Car Wash Mobile App Development Cost and Key Features

Last Updated on June 14, 2022

Smartphones have made life simpler and easier than before. The digitalization of everything has taken technology one notch higher. It has become easy for people to avail of all sorts of services these days.

So, if one thinks of getting his/her car washed, the long queues can be avoided, the time spent on booking the service, and waiting for your turn can be let go when you download one on-demand carwash mobile app which will be your ultimate solution. With the on-demand service apps doing well, On-demand car wash mobile apps are gaining good business, and car owners are using these on-demand car detailing applications to get the services delivered to desired locations.

With cars being as important as any other commodity in your daily life, it is important to take care of its maintenance so that it does well in the long run. Apart from its daily use of helping you commute from your home to your workplace, it is also used on weekends for your visits to the parks or malls. So how does one take care of it? Like all other things, cars require pampering too, and the best way to make it worthwhile is to get it washed on your door scheduled time and location using on-demand car wash mobile apps.

Also read: How to develop a mobile app for ecommerce

Why Invest in Carwash App Development  – Market Size and Stats

The car wash services are being used by as many as 60 percent of people in the U.S. alone. The revenue generated by these services was very high. In 2017, the on-demand car wash industry had increased to as much as USD $800 million, and the graph is increasing exponentially since then. An app called Washe, which is delivering on-demand car wash services generated more than $3.3 million since its launch. It has become one of the most fast-paced industry, growing at a rate of 25 percent each year.

Take a look at the graphical representation of the growth of car wash apps in the U.S. from 2008 to 2020.

Now take a look at the percentage of people availing the services through the app, and how often they use it:

• 47 percent of the people using the app avail one service every two months
• 28 percent of them prefer to take at least one service in a month
• Lastly, 25 percent of those like to take one service every six months.

On average, approximately $5.8 billion is spent by people in the U.S. on car washes, and there are almost 1,00,000 car wash facilities available in the country.

The global car wash service market size was estimated at USD 34.19 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 35.34 billion in 2020.

The global car wash service market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.2% from 2019 to 2025 to reach USD 41.0 billion by 2025.

Roll-over/in-bay car wash service dominated the car wash service market with a share of 49.7% in 2019..

Types of Carwash Mobile Apps

1. Apps that are dedicated

For those who have their businesses dedicated to only car, washes can get such an app developed for their company. Through this, they can offer all services along with personalized services to their clients. Since all industries and businesses are coming up with their apps, this platform works well with an on-demand car wash app as well. Look at some benefits that one can derive from such apps:

• The overall ROI (Return on Investment) is augmented efficiently.
• The user engagement ration gets higher and more enhanced.
• Timely delivery of the services, noting the time that is most suitable to the client. Also, provide updates on any new services or changes at the car wash center.
• Provide various categories of the car wash to a user to choose from.

2. Aggregator apps

In such apps, the developer will incur just a one-time cost of developing the app. He creates a platform where the detailers and the customers meet and choose the services they want from an array of them being offered. It is a standalone business model where the detailer offers his service and gets in touch with the clients.

Top Carwash Mobile Apps Across the World

Revenue Model for On-Demand Car Wash Service App

Thinking how these care wash apps earn an income? Well, there are a number of sources through which they make money. Let’s look at some of the most important sources of generating revenue:

1. Advertisements

To raise a noteworthy amount of money, these car wash service organizations can use their apps to advertise products of the third parties on their apps. They can offer them space on their apps in exchange for money. Like most other businesses, this one also earns a significant amount of money through advertisements.

2. Sponsorships

While you do your work efficiently, it doesn’t really harm promoting the services of another car wash organization and their work. By allowing sponsorships, one might earn a handsome amount of money.

3. Merchandise

Apart from providing services, one can also sell their brand products like car shampoo, wax, cleaning gloves, exterior paint, etc. on their app along with the other services. This is also a way of generating income.

Car Wash App Features -Customer Panel

While it might sound to many like a regular on-demand app, but you must know that the On-demand car wash app has certain features that make it different from the rest. Let’s take a look at some of the features of a car wash app:

1. Custom pricing

Apart from offering various services, the app should allow the users to select a service of their choice and make payment according to the service selected.

