Choosing the right laundry payment system is almost as important as deciding what kind of machines to buy. Both choices determine the ultimate success of your laundry business because they affect how well customers can use your services. Before choosing a laundry payment system for your business, take some time to research which option will make your establishment the most successful.
Consider Your Needs
The first step in choosing a laundry payment system is to understand what your business needs to be profitable. Are you a new business looking to set a tone for branding and customer engagement? Or are you an established business looking to upgrade your payment system because of recent issues?
For example, if your laundromat primarily uses coin-based machines, you may find that it limits your customer base since many people no longer carry coins. Installing a cash-to-coin machine may cost money you don’t have, plus it means giving up valuable floor space. Switching to another payment system may be more practical and economical.
Another fairly common problem with coin-based machines is theft. It is fairly easy for someone with a crowbar to remove the coin box from a laundry machine, but it’s even easier for an employee to quietly tamper with machines, or even unlock them with duplicate keys.
Regardless of why you’re looking for a new laundry payment system, you must focus on why it benefits your business. Don’t upgrade just because there’s a new product available. Do it because it saves you money or grows your business.
Evaluate the Cost
Once you have a good idea of why you need a new laundry payment system, you can start comparing the benefits of different types. Since the primary goal of every business is to make money, you must choose the most cost-effective solution for your establishment. You’ll also want to look beyond the initial price tag to consider other factors like repairs, intermediaries, and installation.
Repairs and Maintenance
No machine lasts forever, but you can certainly avoid losing money by choosing a payment system with either highly-rated reliability or easy maintenance. Remember those coin boxes we mentioned earlier? If one of them goes missing, it can cost you hundreds of dollars to replace. In some locations, that may be close to a full day’s income.
Eliminating Intermediaries
While a growing number of laundry businesses are switching to credit card-based systems, you may want to be careful about this payment method. Though it’s incredibly convenient for customers, you’ll have to pay processing fees, meaning you’ll give a portion of each sale to the credit card companies. Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to eliminate these middlemen so you reap the full reward of your business services.
User Experience
After you are certain why you’re looking for a laundry payment system and are aware of potential costs, it’s time to consider what customers will think about your payment system. If they find your system too complicated to use, they will go elsewhere, so performing some market research is always a good idea.
Intuitive Usage
When choosing a laundry payment system for your business, it’s crucial that people can easily figure out how to work your machines. Ideally, the machines will work like other devices that your customers have used before, increasing their satisfaction with the experience. An intuitive system also means that communicating instructions to your customers should be straightforward.
Exploring the Options
Once you know what you’re looking for in a payment system, it’s time to consider the options available. One of the most important things to keep in mind is whether a system will force you to purchase new machines and whether it works with multiple forms of payment. Since machines are expensive, any system that allows you to upgrade without buying new machines or losing old payment systems is a must-have.
Coin-Based Payment
One of the best reasons to choose coin-operated laundry machines is that they are accessible to pretty much everyone. While some customers may not have credit card accounts or smartphones, almost everyone has access to cash. However, it is becoming less common for young people to carry cash, which can negatively affect any business located in a college town. This means that they won’t be able to use your laundromat even if you offer a bill converter machine.
The other major downside to coin-based machines, as we already mentioned, is theft. Coin boxes are fairly easy to remove from laundry machines, but it’s even easier for an employee to tamper with them. If you use coin-based machines, make sure to use different keys for each box so no one can get access to everything via a master key.
Card-Based Payment
There are two types of card-based payment systems. One allows people to use their credit cards directly with the laundry machine. As we mentioned previously, the major downside to this method is the processing fee that you’ll need to pay for each transaction. You should also know that not everyone possesses a credit or debit card and using these systems can make machines inaccessible to your clientele.
The other type of card-based system uses a loyalty card. Each user loads a certain number of washes onto their loyalty card, which they can swipe at any of the machines. Businesses can also offer discounts for purchasing washes in bulk, or free washes as a reward for returning customers. However, anyone who forgets their loyalty card at home will be unable to use the machines until they get a new card.
App-Based Payment
App-based payment is by far the easiest and most flexible payment option. First off, you can integrate ShinePay’s touchless payment system with any type of laundry machine, meaning you’ll never need to buy new machines just to keep your payment system up-to-date. Secondly, you can use ShinePay’s intuitive app to monitor multiple payments from the same machine. ShinePay makes it easy to keep everything in one place, so you know exactly what’s going on at your business.
Deciding What’s Right for Your Business
Base the type of laundry payment system you choose on what your business needs. After you’ve weighed the pros and cons of each method, go with the option that is easiest for customers to use and for you to install and maintain.
We hope this information has been helpful, whichever method you decide on.
