Two Problems with Any Cashless System

 

Two problems with any cashless system:
1. Technology changes so how do you know what works today isn’t obsolete tomorrow
2. They are expensive

We are just now seeing more and more card systems and completely card stores here in the upper Midwest as of the time of this writing, so you have a little time to wait to see where the technology goes, but don’t think you will NEVER have to decide on this issue. The same technology that changes the systems we will use is the same technology that is forcing us to move beyond the quarter. In 2015 all we had was simple card swipes and laundry store card readers. Now there are different things besides cash and credit cards. All the iPay, GooglePay, type systems. Chip cards. Tap cards. Currently we use phones to pay but I bet that will change in the next five years. Rings and key fobs are being used now. Digital chips in your finger can’t be too far away…what do you mean they are already here!? Plus all of these will have to be configured to use either “real” currency like dollars AND “virtual” currency like BitCoin and maybe even our own individual currency unique to us like EveretCoin or EvCoin. Day of First Contact is coming in 2063 so maybe after that we’ll have to accept gold pressed latinum, anamorphic gel, or federation credits.
The amount of things we accept as payment might change, but the way we accept that payment will change slower. We still use cash registers for example. They look different but function the same as they did 100 years ago.

The second hurdle you will have to overcome is the expense. Currently any system is between $75-$750 per machine. What is your Return on Investment going to look like?
Some of the cashless systems have a minimum order that you have to buy. Others do not.
No matter what system you choose you have to have some washers and some dryers on the system. If you just have systems on your washers but not your dryers you will tick people off because if forces them to have to pay cash for the dryers and vice versa.

Don’t expect flocks and flocks of customers to come to your store solely just because you have a cashless system...at least immediately if you are re-equipping a current store.
You will get some new customers but…
-some of your customers might like to use quarters at your store as a place to get rid of their change
-those that are using quarters is a habit they are comfortable with
-they don’t have the technology to use other systems because they either don’t want or like it
To get more people to use whatever cashless system you have to advertise it in the store and on all of your advertising.
Be prepared to give incentives for people to try the system or switch over to it. You might need to offer a free wash if they download the app, or double the amount they place on a laundromat card or app to get them to try it. No matter what you do or try keep educating your customers. In my stores over the years whenever I need to give a customer a refund or start a machine for them I purposely use my phone and show them how easy the app is to use. My credit card swipes I have a store card that I can swipe that starts the machine but looks like a credit card so my customers can see how to use that payment method as well. My customers are very much resistant to change, but when they see it they are at least more open to it.

If you are building new, or doing a complete reequipping of your current store, then you can see the return perhaps a little faster in two ways.
The first is the cost of the card system can be built into the cost of the store or equipment. It is still there, but at least you don’t see it because it is built into the construction or equipment loan, and at least you don’t have to write the check for that amount out of your own pocket and can pay over time. If you add the cost after your machine purchase then physically seeing that check can be sobering.
The second is that you train your customers from the beginning to use whatever system you have installed.
Remember customers come to stores because they are clean, safe, and they can trust the machines to work.
If they like your store for all of those reasons, they will get used to using your cashless system as a price they pay to use your store. Odds are the vast majority will appreciate how your system works after 2-4 times coming and trying it.

No matter if you are adding a cashless system to your existing store equipment or starting with a system from scratch, your customers will apricate the option of not using quarters and you will appreciate not having to collect as much or having your existing quarter supply last longer.

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy