can operate and you can spend your time focusing on managing your business rather than processing quarters.”
– Karl Hinrichs, President of HK Laundry Equipment, Inc.

Card systems allow customers the freedom of a quarter-less pocket, and allow owners the ability to focus on their business as a whole rather than counting quarters. Limitations to pricing, loyalty programs, growth, and management are all removed as a card system like LaundryCard is implemented.

See how much a small increase in your prices can affect your bottom line and offset rising utility costs by using our profit calculator.

Make more profit by increasing vend price incrementally

All coin laundromat owners have to deal with the rising costs of utilities. Things like periodic water rate increases and surging electricity bills are making it more expensive to own a laundromat—not to mention fixed cost like rent, regular machine maintenance and repairs. For coin laundromat owners, steady cash flow and liquidity are crucial. Profits need to keep pace with rising costs for the business to grow and thrive. And for coin laundries, sometimes the only way to offset expenses without going into the red and also making a profit is to raise vend prices on machines.

But raising coin-operated laundry machine prices can be clunky and conspicuous: many coin-only laundromats can only increase vend prices by the quarter. This can be a rather delicate matter for a business owner: Raise your vend prices too high and you’ll lose precious customer lifetime value and loyalty. On the other hand, if you keep the same prices for too long, you miss out on potential revenue—or worse yet—don’t hit your breakeven point.

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See how much a small increase in your prices can make a dramatic affect your bottom line.

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From a financial perspective, increasing vend prices—whether due to a cumulative uptick in variable costs (water, electricity or gas) or lowering prices in order to compete with more established coin laundromats in the neighborhood—25¢ cents may not make much sense for you as a store owner either.

Furthermore, If you try to increase your washing machine cycles by $.50 overnight, you may end up losing some of the loyalty you’ve slowly built up and valuable customers in the process. You may find that a vend price increase of $.09 may be closer to what customers are willing to pay for, and also more in line with healthy revenue growth. Penny incremental pricing also allows you to stair-step or stagger pricing so you can split up increases over time.

Penny incremental pricing has a powerful effect on your bottom line. You can actually see how LaundryCard would benefit your laundromat with our online Profit Calculator.

Simply input a few figures and see how much you could be gaining with LaundryCard.