Introduction – “The Dry Cleaner App”

The Dry Cleaner App enables customers to connect directly with their local dry cleaner (or other garment care specialist) to schedule collection and delivery of garments thus saving precious time and avoiding hassle. The App also facilitates access to other services provided by dry cleaners, view opening hours, reviews and special offers and pay online via the “The Dry Cleaner App”.

The Company website, www.thedrycleanerapp.com also provides an online presence for dry cleaners, launderettes, garment alteration specialists, wet cleaners and many other businesses working within the garment care industry. The Dry Cleaner App enables our store members to connect directly to new or existing customers using our unique mobile app.

The first version of the application has already been made available for download in the Northwest of England and will be regularly updated in preparation for and imminent release across the rest of the UK & Ireland.

The Dry Cleaner app was voted Winner of Best New Product at the Laundry & Dry Cleaning Awards 2015.

How The Dry Cleaner App works

The Dry Cleaner App works closely with garment care professionals across the United Kingdom and Ireland by enabling their customers to connect with them directly on their mobile devices, enabling orders for collection and delivery, digital payment, and digital marketing. The Dry Cleaner App is the answer to an increasing demand by small business, such as laundrettes, to provide customers with services and up to date information on mobile devices. Our goal is to provide a single mobile application for all garment care professionals.

The application features a payment gateway provided by PayPal enabling the consumer to pay instantly to the business by using The Dry Cleaner App when scheduling an order or when items are being delivered. (Compatible for all IOS & Android devices)

The Dry Cleaner App satisfies the requirements of both customer and business by providing personal contact with the service provider without any intermediary intervention from a third party agency thus providing a much improved customer communication and experience.

Benefits of The Dry Cleaner App to consumers: 

1. Saves time and avoids hassle 
   
   
2. Very simple to use
   
   
3. Maximum convenience with collection and deliver to the door
   
   
4. Ease of repeat orders saves even more time!
   
   
5. Flexible payment options: card or cash

 Benefits of The Dry Cleaner App to members:

1. Improved sales and profits due to the Dry Cleaner App
   
   
2. No erosion of gross margin through third party commission
   
   
3. Reduced storage of garments pending collection with possible cost reduction
   
   
4. Automated service saves time
   
   
5. Greater productivity

Competition 

Whilst a small number of Dry Cleaner Apps have been developed, we believe none of them have the positive features of The Dry Cleaner App, which differentiates itself as follows: 

1. The Dry Cleaner App offers each store the ability to maintain its independence and individual identity. Other Apps do not or cannot provide this.

2. The Dry Cleaner App ensures that each store has full control over its pricing and services via The Dry Cleaner App web platform. This means pricing and services are tailored to individual regional and seasonal conditions. Other Apps do not provide this.

3. Other App providers have created a platform where customers deal with a centralized single entity, which then contracts the services to a Launderette or Dry Cleaner for a commission. As a result, numerous communications and customer service problems have occurred.

4. With The Dry Cleaner App, customers can communicate directly with the individual store about an order if required without any intermediary slowing the process.

5. Store Owners have demonstrated a strong preference for The Dry Cleaner App, as it does not take a commission from sales via the App but charges a fixed monthly recurring fee.

As a result of the above, we believe that The Dry Cleaner App provides a number of key competitive strengths over the other Dry Cleaner Apps in the market. The evidence is that we have already signed up over 300 stores and their feedback confirms that our business model is superior and will succeed over the long term.

The current environment

Many garment care businesses who have registered their details on our website already provide a collection and delivery service through their own online presence but most of these websites are not adapted for mobile devices. The Dry Cleaner App provides our members with the technology to enhance connectivity with existing and future customers and create new efficiencies which adds value to their business.

Like takeaways, taxis and salons, customers in the 21st Century want ease of access on their mobile. Click and Collect ! The Dry Cleaner App is putting unique services in front of more customers, faster, and with less fuss.

Businesses also need to know which of their promotions and offers are working well and which are not providing any return to the store. Feedback from Dry Cleaners shows that staff time continues to be wasted with constant interruptions from phone orders as staff continuously have to stop to take calls from customers looking to schedule a collection and delivery service.These problems are resolved when customers use The Dry Cleaner App.

The Founder

Jonathan spent two years managing a Dry Cleaning Business while studying Computer Science. This helped him gain hands on experience behind the counter which  has proven to be invaluable while developing  The Dry Cleaner App.

As a member of the Guild of Cleaners & Launderers and the Textile Services Association, Jonathan regularly presents at trade shows and discusses with members the importance of garment care professionals having a presence on mobile devices.

Market Research

There are currently up to 3,500 garment care specialists throughout the United Kingdom & Ireland, who in turn have a potential customer base of between 35-40 million consumers.

Our target market for the business will predominantly be adults. The population of the United Kingdom & Northern Ireland is approximately 63 million, with over half of this figure being within our target age of 25-75. Within the Republic of Ireland the figure for 25-75 year-olds is roughly 2.5 million.

Sales, Marketing and Partnerships

The Dry Cleaner App will be using a twofold approach:

Firstly, the use of social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and AdWords will provide us with platforms to push the App to the public, whilst keeping marketing costs to a minimum. It is proposed to also utilise the numerous marketing tools these sites offer through business pages. This includes the new service for promoting apps launched through Facebook App pages and Twitter’s newly released ‘Recommended for You’ links.

Secondly, through working with and utilising the expertise of an award winning digital agency which is located alongside The Dry Cleaner App Head Office at The Greenhouse in Media City, Manchester.Our team have already met with the company and they presented an impressive strategy for the next 12 months from 1^st January  2016.

The Dry Cleaner App generates income from:

1. A monthly subscription charge for each registered store will be the primary source of income
2. A booking fee of £2.00 will be charged to the customer which will be added to each order placed for collection and delivery through the App.

The Dry Cleaner App will be free to download

Costings / Finance

A full set of financial projections for the first four  years of release of The Dry Cleaner App have been included in the Business Plan, which can be requested from the documents sections.