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A Quick Guide to Choosing the Right Dry Cleaning Equipment

Learn How to Choose Your Dry Cleaners’ Equipment with this Quick Guide

Want to blow the doors off other dry-cleaners? Then buy the right dry cleaning equipment. It’s the key to providing epic customer service. That, plus a friendly, helpful attitude, generates repeat business that enhances customer service and boosts profitability.

Providing epic customer also generates word of mouth advertising. That’s the best advertising you can get—bar none. Word of mouth is also the top driver of business growth, according to most experts. All that leads to increasing profits.

But buying the right equipment can be a challenge. To do it right, you first need to know what you need. Then you need to make some tough decisions—decisions based on sound judgment and detailed planning.

Below we list the key equipment you’ll need create a topflight dry-cleaning business:

The Right Equipment Pays for Itself

Buying dry-cleaning equipment that’s fast, efficient, and easy to use pays for itself in short order. Among other things, it slashes maintenance costs and equipment downtime—both of which cost you dearly.

Here’s a list the major pieces of dry-cleaning equipment you’ll want:

  • Front-loading commercial washers with advanced features
  • Heavy duty commercial dryers with moisture sensors
  • Commercial steamers with detachable brushes
  • Electric or gas-driven commercial steam boilers
  • Presses for pressing dress materials (gowns, jeans, uniforms)

Other equipment you’ll need includes

If you’re concerned about hurting the environment with dry cleaning chemicals, you can go green. That can not only protect the environment but also cuts costs and boosts profits.

Boost Efficiency and Productivity with POS Software

Another way to boost profits and customer and service is with a point-of-sale software solution. Today’s customers want what they want it when they want it, and how they want it. If you don’t give it to them, they’ll bolt.

POS software helps you compete in today’s hotly contested business environment.  POS software boosts customer service, streamlines operations, and cuts costs.

Key features in a POS system include:

  • Point of sale functionality (heart and soul of POS system)
  • Billing/Invoicing capabilities (makes or breaks POS solution)
  • Customer relationship management tools (brings you closer to customers)
  • Mobility marketing capabilities (critical for reaching today’s customers)
  • Management features (must integrate with other apps)
  • Routing/Delivery capabilities (helps boost profitability)

This short list isn’t exhaustive. Nor was it meant to be. But the features listed above will help you navigate an uncertain environment.

More important, the right feature in a POS system can help you maintain control of your business. Plus, it lets you spend more time helping customers—where your time is best spent.

Leasing or Buying: Which Works Best for You

Once you’ve developed a list of equipment you need, you must decide whether to buy or lease the items. Both leasing and buying equipment have their pros and cons.

Leasing equipment is cost-effective. It works well when starting a business since most startups lack working capital.

But leasing doesn’t work in every case. So, sit down with your accountant or financial person to determine which option works best for you.

Having the right equipment as a dry-cleaner is critical to success. It lets you deliver quality dry-cleaning and epic customer service every time.

Doing those things can help you blow the doors off of your competitors, boost profits, and enjoy business growth.

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Reach Local Customers by Using Instagram for Your Dry Cleaners Business

Know what the secret is to using Instagram effectively? It’s not generating followers.  Nor is it sharing tons of photos and videos daily.

The secret to using Instagram to promote your business is engagement. Plain and simple. You need to add content to your site that engages followers. That generates business for your storefront.

It’s also what drives conversions and sales. And it boosts profitability.

But adding content that engages is easier said than done—especially now that Instagram has broadened its horizons as a platform to make it a more “immersive shopping experience.”

Despite its changes, Instagram is still a site that can help you promote your dry cleaners if you engage your followers with the right content.

Not Just Another Social Website

Instagram isn’t just another social media website. It’s a powerful way to build your brand’s reputation and promote more business for your storefront.

Here are some eye-opening Instagram stats:

  • 1+ billion users
  • 500 million daily users
  • Instagram users “like” over 4.2 billion posts daily
  • Instagrammers share 95 posts per day
  • 25 billion business profiles on Instagram
  • 80% percent of users follow a business on Instagram
  • Top brands post 4.9 times per week

Clearly, Instagram users engage with the social media website. Plus, people are spending more and more time on Instagram—thanks in large part to Instagram stories.

