The Future Of Convenience Laundry Is Here

 

Everything is becoming Uberized. If you weren’t aware, the laundry industry is no exception. Driven by mobile technology advances, businesses that aim to deliver even greater convenience to laundry customers are springing up all over the country.

The laundry on-demand business models generally follow the same template. They provide a slick user interface – mobile app in most cases – where customers can quickly and easily select options that provide the convenience needed; have back-end systems that are robust enough to handle and automate operations; and sign up as many providers (like Uber drivers) as possible.

Imagine the progression. Once upon a time, trekking to the laundromat, heavy drawstring bag or laundry basket in tow and coins or tokens jingling away in pockets and purses was the main option. Customers had to find parking, hopefully close to the laundromat entrance. Then there was the wait during washing and drying. One could easily spend a couple hours in the laundromat.

Drop-off wash-dry-fold services provided greater convenience but often same-day service was rarely available. Laundry pick-up and delivery services came along and made life much easier but scheduling was often challenging and you had to be available during drop-off and pick-up time windows.

Now the laundry industry is boldly stepping into the technology frontier. Laundry services like WashClub, FlyCleaners,Washio, Lioxcleaners and others have leveraged mobile technology to offer the public an even greater degree of on-demand convenience. Millennials may be rejoicing as they can now schedule their laundry cleaning, order take-out, summon an Uber car, and post on Instagram with a few finger taps in the space of a few minutes.

The traditional laundry services model is being disrupted by technology. As a laundry services provider, where are you in the progression of making it more convenient for your customers?