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One-Day Turnaround Key, Survey Finds (Conclusion)

Quick service is key, so is taking precautions during COVID-19, survey reveals, in recent webinar hosted by Cleaner’s Supply

CHICAGO — “Fifty-nine percent of your Best Customers want clothes ready in one day or less!” Came the voice over the Zoom webinar. “Also Gen Z and Millennials want garments ready in one day or less too!”

The big message: Location is always important, but quick service is just as important.

Those survey facts were delivered by Jeff Schapiro in a recent webinar to a fabricare audience via Zoom of about 400 attendees.

Cleaner’s Supply recently held this free webinar titled Understanding What Your Customers Are Thinking: Before, During & After COVID-19, hosted by Schapiro, president of Cleaner’s Supply.

Cleaner’s Supply in partnership with Drive Research says they conducted one of the most extensive research studies on what drycleaning consumers think and are looking for in their dry cleaners before, during, and after COVID-19.

The study, conducted around the beginning of June Schapiro says, was done involving 1,000 people across the U.S. who have used dry cleaners in the last year.

“We were looking for insight into what the customer is thinking about dry cleaning,” he explains to his online Zoom audience.

About COVID-19, he notes, the survey shows that 50% are staying at home and 50% are not wearing nice clothing, which he opined might not be a good sign for garment care, but of key importance, Schapiro says: “Eighty-three percent want to feel safe and see that you are taking precautions, such as doors propped open; bringing clothing out to the cars; and setting up a rack in front of the counter so customers can grab and go.”

“Show customers exactly what you are doing,” he advises to the webinar audience regarding showing them your safety measures and precautions during COVID-19.

“Seventy-one percent of your very best customers prefer contactless payment method,” Schapiro says.

What about after COVID-19?  The survey posed.

“Thirty-four percent of drycleaning consumers believe their employers will be open to working at home,” Schapiro relates and adds what he calls this significant fact for the webinar audience: “But 95% of HR Managers indicate they don’t expect their policy to change regarding people working from home.”

The Zoom webinar lasted about 45 minutes and the number in the audience held steady the whole time and all through the questions submitted in a scroll along the side of the video, which were then read and answered outloud.

Jeff recaps the six big points of the survey: “Quick one-day turnaround critical; make sure customers know your pickup and delivery is free; Males, Gen Z and millennials are most interested in WDF; eco-friendly is important to your best customers and younger customers; market using email to your best customers; and, for COVID-19, conveying and sharing safety measures is most critical.

“This revealing information,” Cleaner’s Supply says, “will not only make you rethink your common beliefs and practices, but will also have you looking at your business in a whole new light from your operations to marketing. Get ready to find ways to grow your business now and after the pandemic.”

Jeff was introduced to the webinar audience by representatives from the sponsoring associations Southern California Cleaners Association, California Cleaners Association, and the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute. And he was helped with a question-and-answer time at the end by them as well.

As a surprise at the end, Marla Gibbs, who played Florence from The Jeffersons T.V. show had an inspirational video message to all viewers and her simple upbeat message was: “Hang in there dry cleaners!”

Cleaner’s Supply relates they have a link here to the full webinar.

To read Part 1, go HERE.

One-Day Turnaround Key, Survey Finds

This dry cleaner, as an example, looks to be ready to clean and return garments in one day. (Photo by Tim Burke)

Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].