Currently, the laundry industry is generally trapped in a predicament of low-price competition and homogeneous competition. The closure rate of traditional individual dry cleaners will reach as high as 35% in 2024. Stores compete on prices, snatch individual orders, and rely on discounts to attract customers, so their profits are continuously compressed, and service quality and user experience remain stagnant. The industry’s gross profit margin has been compressed from 65% to below 35%. In mature markets such as Europe, America, and Japan, the laundry industry has long transcended the basic function of merely cleaning thoroughly. They shifted towards value competition with scene integration, professional segmentation, and experience upgrading. This gives practitioners in China a better perspective. Only by bidding farewell to the low-price competition and reconstructing core competitiveness through scene innovation, service stratification, and equipment upgrading can they transform from price takers to value creators.
The innovative practices in mature international markets provide a clear reference for the industry’s transformation. The popular “laundry + leisure” composite spaces in Paris, Tokyo, New York, and other places convert waiting time into consumption time. The commonality of these patterns is breaking away from the single mindset that laundry equals cleaning. They redefine service scenarios and customer relationships, and upgrade functional requirements into comprehensive experiences.
Compound Innovation Path
In the community laundry scene, a group of pioneers has localized international experience and blazed a trail of composite innovation combining self-service washing and drying with professional fine washing. By transforming traditional dry cleaning shops and introducing industrial-grade washing and drying equipment, they can meet the large household laundry demands. Also, they retain and upgrade high-end dry cleaning, precision ironing, and luxury care services for clothes. This precisely solves the two major pain points of traditional stores. First, large household fabrics such as curtains, quilt covers, and sofa covers cannot be cleaned at home and are difficult for traditional dry cleaning to handle. Second, there is a disconnect between daily quick wash and high-end meticulous care needs, so customers need to make separate purchases and travel to multiple stores.
The measured data after the self-service area was opened:
The foot traffic in the store has increased by 60%.
30% of self-service users have been converted into professional and meticulous cleaning customer orders.
The space utilization rate has increased by 50%.
The average transaction value has increased by 35%.
This forms mutual traffic diversion and business complementarity. It is an immediate experience that traditional dry cleaning and online platforms cannot replace.
Equipment Upgrade: Kingstar
In this transformation, equipment upgrading is the fundamental support. Traditional equipment makes it difficult to achieve the purpose of self-service due to its complex operation and high reliance on personnel experience. Intelligent laundry equipment like the Kingstar 25kg wet cleaning machine SHS-2025P is precisely the core equipment suitable for community multi-functional stores.
- Capacity
The 25kg Capacity can wash twice as much as the traditional 10kg – 15kg. The large
It is 25kg, and its single-batch processing capacity is about twice that of the traditional 10-15 kilogram models. Large home textiles can be washed in one go.
- Efficiency
Full-color intelligent touch screen with 79 professional washing programs ensures one-click operation. The washing cycle can be reduced by 40%. The daily processing capacity has increased by 120%.
- Scenarios
A Kingstar wet cleaning machine can cover the washing of large items like bed sheets, duvet covers, and sofa seat covers, and meticulous washing of sensitive fabrics like silk and wool. It perfectly matched the dual-track model of self-service and professionalism.
Three Paths for Chinese Laundry Shops
Based on the Chinese market, there are three ways for the innovation of laundry shops.
- Integration of spatial scenes
Upgrading a single laundry to a composite service point, setting up self-service areas, waiting areas, and reception areas can improve retention and conversion.
The user dwell conversion rate has increased by over 30%.
- Stratified service demands
Daily quick washing, self-service for large items, and high-end meticulous care should be distinguished to use convenience to attract traffic and use professionalism to lock in high average transaction values.
The profit margin of high-end care can reach 85%.
- Optimization of technical processes
Using intelligent devices and online management can improve efficiency, make progress transparent, and strengthen trust.
Labor costs were reduced by 30%, the time for picking up clothes was shortened by 50%, and the repurchase rate of users increased by 25%.
Transformation does not have to be achieved all at once. It can follow the route of observation – pilot – iteration.
First, investigate the unmet needs of the community, such as large item cleaning, high-end fabric care, and quick garment retrieval.
Then, test the waters at the lowest cost, such as first configuring a Kingstar 25kg wet cleaning machine SHS-2025P, opening a small self-service area, and testing the market feedback.
Finally, based on the data and user feedback, optimize the process, pricing, and service mix to form a mature model that is suitable for the local environment.
Conclusion
From the red ocean of price wars to the blue ocean of experience innovation, the key for laundries to break through is shifting from competing on price to competing on value, experience, and professionalism. Only by expanding boundaries through scene innovation, increasing profits through service stratification, and relying on professional equipment like the Kingstar 25kg wet cleaning machine SHS-2025P as a guarantee can we break away from the vicious competition, establish long-term competitiveness, and walk more steadily and further in the community service field.
Q&A
Q1: Why are self-service laundromats common in Europe and Japan but not in China?
A1: Most Chinese families have washing machines at home. It is convenient and saves energy. But more foreign visitors need to do laundry, so many hotels now have self-service laundry rooms for them.
Q2: Does Kingstar have coin-operated washing machines?
A2: Yes. We have coin-operated washers and dryers in different sizes, and we also have stacked washer-dryer machines.
Q3: How are self-service laundries in China now?
A3: They are often near apartments and universities, but not many in residential areas.
