Self-service Laundry Kiosk for Laundry Businesses in Dubai

By Panashi

If you have ever used a washing machine to do your laundry, you know the basics of how a laundry service works! A laundry business is an upscaled or augmented version of a washing machine-assisted cleaning process, the difference is that businesses offer it as a full-fledged service to their customers.

Have you ever thought of automating your laundry operations with a self-service laundry kiosk or simply a laundry kiosk?

A self-service kiosk for laundry is designed and developed to guide customers access laundry services in a self-service manner without human intervention. Yes, the kiosk offers a high degree of convenience for customers, and at the same time, it improves the operational efficiency of the laundry too.

Read on to the understand the benefits of a laundromat self-self-service kiosk.

Factors favoring laundry business in Dubai

If you’ve lived in Dubai or any other Emirates in the UAE for a couple of years, I’m sure, you are already aware of those favorable factors.

Rising Expatriate population – The rising expatriate working population with a busy lifestyle always strive for the easier path to do their laundry.
Favorable statistics – According to the research conducted by Mordor Intelligence, the market size of UAE laundry appliances is projected to be USD 351.37 million in 2024 and will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.67% to reach USD 462.94 million by 2029.
World-renowned tourist destination – Where people come in large numbers as tourists require efficient, 24/7 laundry services – no rocket science!
Growing number of residential buildings – Dubai is a bustling city with hundreds of apartments and gated communities. Laundry businesses can leverage the real estate prospects of the city to the maximum.
Hospitality sector – Dubai is the shopping capital of the middle-east. In 2022, Dubai alone is home to more than 600 hotels and 192 hotel apartment buildings, claims Statista. And all these establishments require efficient laundry services.
Supportive government – With favorable regulations, investment-friendly policies, the Dubai government offers a supportive environment for businesses and entrepreneurs.

Ease of Doing business ranking – Dubai (UAE) has a high and consistent Ease of Doing Business ranking due to its business-friendly landscape and investor-friendly policies.
Cultural and social considerations – The residents of Dubai give utmost preference to cleanliness and personal hygiene. They take special care and effort to remain presentable. This works in favor of laundry businesses.
Weather condition – Dubai, UAE, and parts of middle-east experience hot and humid weather conditions, almost throughout the year. Therefore, citizens frequently use laundry services.
Technology-friendly citizens – The Dubai society is easily adaptable to technology upgrades and improvements. The citizens have a positive response and appreciation towards technology-assisted services and systems that simplify or expedite their day-to-day activities.
Growth opportunities – Now, the above-mentioned favorable factors are not just limited to Dubai. The factors and conditions are almost the same in other Emirates of the UAE. Hence, growth and expansion opportunities are immense. Once you have established your niche in the UAE, you may even consider expanding to other middle-east countries like KSA, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

Features of a laundry kiosk

A self-service laundry kiosk is equipped with all the necessary features and components to automate and expedite your laundry-related tasks. Usually, a laundry kiosk comes loaded with an interactive touchscreen, payment terminal, card dispenser, card reader, receipt printer etc.

The kiosk provides all the necessary service-related information to the customers via the kiosk touchscreen and serves as a 24/7 automated payment-collection executive.

How does a laundry kiosk work?

The laundry kiosk works like a charm in busy laundry outlets and it offers your customers the facility to do the laundry on self-service basis. Here is how it works.

Laundry selection – Select your desired service displayed on the kiosk touchscreen – washing or drying.

Machine availability – based on your selection, the kiosk touchscreen displays the availability of the machines. Select a machine from the list of available machines.

Select your requirement – Based on the load categories and wash cycles, make your selection. You may select the minimum load, or the medium load, or if you have a lot of laundry to do, select the maximum load. You have several wash cycle options too, based on the thickness and texture of cloth. The thickness and texture parameters determine the wash times.

Make payment - Make the payment for the selected service. The kiosk machine accepts cash, card, cardless and mobile payments. You may also make payment via a Laundry Card. Once you have loaded the card with sufficient money (via cash or card), the same card can be tapped at the RFID-enabled reader integrated into the machine. Select the payment mode whichever convenient.

Proceed to laundry equipment – Once the payment is done, the kiosk machine triggers the selected machine and then the machine takes over the entire process. Now, you are allowed to access the machine and drop the items into the same via the door.

Process initiation – Switch on the machine to initiate the washing/drying process. Wait for the process to complete. Once the process gets completed, you may empty the washer/dryer.

See, how smooth and efficient the entire process is!

Benefits of a self-service laundry kiosk

An automated laundry kiosk offers several benefits to laundry businesses. And those benefits are listed below.

1. Enhanced operational efficiency – Fast, efficient payment modes coupled with automated operations enhance the operational efficiency of the laundry business.
2. Convenient payment modes – The kiosk offers convenient payment modes to the customers such as cash, card, cardless, mobile app payment and via laundry card.
3. Issue Laundry cards – Panashi self-service laundry kiosk helps your customers easily issue laundry cards and add top ups via card or cash.
4. Customer loyalty programs – Excessive wait times lead to congestion in the hospital premises. By reducing wait times, RFID kiosks reduce congestion to a good extent.
- Point-based – Point-based reward system helps you to reward your customers on the basis of points earned for every dirham spent. Your customers can easily redeem the points via the laundry card.
- Membership-based – you may offer monthly or yearly subscription plans at a discounted rate for your committed customers.
5. Remote monitoring feature – An admin can remotely monitor the performance of the kiosk from a different location. The feature comes in handy to perform troubleshoots, system maintenance, provide software updates etc. To add on, the business may make savings by cutting down the site visits of the technician.
6. Gather customer insights – The business can gather vital information related to customer preferences like the type of service used frequently, washing or drying preferences, payment modes used etc. The gathered data can be used to offer personalized recommendations and offers to the customers.
7. Slash labour cost – the automated kiosk operations require least human intervention. Therefore, the laundry businesses need not hire a front desk executive to collect customer payments. This helps to cut down the associated labour cost.
8. Receive customer feedback – Customers love to give feedbacks when they are satisfied with your services. A kiosk machine presents an excellent opportunity to gather valuable customer feedback.
9. 24/7 laundry service – you may offer 24/7 laundry services to your customer. They would appreciate that decision, for sure!

Sustainability practices in laundry business

Dubai residents have a global outlook and have exposure to the happenings taking place all around the world. Well-informed citizens are more inclined towards sustainable practices and concepts.

Implementing sustainable practices and the use of sustainable products in laundry business can bring down your overall expenses and reduce carbon footprint. Giving priority to sustainability can also grow the reputation of your business, particularly when the masses appreciate and respond positively to those initiatives.

Some of the sustainability practices that can be implemented at your laundromat are shared below.

1. The use of energy – efficient equipment like washers can help.
2. Deploying water – efficient machines can limit the over-use of water.
3. Give priority to water recycling processes. As you know, water has a huge role in the washing process, and therefore, water management is crucial. The use of hot water in the washing process requires considerable heating which consumes lot of energy.
4. The use of bio-degradable detergents can immensely help the environment.
5. Be mindful of the use of chemicals. If you provide other services like dry cleaning and stain removal, make sure the chemicals used are environment-friendly.
6. Perform energy and water audits on regular intervals.

Conclusion

Laundry business mostly serves people who do not have an in-house laundry facility or those who experience time-constraints. Knowing your market precisely and identifying pain points of the customers can help you a lot in business. Delve deep into customer demographics and try to determine their location, age-group, profession, etc.

The Laundry business concept serves both the individual business owners and the recognized establishments. However, the competitive Dubai market is something that you shouldn’t ignore.

Be mindful of the utility cost that comprises energy consumption cost and water cost. With the right equipment, automation, and implementation of thoughtful marketing initiatives, you can always expect a continuous flow of revenue in the laundry business, and maintain a clear competitive edge. Afterall – the secret to business success and growth is “continuous improvement.”

Panashi has associated with several clients in the UAE and in the middle-east. We’ve simplified the business operations of the clients pertaining to various industries, like banking, government, airport, to name a few. Any assistance regarding the implementation of laundry kiosk in Dubai, UAE, or anywhere in the middle-east, feel free to get in touch with our technical experts.