The Lobby: How to Upgrade
Sales in Tough Times
By Chris Wade

The ambiance of the lobby can add perceived value.

Every single cost associated with operating a full-service car wash is increasing. Chemical costs are up. All utility costs — electricity, natural gas, water, and sewer — have increased. Labor costs continue to climb, and even the cost of retail products for the lobby has increased. In the face of all these cost pressures, how in the world does a car wash protect its bottom-line profits?

The best answer is to sell more. Sell more packages, sell more oil changes, sell more details, sell more consumers on the idea of visiting a professional car wash, and yes, sell more products in your retail center. Even with the difficult economic times we find ourselves operating in, there are opportunities for increasing sales in the lobby retail center.

Upgrade Your Product Mix
Successful full-service car washes distinguish themselves from the self-service, rollover, and express sectors by offering more and superior services. Full-service washes attract customers who are more interested in quality and less concerned with price. A consumer who is willing to pay $15, $25, or even $30 for a “top of the line” car wash will not hesitate to spend $10 or $15 for a quality auto organizer or unique item that suits his needs. Think about dollars instead of units. Along with the air fresheners and greeting cards that sell so well but only retail for a few dollars, offer your customers items they do not see every day as they shop. Look at items for the car like leather wrapped travel mugs or car chargers for their iPod. Also consider non-auto items like reading glasses, billfolds, and cell phone cases.

Upgrade Your Lobby
Part of the perceived value of a full-service car wash lies in the experience. The ambiance of the lobby can add perceived value to the experience for each consumer who visits the wash. Leather seating, area rugs, flat-screen televisions, and other amenities can help make the customer feel good about his investment in a full-service car wash. These amenities along with an attractive product display will generate additional sales and profits for the car wash. Just imagine customers strolling through a beautiful product center, eating a warm cookie, drinking a cappuccino or coffee and seeing unique auto and gift items. They buy a few things then settle in a nice armchair to watch HDTV or read while their vehicle is washed, vacuumed, and dried. Not only is this a formula for selling more merchandise, it offers the type of experience that makes people want to visit the full-service car wash again and again.

Upgrade the Auto Products Display
For the companies that supply products to full-service car washes, the best-selling categories have always included snack foods, greeting cards, and auto accessories. Snack foods and greeting card inventories are dictated by the volume of customers who visit the retail center. If a car wash displays a complete assortment of greeting cards or snack foods, then any customer who shops will likely find the card they need or the brand of chewing gum they desire. Because these categories of merchandise are defined in both price and selection, doubling the inventory will not double the sales. A customer who needs a birthday card still only needs one birthday card no matter how large the selection is. Auto accessories, however, include a wide variety of prices and product categories. A customer may purchase an air freshener and a CD organizer and a spot remover and a floor mat set.

By increasing the variety of auto products in the retail center you can grow sales. Increasing the variety of products creates opportunities for multiple sales and additional profits. Customers enjoy finding something new and different on display when they visit. A constant stream of new products will insure that the consumer will shop the retail display each time they come to the car wash.

Upgrade the Number of Unique Products Sold in Displays
Most suppliers of lobby products are challenged to continue finding new items that “hang” on the store displays either on slatwall or freestanding displays. Many of the most exciting products now offered are not automotive and are in displays that sit on a counter or shelf rather than hang on slatwall. The variety of items offered in displays includes high-intensity flashlights, manicure kits, money clips, jewelry, and many other useful and unique products.

By developing a special area in the lobby for these displays, the operator can create multiple sales opportunities. Target a section of the wall adjacent to the cashier counter and install shelves to highlight unique items in displays or set a fixture on the sales floor with shelves for these items. A “display for displays” will give the lobby a gift store look and appeal. Because the items are unique — not auto, not cards, not food — they offer an opportunity for retail centers to generate new dollars, and additional sales in the car wash. These types of items are often so “cool” that a customer will buy one for themselves, one for a family member, and even for a co-worker.

Of all the models available, full-service car washing is by far the most complicated business platform to operate. Costs must remain in control and revenues must be maximized in order for the full-service operation to succeed. At the same time, a well run full-service car wash can produce an amazing amount of profit for its owners. A car wash will not succeed or fail based on sales of retail products. The quality of car wash services, location, traffic, cost control, and many other factors will determine the eventual fate of any full-service car wash. Selling retail products in the lobby creates a valuable secondary profit center. The sales and profits generated in the car wash lobby can continue to grow in tough economic times if the astute operator works to sell more products, sell higher prices, and sell “different” items as opposed to cutting costs and inventories.

Chris Wade is vice president of Superior Auto Extras and has sold retail products to car washes for 20 years.