There are times when old technology is costly, more costly than upgrading. Continuing to accept quarters instead of upgrading to a digital payment system is definitely one of those things.
Quarters in the laundry business have been standard for decades. The devices on the machines are relatively inexpensive and easy to extract the money from. Nonetheless, there’s a newer, faster way of doing things.
Here are 8 reasons that you need to make the switch to the 21st-century solution and get a digital payment system in your apartment building or laundromat.
1. Customers hate quarters
Unless you’re the one having to keep track of the quarters (or the cash to turn into quarters), you might not know how much of a pain it is. Most people these days carry a minimum of cash. Their wallets are full of credit cards, except for this one thing each week, they don’t use cash, even at vending machines. If you’re a customer trying to get your laundry clean, a pocket full of quarters is a pain.
2. You hate quarters
Needing to stop by every day or every other day and gather quarters is also a pain for you. Every time a machine fills up, someone puts an “out of order” sign on the machine and you’re losing revenue. Quarters force you to be around and available all the time.
3. Theft and vandalism
It doesn’t take a lot of power to damage the coin box. In fact, with a crowbar and a few minutes, almost anyone can damage and even extract a coinbox. Honestly, the technology hasn’t changed all that much since the boxes were first invented. You lose more than just the money, you lose the box and the coin slide along with it.
4. Managing the process
If you’re operating a larger laundromat or several, you need to hire someone to help you handle everything. The problem is that the quarters stack up and you want to make sure that deposits are made in a timely fashion. Unless you plan to work seven days a week, it’s almost a requirement that you hire staff to help you.
5. Weekends
If your customers usually bring their own quarters (those change machines are almost always out of quarters on the weekends), they can’t get them after about noon on Saturday. No quarters, no clean laundry. If the laundromat down the road accepts debit cards, your customers will go there and you’re likely to lose them for a long time.
6. Revenue
In multiple studies, consumers have indicated over and over that they prefer to pay with credit cards or online rather than having to use cash. This trend only increases as more and more get accustomed to buying everything online and even using their phones with a tap. If paying for something is inconvenient, customers are far more likely go someplace else.
7. Beating the competition
If your competitors are still accepting quarters and the customers want to use cards, you win. As we’ve said, the cards are already in their wallets. It’s one less step for them and there’s a lot more security. People don’t get mugged for credit cards too much anymore; they’re too easy to shut off and track down. Cash is still a security risk for many people.
8. Wear and tear
The moving metal parts of coin slide and coin box are far more likely to wear out than a simple sticker on a machine. That’s how Shine Pay operates and it makes things a lot easier for you and your customers. The money is deposited directly into your bank account (and out of theirs) and your customers never need to carry quarters.
The reality is that there are a lot of great reasons to get rid of those old quarter slides and not any good ones for keeping them.
With Shine Pay, all customers have to do is scan and wash. Nothing else needs to be done. Make more money with less hassle than ever before, all the while increasing security for you and your customers.
— George Melcer, CEO ShinePay
