In the past two years, the price of manual car wash has risen rapidly, which has spawned a self-service car wash business to a certain extent. The reporter recently visited and found that the 24-hour unattended self-service car wash machine began to rise quietly. Flushing, spraying, vacuuming and other processes are complete, after scanning the code payment, you can wash the car once at a cost of about 10 yuan, which is favored by many car owners. Some car wash practitioners said that recently similar to this kind of self-service car wash promotion and joining more and more, with the improvement of functions and large-scale operation, the self-service car wash industry or will usher in a broader market development prospects.
Self-service car wash is only 1 yuan per minute
In the parking lot of Miracle Fortune Plaza on the east side of the Olympic Sports Center, a white Kuaijieli self-service car wash machine stands in the center of the venue, and two large blue and yellow plastic leaky floors are bright and conspicuous, attracting the attention of car owners. "If I remember correctly, this machine was just installed last month." Parking security said.
The reporter noted that this car wash machine has all the facilities for flushing, spraying, vacuuming and so on, and is also equipped with a car towel and a sink. Since it is in the promotion operation stage, users can wash the car for free for 15 minutes.
According to the customer service staff of the car washer, the normal charging price of this self-service car wash machine is also much lower than that of the manual car wash: 15 yuan within 15 minutes of the car wash card, which is more than 1 yuan per minute, 48 yuan per month, and 398 yuan per year.
In the corner of the venue located at Station 16 near Wangjing, there is also a fast Jieli self-service car wash machine, and the gas station staff told reporters that this machine has been installed for more than a year. "People who come to refuel often wash cars here, and there are also nearby residents who come here, and there can be more than 20 people every day." Brother Zheng, a citizen who finished refueling, just washed his car here, "Cheap! In this car wash for 10 minutes is only 6 yuan, outside the money to wash once to this is enough to manage two months. ”
Car wash prices continue to rise
In fact, in many car wash shops and gas stations, self-service car wash equipment has long been laid out, but car owners who are willing to do it themselves are still in the minority. Since 2020, the price of manual car washes has not declined after rising rapidly due to the epidemic. The price of car wash in Beijing has generally reached 40 to 50 yuan, the price of large chain car wash stores is higher, and the price of small cars of Ai Yixing and Yuefu has reached 80 yuan and 100 yuan respectively.
"Car washes have been rising in prices in the past two years, and now car wash cars are 40 yuan, and SUV, MPV and other large cars are 50 yuan." The staff of a car wash shop near Shuangjing told reporters that the rise in labor costs is one of the important reasons for the price increase. The reporter noted that from flushing and spraying to wiping and cleaning the interior, the entire cleaning process of a vehicle requires the participation of five car wash workers.
In addition to price increases, manual car wash services sometimes "shrink". "During the epidemic, many car washes do not clean the interior, but the price is the same as usual." Ms. Li, a citizen, felt very helpless about this, "Cleaning the interior was originally a very important part of the car washing process, if there is no such item, just simply spraying foam and flushing water, it feels not worth spending so much money." ”
In order to provide convenience for employees, many office building owners with dense personnel have also taken a fancy to the business of self-service car washing. The Duye Building in Zhangguozhuang introduced a set of self-service car wash equipment last year, which was welcomed by many nearby office workers and residents. "12 yuan to wash once, water, foam, vacuum cleaner, towel, mop are there, counting the middle of the brush car, wiping the car time, about half an hour can wash." The water pressure is also large enough, and the effect of washing it yourself is not much worse than that outside. Mr. Wang, the owner of the car who often comes here to wash the car, said.
Self-service car wash ushered in new opportunities in the market
While favoring the use of self-service car wash equipment for "self-reliance", more and more car owners even choose to buy wireless car washer equipment and wash it at home.
The reporter searched for car washers on the Taobao platform and found that household car wash products such as high-pressure water guns, lithium electric water guns, self-priming high-pressure car washers and other household car wash products are various, including well-known brands such as Huawei and Midea, and the prices are concentrated between a few hundred yuan and a thousand yuan, and many of them have monthly sales of thousands or even tens of thousands of orders. "After having a car washer, it is convenient and cheap to wash your car at home!" Many users have left similar reviews in the comments section.
For the rise of self-service car wash, car wash industry practitioners analysis, car wash service is the just need of all car owners, the operator in the early stage through the free car wash way to obtain a large number of customers, it is easy to convert it into a long-term customer group. Car owners can hedge the sharp rise in labor costs by doing it themselves, which may become the trend of the future. With the large-scale launch of shared self-service car wash equipment, operating costs will further decline in the future.
According to the data of Kuaijieli Car Wash, more than 1400 car owners have experienced self-service car wash service at the 16th station of PETROC Shouqi Station alone. Users can query the use of on-site car wash equipment in real time through the WeChat Mini Program, thereby reducing the waiting time in line. At present, this self-service car wash supplier has been opened to the outside world to join, and it is expected to further expand its layout in the city center in the future.