Car wash operators in the UK and Ireland are increasingly turning to the subscription-based model that dominates the US market.
Dublin-based Maxol is the latest firm to offer valeting subscriptions, with customers signed up to its loyalty app able to pay a fee of between €19.95 and €27.95 for up to 10 car washes, with higher prices adding wheel-rim cleaning, waxing and other extras.
While only currently available at three of Maxol’s 242 Irish forecourts, the firm’s Car Wash Club will soon be rolled out nationwide.
And Maxol is not the only firm turning to subscriptions: Imo, which operates internationally and has 281 UK wash centres, offers a range of subscriptions, which vary by location but give a one month wash package for around £15, or circa £70 for eight.
Such models are heavily influenced by the US valeting market, which has seen significant investment from private equity in recent years and is increasingly reliant on subscriptions.
The International Carwash Association estimates subscribers pay US valeting firms an average of $60 a month for unlimited washes, with some sites generating 80% of their revenue from subscribers, who create a reliable income in a sector that can be heavily impacted by the weather.
But while the subscription model adds predictability, the organisation warns that “market saturation is the number one operator concern” for US companies, with consultancy firm MMCG Invest estimating that 1,000 new tunnel washes have been built in the US in the past year.
