A loyalty program for car washes

Loyalty at a car wash: the reward is a whole service

In a coffee shop the reward costs you the beans and the milk. At a car wash it costs you the shampoo, the water, half an hour of an employee's shift and the time the bay stays occupied and cannot generate another sale.

That changes how the offer has to be calculated. At 4+1, one service in five is given free, and the real impact depends on your operating cost and on how often the customer returns. If the wash sells for 28 EUR, the reward carries a shelf price of 28 EUR, even though it costs you less.

The threshold is chosen by visit frequency: it cannot be high, because a ten-wash card is difficult for the customer to follow, but it cannot be too low either, because then the reward is awarded too often. Four can be a starting point for services with a high frequency, such as an interior/exterior wash.

The expiry period matters even more and is the subject of the next section: the reward should reach the customers who wash often, not the occasional visitor.

Super Nova Car Wash, Constanța: 4+1 on a 45-day term

Super Nova Car Wash is a car wash in Constanța, on Cumpenei street. Here is how their loyalty program is configured in Stampino:

• One offer: after 4 interior/exterior washes, the fifth is free.
• Expiry period: 45 days, switched on.
• Birthday reward: switched on, with their own wording, a free interior/exterior wash.
• Advanced reports: switched on.

The configuration above is their choice, suited to their service and their frequency. The general recommendation stays the same for any car wash: pick the threshold according to how often your regular customer returns, and the term according to the margin you work with, then adjust on the basis of the reports.

They currently use a single offer, although the plan allows two. The second can be used for services such as polishing or upholstery cleaning.

The expiry period shows directly on the customer's card, as in the image next to the title: "Valid until 10/09/2026". It is not buried in terms and conditions, the customer sees it every time the card is opened.

The expiry period is not just an administrative setting

This is the idea that makes the offer work, and it is worth doing the sums on.

Four washes in 45 days is one wash every 11 days. A customer with a low frequency may not reach the threshold within the period you set, while a customer who washes weekly or fortnightly reaches it without effort.

In other words, the expiry period is the filter that decides who receives the reward. And it filters in exactly the right direction: the reward is awarded to the customers who reach the desired return frequency, not to those who pass by twice a year.

Without a term, the same 4+1 offer becomes a standing discount with no time limit, available to customers who were not returning often anyway.

If you sell at a higher price or work on a thinner margin, you have two options: raise the threshold or shorten the term. Shortening the term is usually the better choice, because it does not discourage the loyal customer, it filters the occasional one.

The customer is notified automatically seven days before and one day before the expiry, so a tight term does not mean people lose progress without knowing. Expiry comes with the Standard plan and up.

Loyalty card for a car wash: how you start

At handover or at payment, while the customer is in front of you anyway.

The first time: the customer scans your car wash's QR code at reception or on the window, and the card lands straight on their phone, from a single scan. The sign-up QR code is generated in the admin panel and printed as a poster or a sticker, so sign-up does not depend on staff: one scan puts the card on the customer's phone, with nothing to search for in the app. No account, no email, no password. The card can be kept in the Stampino app or directly in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.

After that, on every wash: the customer opens the card and you scan the code on the screen with the phone or tablet at reception. No separate reader.

A car wash has an important advantage: the customer already spends 15-20 minutes on site, with their phone at hand.

The reports show how many customers signed up, how many visits were recorded and how many rewards were redeemed, so you can adjust the threshold or the term after the first two months, on the basis of the data.

Automatic returns, with no effort at reception

A loyalty program is not only a card with stamps, it is a system for bringing customers back. Once configured, part of the process runs automatically:

• The birthday reward appears on the card automatically, on the day itself.
• Expiry notifications go out automatically seven days and one day before the term, and each one is a reason to drop by.
• Push notifications are sent to the customers holding a card whenever you need them: after a period without visits, at the start of the season or on a morning with a light schedule.
• Seasonal campaigns are prepared ahead of time and scheduled in advance, for example before the first snow or at the start of spring.

What it costs and how the investment is recovered

A plan with a listing in the Stampino app starts at 36.50 EUR a month, plus VAT where applicable.

An exterior wash sells for roughly 10 to 18 EUR and a full interior plus exterior for 20 to 40, depending on the car and the level of service. For the calculation below we use a hypothetical margin of around 12 EUR per wash.

Every car wash has to adapt the calculation to its own costs: at a margin of around 12 EUR a wash, four extra washes a month cover the cost of the plan. These are not new customers, only cars that would have been washed later or at a competing alternative.

A single customer who goes from one wash a month to two brings twelve extra washes a year. If the program brings a few existing customers back more often, the investment can be recovered quickly.

As with any calculation of this kind, what is left is the margin over materials and labour: rent, utilities and the rest of the fixed costs come out of it afterwards.

The birthday reward

🎂

Stampinonow

Happy birthday!

A free interior/exterior wash for your birthday. We look forward to seeing you.

Super Nova has this feature switched on, with their own wording: a free interior/exterior wash on the customer's birthday.

The reward appears on the card automatically on the day and is redeemed in the window you set. You keep no dates in a calendar and send nothing by hand.

At a car wash it works because it is a gift with a high perceived value that can still be scheduled: if the customer's birthday falls in a busy period, you can set the redemption window so the reward is used at a time that suits your schedule.

Weather and season: variables you do not control

1

Stampinonow

The rain has stopped

We have morning slots free tomorrow. Come and get the car washed with no wait.

A car wash does not have a steady rhythm. Winter with salt on the roads and autumn with mud bring peaks, and a week of steady rain reduces your takings with nothing you can do about it.

That matters when you choose the expiry period. A short term that suited a dry month can close the cards of loyal customers in exactly the week it rained without stopping and nobody washed a car.

Two reasonable options: either set a term longer than it seems necessary, or look at the reports after the first season and adjust it. The term can be changed from the admin panel at any time, it is not a permanent decision.

Push notifications help precisely here: after three days of rain, a message to the customers holding a card helps you make use of the low-traffic slots.

What else can go on the card

The plan allows more than one offer on the same card, and at a car wash the second one can be chosen strategically: the service you want to sell more of, not the one you already sell.

• Polishing or waxing, on a low threshold, because they are bought rarely and carry a good margin.
• Upholstery cleaning or interior detailing, where the ticket is large and the customer is slow to return.
• Engine bay cleaning or headlight restoration, as a seasonal offer.

The customer switches between offers directly on the card and each advances separately. The cost of the plan does not grow with the number of enrolled customers.