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How many days do I need to wait before getting my car washing app?

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    June 20, 2022
How many days do I need to wait before getting my car washing app?

Smartphones have changed the way we interact with the world. We are sitting in the comforts of our home and leveraging every product and service there is to bring more ease to our lives. We are ordering groceries, food, and products, and demanding services from businesses through mobile applications. Technology surely has changed the way businesses see opportunities. Today, every business is on the lookout for ways to provide services through web and mobile solutions. But, how to get there? How do you build an app, and how do you decide about features and technologies? There is a long way to go. 

Today, we would be unraveling some important information about building car wash applications. Let’s start first by understanding what are they and what is the market size. 

Car wash apps and what is the market opportunity

If we talk about market opportunity - smartphones not only brought the new technology concerning hardware to us but they also opened the doors for us in many ways. The large-scale adoption of smartphones gave birth to mobile software that is widely known as applications. 

If we talk about mobile application developement, there are a variety of applications, social media networks, retail apps, ecommerce apps, healthcare apps, and then there are also on-demand applications. On-demand applications are types of apps where customers come to you seeking services and order these services through mobile applications. The book available slot provides you instructions, checks the progress of the service, and also pays you online. There are a variety of on-demand applications too. The most popular is a food delivery app

Slowly and steadily we can see small and large businesses in other service sectors are adopting the on-demand trend. Today, services such as electricians, plumbers, pharmacies, etc., have a stronghold in the industry. Likewise, on-demand car wash services are a very popular segment of on-demand app types. In short, there are on-demand applications for almost every service you can make. 

On-demand applications provide convenience to your customers. Today, they can browse your services using a mobile application or web applications, book a slot with you and also pay you online. This has made the entire process of leveraging a service fairly easy and fast. Here is how customers have responded to online car wash services: 

  • The on-demand car wash services market valuation reached over USD 27.8 Billion. 
  • The expected CAGR is around 3.8% from 2022 to 2028 and is expected to reach USD 41 Billion by 2025 (globally). 
  • Over 60% of people in the US alone use online car wash services. 
  • The on-demand car wash market is increasing at the rate of 25% each year. 
  • 47% of people are using apps to avail car wash services every 2 months. 
  • 28% of people are using apps to avail car wash services every month. 
  • 25% of people are using apps to avail car wash service every 6 months. 
  • On average $5.8 billion is spent on a car washed in the U.S. alone. 

People love their cars, people love to take care of them as a commodity and if you are already in a car wash business you know how much people spend on keeping their cars up-to-date and clean. Looking at the statistics above, you must be thinking about how you can take your car wash business to next level and how to get started with on-demand car wash app development? Let us start by understanding the business model for on-demand car wash businesses. 

Popular business models in on-demand car wash solutions 

A business model is a framework on which your business works. Like retail, or wholesome in ecommerce; the on-demand car wash business also has two very popular types of business models. We have tried to explain them in short here: 

  • On-demand app

On-demand applications are a good solution for businesses that are looking forward to providing B2C solutions through their services. If you already have an established business, you can build a mobile application from where people can check out the available slots, drop or request pick for the wash and check out if the car is ready. Furthermore, they can put feedback on your services, select what type of package they want for car wash, also they can pay online, and connect with your customer care service extra. 

Having an on-demand application for your existing application helps you in improving the customer experience. It gives more convenience to your customers and allows them easily personalize the service set without having to stay physically present at the workshop. Also, they can get personalized quotations on their orders. 

  • On-demand marketplace 

This is rather simple, and you can expand this business endlessly. Consider there is a platform where people can check out all the car wash companies, their prices, their availabilities, their services, reviews, customer feedback, and more. They can call these businesses, or they can check out their websites if there are any to see the available slot for a car wash. They can also check out the added services if provided by any business. This platform is a web or mobile application and is termed a marketplace. Here you don’t have to manage a business, but you have to create a network of all the car wash businesses in a particular area and provide them with leads. You can earn money on lead and through advertisements rather than car wash services. It is a B2B model. It is all about connecting people with the right business, or specialist.

If you are thinking this is rather simple to create you are wrong. Definitely, it does not require you to run a business and to invest your money in expanding your business to become a car wash business chain in various cities. But it does require a great amount of effort in creating a network. 

  • Customer registration process
  • Business registration process
  • Payment method 
  • Commission on per lead 
  • Commission on each payment done to the vendor 
  • Setting up a business development team 
  • Setting up a traditional and digital marketing team 
  • Categorizing services and service providers on the platform 
  • Keeping a quality check on services provided by vendors 
  • Business expansion modeling

Depending on what business model you choose for your business you can proceed to outline the important features of the web and mobile application. We are listing down some important features for both the models and then we would be sharing a general overview of the development process along with approximate timelines for each stage of development. 