Many of these users are young (59% in the U.S. are under 30) and many have deep pockets with a willingness to spend their money.

But what separates Instagram from other social media sites as a business tool are its emphasis on feeding our appetites for images and video, fits our mobile lifestyles, and posting is fast.

More importantly, Instagram keeps things simple and is fast and fun to explore, research, follow, and connect with people, topics, and businesses that peak your interest.

Participate, Participate, Participate

Instagram is a community. So posting images and videos is only the first step in taking advantage of the platform. To engage Instagram users you need to participate in the online community.

In other words, you need to follow influencers and other brands, actively join in conversations with other members, and respond to questions, praises, and concerns in the comment section of your posts.

In short, you need to show you’re a reputable member of the community. Put simply, you need to engage your community.

Create a Plan and Follow It

The other key to using Instagram to reach local customers is to have a plan and follow it. Once you put your strategy in place, it doesn’t take much to keep it going.

That’s great news for you. Instagram’s ease of use leaves you time to focus on other critical activities at your dry cleaners, like customer service.

Below are some ways you can use Instagram to generate more customers for your business:

  • Repost local content routinely to strengthen reputation. Key on local followers, local events, and other local followers
  • Maintain a consistent brand identity across Instagram and all your other social media platforms you may be using
  • Avoid blanket postings unless it’s a new service or local event. In other words, don’t post the same message across platforms.
  • Show your organization’s local lifestyle. In other words, show the lifestyle customers lead after using your services.
  • Follow the latest trends especially holidays, but also use other topics whose popularity you can leverage.
  • Key on local hashtags, which are like keywords in Instagram. This effort lets people in your area find your posts through area-specific content.
  • Include a link to your Instagram bio. In fact, your bio is the only space on the platform that lets you do that. Capitalize on it.
  • Offer professional, creative content. Invest in a high-quality camera and uses it. Or, if necessary, use a professional photographer
  • Geotag individual posts with a location but not your exact business location. It gives the sense that your business is an active community participant.
  • Track and measure your efforts constantly. That way you can stay on top of consumer trends and changes in behavior in an area.

Use the trends discussed above to help build engagement with your Instagram profile. Creating engagement is the secret to succeeding with this social media platform. That, in turn, will boost business at your dry cleaners.

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Green Dry Cleaning Protects Environment and Boosts Profits

Taking care of the environment is everyone’s responsibility. But if you’re using the traditional dry-cleaning method in your business, you could be harming the environment. That’s because the method uses a harsh, carcinogenic chemical that harms the environment. Going green at your business, however, helps protect the environment while still serving your customers well.

Going green is a sound investment. It can result in huge savings for your business, which you can re-invest in it or take as profits. What’s more, going green differentiates you from other dry-cleaners, providing you with a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace. In other words, going green can help you achieve your organization’s marketing goals.

Going Green Still Maintains Quality

Going green doesn’t mean, however, that you have to sacrifice quality for profits. Your customer’s clothes will still come out looking clean and beautiful. Nor does it mean you have to change the level of service you provide. You can still offer top notch service, with the ability to clean delicate fabrics such as silks, leather, suede, dainty trims, and heirloom fabrics.

But going green is a big decision. It requires a full commitment to the strategy if you’re going to adopt it. It also requires you make changes at your storefront that can transform how you do business. Going green can be just what the doctor ordered if you’re looking to take your business to the next level.

What is Green Dry-Cleaning?

Green dry cleaning refers to any process that doesn’t use perchloroethylene or “perc” to clean clothes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers this chemical both a health hazard and an environmental danger.

The EPA regulates perc closely and encourages businesses to use more environmentally friendly dry-cleaning methods. The most popular methods of green dry-cleaning include:

Wet cleaning

A gentler version of home laundering, this dry-cleaning method is the only one that doesn’t use perc in its process. Instead, it uses water and specialized detergents milder than home products to clean clothes.

In addition to not using harsh chemicals, this dry-cleaning method doesn’t contaminate water or soils, generate hazardous waste, or pollute the air. Dry cleaners using this method take extra care to treat stains before and after cleaning.

