At the 2018 National Advisory Group (NAG) Conference, hear from three leading convenience store retailers who are perfecting the car wash business and hear how they learned to drive customers from the forecourt to the cash registers.
The convenience store industry is America’s primary source for fuel. Overall, about 85% of convenience stores nationwide—almost 130,000— sell motor fuels, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores.
Car washes are considered a value-added commodity because they often attract additional customers that can boost in-store sales. Aside from ancillary services, such as lottery, prepaid telephone cards and movie rentals, a car wash can help a c-store operation “clean up” if the right business model is used.
In planning for a car wash operation, the return on investment can be substantial, but determining which model to use for your business requires a lot of homework, good planning and attention to detail. Consider that the upfront capital investment of an automatic car wash can be hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the type of car wash—rollover or in-bay automatics, which can clean 20 cars per hour, and conveyor or tunnel car washes, which can clean up to 100 cars per hour, are two options.
At the 2018 National Advisory Group (NAG) Conference in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., hear from three of the convenience store industry’s leading car wash operators who will detail car wash industry best practices, insider tips for investing in the right equipment and chemicals and marketing ideas to move customers from the car wash to the cash registers.
The session, titled “Building a Better Car Wash: Cleaning Up in the Forecourt” features guest speakers:
* Bill Martin – Partner and Founder, Metro Express Car Washes
* Michael Meyer – Facility Operations Officer, Meyer Oil Co., DBA Mach1 Stores
* Hill Peyton – President, Gate Express Car Washes
The session will be moderated by NAG Board Chairman Peter Tamburro, who is the general manager of Cliff’s Local Markets.
Register NOW for the 2018 NAG Conference.
Profit Potential
According to the International Carwash Association in Chicago, two factors come into play when determining the likelihood that a c-store will get a good return on a car wash investment. The first is the physical site itself. Is the location marred by an abundance of car wash competitors? Also, is the location welcoming to motorists who might support the venture? For example, a c-store with one gas pump probably won’t entice enough customers to make a car wash operation viable.
C-store operators seeking growth need to focus on the fundamentals when it comes to an effective car wash service. This means extracting gains from operations and brand performance, effective advertising and communication, and incremental business. A car wash offering can be incorporated seamlessly into a c-store’s product mix.
The car wash should be integrated into marketing, so buying a car wash at the pump requires just the push of a button. But you have to also be able to purchase it in the store, be able to cross-promote, be able to market digitally or by social media, so that the car wash is getting the attention from your marketing program that other convenience items—such as foodservice, tobacco, snacks and beverages.
Plan on attending the 2018 NAG Conference to learn more best practices and hear from a panel of experts how they increased car wash sales more than 50% just by perfecting basic operating procedures. Visit NAG Agenda to see the full conference lineup of educational sessions or click NOW to register for the 2018 NAG Conference.