2. Monthly Packages

An app should have a special and different category of packages they offer to their loyal customers. A customer might not want to pay an amount each time he books a service. Therefore, car wash services should offer them special monthly, annual, or biannual packages to choose from. The payment of these packages can be made in advance and the services can be availed anytime during that tenure.

3. Logins and signups

This one is a common feature that we see in almost all apps. Each app needs to keep some information about the user to keep in their track records. Therefore, a client has to sign up and become a member of the app, which makes it easy for them to sign in each time. Also, the app developers should allow them to sign up using any of their social media accounts like Gmail or Facebook to save them time.

4. Find Near-By Detailer

A  list of nearby Car Washer will be displayed and the customer can choose one accordingly

5. Real-time tracking

It helps in maintaining transparency between the user and the detailer. The tracking allows the users to follow a path to the car wash area, provided by the detailers on the app. It has become one of the greatest features to have in an on-demand car was app.

6. Chat and calling

The app should have an inbuilt feature of calling and chatting with the detailers. A user might get stuck anywhere from between booking an appointment to delivering his car at the car wash station. Therefore, he should be able to figure out a way to get in touch with the car washers and should get his query resolved easily.

7. Video calling

Another feature that adds a feather to the hat of the app developer is the in-built video calling feature. Under this feature, a user can get directly in touch with the detailers and explain to them about their car in detail and the kind of services they are looking forward to.

8. Calculation of the cost

Many users like to keep a cap on the money to be spent on car wash services. Therefore, there should be a cost calculation feature to enable them to understand the price of each service. This helps them in adding only those services to their list where are necessary.

9. Payment options

The app should enable multiple payment options to feature so that the users can make online payments hassle-free. With a lot of online wallets coming into being and the users registering on different wallets, an app should make sure to include as many as possible along with debit and credit card payments.

10. Select a service

From all the serviced offered by a car was detailer, a user must be able to select the one he is willing to avail, depending on the money he wants to pay and the time he can invest in a car wash.

11. Place a request

Under this feature, an app user can look at all the services offered by the app and compare it with other car wash apps. After deciding which app to use, a user can place the order and make payment.

12. Reviews and ratings

This is one of the most important features in an on-demand car wash app which builds goodwill for their services in the market. All users read reviews of any kind of service before putting their money in it.

Car Washer / Detailer Panel Features

1. Service location

Car washers usually limit their services to a specific location; therefore, they should have a service location to take car wash requests from that area only.

2. Accept/Reject requests

A car washing organization should have the authority of taking or rejecting orders based on the availability of its products and personnel.

3. Service status

A car wash might go through different steps; therefore, it is important for the service providers to give out the status of the proceedings of their service to each user. This will help them develop trust in their clients.

4. Push notifications

An app should be enabled with push notifications. This helps the car washing companies get notifications when someone requests for service. Also, the transaction details should reflect on the screens.

Admin Panel Features

1. Manage the service time zone

It is the responsibility of the admin to connect the users to the car washing agencies in their region. This helps the users to get in touch with car washing companies that are nearby.

2. Manage registrations

They have a support team to guide the users and answer their queries. Another role of the support team is to manage the registration of the users at any car washing center. This helps them in figuring out the active users on the app at a certain point in time and the total services availed by them from a particular car washer.

3. Manage payments

A user pays for any service to the admin, and it is the duty of the admin to transfer the amount to the account of the car washer. These transactions of money are managed by the admin. They also keep a certain amount with themselves which they charge as a fee from the car washers.

4. Managing reviews

A user when pleased with a service, will post high ratings and will write a positive review, however, a dissatisfied user will always post negative reviews and give fewer ratings to a car washer. It is the responsibility of the admin to manage these reviews and ratings and post them according to their criteria.

5. Heat-map view

This is a special feature that is used and accessible only to the admin of the application. Under this feature, one can view the maximum used services from their company and the most used areas of the application.

6. CRM integration

A Customer Relationship Manager enables a car washing company in streamlining the details of their services and their clients easily and frequently. It also helps in providing reliable analytics.

7. Loyalty programs

Are you doing something to promote the interest of loyal customers in your car wash app? If not, then it is time to act fast and give them some sort of benefits for the services they avail from your car wash centre. The users can participate in various events to help online and take a look at the promotions of the car wash company.