Liquid Carbon Dioxide Cleaning

This dry-cleaning method combines detergent with liquid carbon dioxide (C02) as the cleaning solvent. Manufacturers place the nonflammable gas under pressure to produce a solvent to lean clothes. After the clothes are cleaned, the liquid C02 is pumped back into a holding tank for reuse.

This method is extremely environmentally friendly. That’s because the C02 is captured as a by-product of an existing industrial process. Plus, only three percent of the CO2 used is lost to the air with each load of clothing, minimizing its environmental impact. The process also uses less energy than traditional methods, but machines using this process can be expensive.

Silicon-based solvent

Also known as the Green Earth cleaning method, this process replaces perc with liquified sand (Si02), which functions as a silicon-based solvent siloxane or D-5. T When discarded it breaks down into and, water, and carbon dioxide.

No chemicals touch your clothes with this process, but the manufacturing of the solvent uses chlorine. That produces the carcinogen dioxin during the production process. Otherwise, the method is very environmentally friendly.

The green dry-cleaning movement using the processes described above is picking up steam and will continue to do so for the immediate future.

Low Operating Costs, High-Profit Margins

Green dry-cleaners generally have low operating costs but high-profit margins. That makes green dry cleaning a good investment for established dry-cleaners, small business owners, and savvy entrepreneurs looking to invest in a new opportunity.

Plus, dry-cleaning storefronts have fixed hours. That minimizes operating costs, which includes the extra cost—and headache— of hiring employees. If you’re starting from scratch and have to buy equipment, you might not see a profit right away.

What’s more, you can offer auxiliary services, like tailoring, clothing repair, clothing preservation, and pick-up and drop-off service, to attract customers. Combine these services with rewards for a loyalty program, and you have the tools you need to build a solid—and profitable—customer base.

Taking care of the environment is everyone’s responsibility. So, If you’re an established dry-cleaner concerned about the impact you’re making on the environment, or you’re looking for a way to differentiate yourself from competitors, green dry-cleaning could be just what the doctor ordered. It’s also a great opportunity if you’re an entrepreneur looking for a profitable investment.

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LARA: World’s Fastest Dry Cleaning Assembly System

Dry cleaners all over the world would agree that one of the most complex problems facing laundry businesses is identifying and ordering the garments before returning them. This process, known as assembly, is time consuming and requires considerable manpower if an automated conveyor is not available. Until now, those have been the two options used in dry cleaners: a basic manual assembly with a tag printer, which takes a lot of time, or an expensive automated conveyor, which can cost up to $30,000.

That’s why Dark POS has developed LARA (LED Assisted Rapid Assembly). LARA is the latest innovation in the dry cleaning business, which offers an affordable solution to make assembly easier and faster.

How it Works

Dry cleaners are encouraged to use either pre printed barcode roles (single use) or heat seal tags (multi use) to track their customers orders.  Using a heat seal printer, dry cleaners can easily add a barcode to their customers clothes which typically last up to 500 washes.

LARA is compromised of both software and hardware components tailored for the dry cleaning industry.  Using Enlite POS, dry cleaners need only scan a garment once it has been cleaned and a LED assembly hanger will light up to show where the clothes should be hung.  Enlite POS automatically lights up different LED hangers to organize and assemble orders.

Some of the advantages of using this system are:

  • Increase in productivity
  • Simplifies operations
  • Reduces process times and labor cost
  • Reduces human error
  • It is modular and expandable, depending on needs and business’s growth
  • Reduces the space needed for order assembly
  • Easy to use and to train staff on the use of the system

If you would like to have an Enlite POS demo or learn more about how Dark POS can improve your business, contact us at [email protected] or calling +1 404-996-0336 (US) or +44 203-807-4601 (UK).

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Software designed and built for dry cleaners

POS software should never be a one-size fits all solution. Every industry, every market and every customer has unique requirements and demands from their POS solution. For this reason, DARK has built its reputation on creating POS software directed toward specific industries in a flexible modular fashion that tailors to each market and client’s needs.

Here are some of the main features of Enlite POS, a flexible POS solution designed and built specifically for dry cleaners:

Modular Architecture

A one-size fits all solutions rarely yield desired results. Enlite’s modular architecture allows you to customize the platform to best serve your business needs. Only pay for what you use and easily incorporate modules as your business grows.

