Do you operate your own laundry business, or is it operating you? You are hand-bound when you are repairing coin jams, keeping sales records by hand, and making estimates of which machines are working best.
Growth needs better tools. The old laundry machines had a key and a cash box. All this has now been replaced by modern point-of-sale (POS) systems.
Perhaps you should consider offering a wash-and-fold service, opening a second location, or expanding the capabilities of your current machines. It is made possible through the right POS features.
The article outlines the most crucial POS features that will help you save time, drive revenue, and retain your customers. Such are indispensable to development. Let’s get started.
Knowing What Growing Laundry Business Needs
When expanding a laundry business, you have to overcome new challenges. What worked well on ten machines may not work on thirty. You will strike these walls quite soon. For example:
- Payment issues: Customers get furious when they are forced to stand in line, and you should also consider security.
- Invisible: You can not tell what machines are not working, when you are at the peak, or who is doing the best without real-time information.
- Lost customers: When you lack loyalty tools, you are constantly seeking new customers rather than retaining existing ones.
- Downtime expenses: Each machine that is broken is costly. The slower the repair time, the worse it becomes.
You must have systems that expand with you. You can accomplish all of this in one screen with a modern laundry POS. It becomes the instrument with which you operate your entire business.
Key POS Features for Business Growth
The best features for a growing laundry business are those that automate tasks, provide valuable information, and enhance the customer experience. Here’s what to consider:
1. Payment Solutions That Work Together
Being able to accept any payment at any time is the most important improvement. This means going way beyond coins.
Must-have features include support for all major credit and debit cards (tap, swipe, and chip), mobile wallets (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay), and payments made with QR codes.
There are growth features too. It’s the ability to offer a “closed-loop” system, like a branded, reloadable laundry card or app, that encourages customers to pay in advance and keeps them coming back. It’s something you should expect.
Discover Global Network’s 2024 survey showed this change. 59% of consumers had used a digital wallet in the last 90 days, and payments based on biometrics are becoming increasingly popular. A customer will find a laundromat where they can pay in the way they prefer.
2. Managing Transactions Without Any Problems
You can not be everywhere at once as you grow older. A centralized dashboard is your mission control.
It allows you to monitor every sale, every activity on your device, and even the activity of your staff in real-time, regardless of whether you are at work or at home.
For example, when an individual has more than one store, it is easy to check the amount of money each store has earned.
They are able to identify a machine that has not been transacted in three hours and dispatch a technician even before the customer complains.
3. Tools for Smart Loyalty and Marketing
Repeat business is what drives a business’s growth and expansion. Your primary marketing tool should be a modern POS that helps you turn casual users into loyal fans. For example:
- Sample Program: A digital punch card that says “Buy five washes, get one free” is sent to each customer.
- Automated Engagement: If a customer hasn’t visited in 30 days, the system can automatically send them an SMS or email offering a 10% discount on their next wash.
This personal touch works very well.
4. Advanced Analytics and Insights
It is here that the actual business strategy originates. Your POS system generates a lot of data, and AI-driven analytics convert it into actionable insights in the form of helpful and clear responses.
There is no reason to continue speculating. You can know:
- Peak times: What are the peak times of each machine?
- Customer Behavior: How many customers have you received this week, and how many did you keep back?
- Profitability:How much will be the real revenue per machine?
This is proving to be a trend. In 2024, it was reported that 77% of small businesses globally utilize AI-based software to accomplish at least one task, with the majority focusing on customer service and analytics.
In the laundry example, this can be as basic as the system suggesting a Half-Price Dryer sale on Tuesday mornings, the slowest days of the week, to equalize revenues and maximize machine use.
5. Managing Employees and Devices
Running a growing business involves managing employees and other valuable assets. Your POS should have:
- Role-Based Access:Allowing attendants to provide refunds or machine start, but not allowing them to view confidential financial statements.
- Surveillance Cameras at a Distance: Receive real-time notifications on your phone, such as ‘Washer 08 is offline,’ to ensure you spend as little time as possible.
How to Pick the Right Solution?
When analyzing providers, it is easy to lose track of all the technicalities. This list will help you stay focused on what is essential for growth.
List of Must-Have Features:
- Accepts any type of payment, such as cards, mobile payments, and contactless payments.
- A real-time, cloud-based reporting dashboard.
- Automated marketing tools and digital loyalty.
- Useful and clear analytics (peak hours, machine usage)
- Scalable (easy to add machines, services, or locations)
- Excellent customer service, including service-level agreements (SLAs).
Essential Questions to Ask Service Providers:
- How do you set your prices? (Per transaction, monthly fee, per machine?)
- What happens with the addition of a second or third location in the system?
- Which types of data analysis are available on the dashboard?
- What do you do when the payment terminal of a machine fails?
Conclusion
A good POS system does not merely accept payment. It saves you time, enables you to make informed decisions about your business, and fosters a close, positive relationship with your customers.
To expand your laundry business, you must shift your role to become a data-driven owner rather than a hands-on manager.
Investing in an intelligent, flexible, and customer-oriented POS system is the most effective step you can take to ensure that you are not just running a laundromat but rather a competitive and scalable business.
