Car washes are excellent investments, especially for gas station owners with existing facilities. If you’re not sure whether you should expand your business with a car wash machine, there are many benefits of adding a car wash to your gas station you should keep in mind before making your decision.
Additional Income
If you’re looking to make a little extra money on top of your original enterprise, a gas station car wash is a highly profitable side venture. While many factors impact the income you could earn when you add a car wash to your gas station, the average facility earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Adding a car wash to your gas station means bringing in a second stream of income. As a result, you won’t have to rely entirely on your gas pumps and convenience store for money — your car wash revenue will add significantly to your profit pool.
Minimal Maintenance
While every car wash requires routine maintenance to ensure all systems and components are in working order, your responsibilities don’t extend much further from there, especially if you install a self-serve facility.
Self-serve car washes require minimal attention from business owners. When a customer uses a self-serve wash, they manually clean their vehicle’s exterior themselves using the provided wand or other wash tools. You may even add a coin-operated machine that allows them to vacuum the inside of their cars. Either way, your gas station car wash will essentially run itself — apart from some routine maintenance — leaving you to tend to the rest of your business while taking in additional revenue.
Increased Customer Base
A gas station car wash is favorable and convenient for your existing customers and something sure to keep them coming back to your business — perhaps even more than they did initially. In addition to retaining existing customers, adding a car wash to your gas station is also excellent for further growing your customer base.
With a car wash attached to your gas station, you can expect to attract new customers and ultimately boost customer engagement. After getting their cars cleaned at your car wash, your customers may even stop at your store for snacks or pump gas while they’re there. It’s a win-win for both of you!
Added Value
Car washes have become a much-needed service for those looking to clean their cars quickly with minimal effort. In a society that prioritizes multitasking, attaching a car wash to your gas station delivers even more value to your customers, allowing them to accomplish multiple tasks in one place. Not to mention, the more conveniences a gas station has, the more likely customers are to use it.
With a car wash at your gas station, customers can pump their gas, grab a snack, and clean their vehicles, all in one location. This added value will continue to boost revenue for your business.
Growing Market
As a car wash owner, the market is in your favor. In 2023, the car wash and auto detailing industry market size in the U.S. was estimated at $19.6 billion. This industry has been on an upward trajectory for years with no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Features like easy management, increased efficiency, and improved safety are expected to drive the car wash market in the coming years. Technological advancements like touch-free washing solutions, water recycling system,s and other economic innovations are also projected to boost the market even further.
This upward swing in the car wash industry makes it an excellent time to invest in a car wash for your gas station.
Brand Enhancement
Adding a car wash to your gas station can be highly beneficial to your brand image. You can use this extension to elevate your brand identity by implementing eye-catching colors, fonts, and graphics that reflect your company’s brand. While these elements increase brand awareness, they also enhance visual appeal, giving off a professional appearance that customers are drawn to.
When you take advantage of your car wash for additional branding, you communicate to patrons the level of quality and service they can expect from your establishment.
Loyalty Opportunities
According to studies, 75% of people favor companies that offer rewards. A car wash business provides a great opportunity to establish a rewards program for your company, helping you gain and retain customers by increasing customer loyalty.
As a gas station car wash owner, you can easily boost revenue for your business by providing customers with rewards that encourage them to spend money on multiple products or services. For example, you may offer a discounted car wash with the purchase of a food item from your gas station convenience store or reward your customers with points they can put toward their fuel purchase after using your car wash.
Higher Profit Margins
Price typically isn’t a factor for consumers using gas station car washes. That’s because many shoppers will choose convenience over price when making purchases. 52% of shoppers say that convenience is a key influence in at least half of their purchases, and 93% of consumers are more likely to choose a company based on convenience. That means you can enjoy higher profit margins from your car wash by reasonably elevating prices while customers enjoy the convenience of washing and fueling their vehicles in one trip.
Profitability
Car washes have proven far more profitable than their gas station counterparts. Most gas station car wash owners agree that their car wash services and convenience stores serve as their primary sources of income, not their gasoline pumps. Gas stations bring in traffic from the target market — people with cars — while car washes generate revenue. Consider your operations with a gas station alone. Fuel sales come with low-profit margins, so you typically rely on customers purchasing extras to earn more revenue. Car washes provide that income — by the end of 2022, car wash retail sales reached an estimated $13.7 billion. With 89% of consumers cleaning their vehicles at car washes instead of at home, creating this facility is a worthwhile and profitable investment.
With a car wash attached to your gas station, you can achieve higher profits than you could from your gas station alone. With the popularity of car washes steadily expanding, it’s no wonder so many gas station owners have taken advantage of these amenities by building them onto their businesses. Adding a car wash comes with many revenue and customer engagement benefits, making them a smart choice for existing gas stations.