Patented Assembly LED System

Enlite’s innovative Assembly LED system will cut in half the time it takes for your team to assemble orders. Simply scan the invoice or garment and place it in an Assembly slot. As you scan additional items LEDs will illuminate to indicate in which Assembly slot the garments belong and will notify in different colors when orders are complete and ready to be racked.

LARA Assembly system

Save time and money not only in reducing Assembly time but also by minimizing errors and re-work resulting from missing garments and garments delivered to the incorrect customers.

Customer Loyalty Programs

Create and manage your own loyalty program or leverage our partners to integrate with a global loyalty and reward platform.

Treat your valued customers to exciting prizes and rewards that would be difficult or impossible to obtain on your own.

Customer Mobile App

Customers no longer need to call to check the status of their order. The app allows them to see where in the process their pieces are, as well when they are racked and ready for pickup. Allow your customers to view and pay invoices from their mobile phones and enable them to request pick-ups or deliveries for their orders.

Pickup/Delivery Routing & Driver Mobile App

Get real-time information regarding where your drivers are on their routes. Empower drivers to collect payments and print invoices with their tablets or mobile phones. Add pick-ups to your driver’s route on the fly, the changes will be instantly visible in the Driver app.

Custom Websites

Don’t have an online presence? Reach out to us for a branded custom website with your company information and the new online services your Enlite solution offers your customers. Including the customer portal for your clients to schedule pickups, view and pay invoices, email and SMS notifications, etc.

Hardware

If you don’t have your own touchscreens or tablets, or just feel it’s time for an upgrade. Dark offers a variety of stylish and affordable touchscreen stations, tablets and printers guaranteed to seamlessly run the Enlite platform.

As you can see, more than just a POS software, Dark POS products streamline and facilitate the operation of your business to benefit customers and owners alike. If you would like to have a demo or learn more about how Dark POS can improve your business, contact us at [email protected] or calling +1 404-996-0336 (US) or +44 203-807-4601 (UK).

 

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Innovation in the Dry Cleaning Industry

The dry cleaning industry is one that has existed for hundreds of years. Of course, it has grown and evolved tremendously, but it might still seem difficult to find ways to innovate in the dry cleaning industry.

According to the statistics portal Statista, revenues of dry cleaning and laundry services in the United States are projected to reach approximately 8.3 billion dollars this year. Since dry cleaning is a repetitive, ongoing need, this is a business with a consistent demand through the year. However, the vast majority of dry cleaning businesses haven’t been able to keep up with changing consumer demands. So what can you do to make sure your dry cleaning business is keeping up with your clients?

Become Eco friendly

In the past several years, the issue of sustainability and reducing environmental impact has taken hold in the industry and new, eco friendly technology and products are now available. Finding ways to be more environmentally conscious, and showcasing it, can make your dry cleaning services more attractive to regular and potential customers. If you can show your customers through your marketing activity that you are ethical and sustainable, the value of your brand will certainly increase.

Have an online presence

You might think that a dry cleaning business has no place in social media, but you’d be surprised. For example, Facebook is an easy way to keep in touch with customers and be available for questions, it also makes it easy for clients to promote you when they’re happy with your service. It’s a very simple thing that you can do to distinguish yourself from other dry cleaning businesses in your area.

Make it easy for your clients

Consumers nowadays expect, more than ever, a strong mix of service, quality and price. At the same time, they are busier than ever so convenience will be a key aspect when choosing a dry cleaner. Pick-up and delivery is a service that has become fairly common in most big cities, but dry cleaning owners can also provide lockers that allow  customers to drop off and pick up clothes at any time of the day, any day of the week. Additionally, they can offer a drive-through service during normal operating hours.

Another way to put your customer’s needs first, is creating a quick check-in process for regular clients and using email to notify them when their items are ready for pick-up. Both of these can be easily done with a POS system such as Enlite POS.

Enlite POS gives you powerful tools to make it easy to make customers feel specials. These tools will turn occasional customers into regular and loyal clientele. If you would like to have a demo or learn more about how Enlite POS can improve your business, contact us at [email protected] or calling +1 404-996-0336 (US) or +44 203-807-4601 (UK).

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