8. CMS Integration

The Content Management System helps the content team in adding or removing any ads from the app and make an easy design of the content for the users to understand easily.

Complete Feature List

Advantages of on-demand car wash app – For Customers

1. Easy and instant access

The app enables online and offline access to the users offering a smooth flow of experience without any technical trouble. The users can also make bookings for a car wash offline, and check their last transactions when their internet connections are restored.

2. Content that matches the needs of a user

These apps provide data to the users based on their needs and the budget they have set for their car wash. Without wasting their time on unnecessary requests, the app takes them to the page of the service providers that suit their needs best according to availability and geographical location.

3. Response rate

A car wash app has a quick response rate, connecting the car washers quickly to the users who are looking up for services on the app. There are many car washers who have their own websites, however, websites might take time to open, but an app is a quick solution to all the needs of the users.

4. Request for multiple car service

A user can request services for more than one car at one time. He can manage the bookings on the app for any number of cars he wants the service for.

5. Information

A user can have clear information about the services offered by a car washer and the cost of each service. This will help him in selecting the most appropriate service for him.

6. Offers and discounts

The app also lets out the information on the latest offers and promotions they are running on their services. This enables the users in making better decisions about the packages they want to purchase through the app.

For Car Washers

1. Maximizing efficiency

Increasing the efficiency of your organization means better and more productivity. Since the demand rises on these apps, the detailers are able to understand the requirements of the users better. They can keep a note of what the users like the most about their service.

2. Eliminate inconvenience

These apps help the car washers build goodwill in the market. A positive word of mouth can help them excel in a particular location. The feedback provided by the users online also helps them grow in their city.

App Development Team Required for Developing and Running a Car Wash App

In order to thrive the competition and the free flow of work in the organization, one should make sure to employ the right kind of people to work for the app. Take a look at the hierarchy of the on-demand car wash app.

• Android App Developers
• iOS Mobile App Developer
• The Project Manager
• A good business analysis
• Front-end developers
• Back end developers
• Quality analysis professionals

Required TechStack

• Push Notifications – Twilio, Push.io
• SMS, Voice, and Phone Verification – Nexmo, Twilio
• Payments – Braintree & PayPal, Stripe, EWallets
• Database – MongoDB, HBase, Cassandra, Postgress
• Email – Mail Chimp Integration
• Cloud Environment – AWS, Google, Azure
• Real-time Analytics – Hadoop, Spark,  Apache Flink, Cisco, IBM
• Map Navigation – Google Map

How much Does it Cost to Develop an On-Demand Carwash Mobile App

It is quite tough to calculate the exact cost of developing an app. However, the cost of Car wash mobile app development depends upon 4 factors – the complication & size of the app, the number of platforms, 3^rd Party Integrations, and the location of your mobile app development partner. This is because different countries have different hourly charges, for instance:

• Eastern Europe based developers: $50 to $150 per hour
• South Asia based developers: $80 to $250 per hour
• South Asia based developers: $10 to $80 per hour

Let’s break down the costs for different activities:

• Technical Documentation ( $1000 to $2000)
• UI/UX design ( $1500 to $3000)
• Front-end and Back-end development ( $7,000 to $ 9,000)
• Map & Navigation Integration – ( $1000 to $2000)
• QA & Testing (80 Hours – $2000 to $3000)

So, if we go ahead with MVP product without compromising over required functionalities the cost will fall around $10,000 to $20,000 for a sole platform (either iOS or Android). Adding more advanced features and third-party integration will raise the cost up to $20000 to $40,000. However, spending around $25,000 guarantees your app to stand ahead in the competition.

Conclusion

The on-demand service app industry has gained widespread visibility with technological advancements. The on-demand app economy has been growing leaps and bounds and gradually people are also moving to such apps to avail services like car washes and detailing. Since the automotive software industry is booming, it is highly likely that the app will have a bright future and these apps will tend to do well in the coming times. From start-ups to big companies who are into this business, the best thing to do is hire an experienced mobile app development company to under them and build the kind of app they have in mind. These apps are a complete solution for those who like to avail of services from the comfort of their homes.