Must-have features for an on-demand car wash application 

A direct-to-customer car wash business can have a myriad of features. However, there are some very important features for improved functionality of the application. The more feature-rich application you build more cost and time-intensive the work would be. Do thorough market research to make a comprehensive report to share with the car wash mobile application development services company you look forward to hiring. Seeing the list they will give you a cost and time estimation. Here are the important features: 

  • User registration 

Some businesses make the huge mistake of having an elaborated registration process. To be honest, this just kills the interest to take any service from the business. Keep the registration process simple. Modern solutions allow you to incorporate social logins where customers can directly login and register through their existing accounts such as Google, Apple ID, Facebook, Instagram ID, etc. Also, you can opt for an OTP-based login. 

  • Search tab 

There must be several services provided by you and rather than making your customers browse through each one, make sure you have a search tab that allows customers to search for the services they are looking for. 

  • Real-time tracking 

You can bring more transparency to the process through real-time tracking. Your customers would not be hovering over you to know how much time is the wash going to take. With real-time tracking, they can check out what is happening to their car and how long it is going to take to get delivered. This is a very convenient and smart solution for businesses to reduce the calls they get always from customers checking if the car is ready. 

  • Multiple Payment Gateway 

Multiple payment gateways allow customers to pay from different sources. You can use a simple 3rd party API that securely helps you get payments from customers through debit cards, credit cards, e-wallets, UPI, etc. 

  • Push notifications 

Push notifications are a great way for the app to interact with your customers. It is a messaging tool that allows you to notify your customers about any offers, discounts, or even tell them if the work has started on their car and if it is ready to get delivered. 

  • Ratings and reviews 

Ratings and reviews allow you to take easy feedback from your customers after your services. You can use ratings and reviews as a great marketing tool to display your expertise and professionalism. 

Must-have features for a car wash marketplace 

A car wash marketplace is a network of car wash companies where you help people find the right service provider as per their needs. It is not running your own car wash business and hence it is just a digital property. Here are a few necessary features for a marketplace: 

  • Registration 

You have to have two different registrations. Make sure the application offers simple and user-friendly registration of customers as well as businesses. 

  • Profile management 

Especially for businesses, profile management is a necessary thing. They should have control over their profile. Be it managing their services, prices, costs, contact information, location, multiple account management, photos, videos, and of course, ratings and reviews. 

  • Multiple Filters 

Filters along with a search bar can help you in easing searches for your customers. Using filters people can select the best company for them, filters such as distance, cost, services, etc. are a must-have on a car wash marketplace app. 

  • Payment gateway

If you have a model like that, allow customers to pay you through a secure channel, and then you can clear the payments of a particular vendor in 3-5 business days. This allows you to get more control over your business while earning a commission on every lead you provide to the vendor. Also, make sure the payment gateway accepts payments from debit and credit cards, UPI, e-wallets, net banking, etc. 

  • Take feedback 

A strong feedback system is a must-have. It allows you to maintain the quality of service on your platform and allows you to make sure the customers are not facing any problems with the vendors. Most of the time, in a marketplace, when the customers get connected to the vendors, they provide them surge pricing and this can make you lose customers and trust in the market. To avoid all this take the customer feedback, especially the bad ones very seriously and optimize the experience of the customers and vendors. 

Time-taken to build a car wash application (stage-wise) 

Mobile application developement help businesses to respond the business challenges much faster. They are convenient and help you excel in your business by offering smart solutions. They address the needs of the customers and also empower your workforce. If implemented right, they even bring down your operational cost significantly, while improving the experience of the customers as well as your employees. 

The demand for feature-rich and intuitive applications is soaring high. In case you are looking for car wash solutions, it is high time that you not only think about the cost of development and revenue generated through custom mobile application development services but also the timeline to create a car wash app. It is because every waking moment we are progressing with technology and more businesses are looking forward to getting a first-mover advantage to get there, it is important that you factorize everything well to make the right decision for your business.

Stage#1: Design Sprints and Idea Validation 

Estimated time: 6-12 weeks 

The first step towards development is to test certain aspects of your application. Typically it takes one week for each sprint to complete. But it is just a ball-park figure, it may take more than that. 

The reason why design sprints and idea validation is important is that you would want to avoid having too many changes in the end. Each sprint would go through you and you would approve or inform of the iterations in the designs to match your business model, modern trends, and customer expectations to get a competitive edge. 

This stage is perfect for adding any new specific feature to the app. The stage is also good when you can start visualizing your product and basic design tests can be done concerning intuitiveness. You will get plenty of insights to improve your app idea and add more to it concerning features and functionality. You would be able to see how users respond to apps and features, and what would be their navigation journey from one page/ tab to another. 

Stage#2: Development and rapid prototyping 

Estimated time: 6-12 weeks 

Most development companies would offer you to start rapid prototyping along with design sprints. This allows you to test the app along with functionality and this would be very easy for iterations of the app. 

It is a fast process and you can also share the app across in your circle to get more insights into the features, functionalities, and design. This allows you to take more insights from the real users and make changes to the product to optimize. Feedback would help you make the best decision for your business. 

Prototyping thus helps you in testing your app idea with real users and it saves a lot of time that you would be investing later to make changes in the product to fit the user needs. The more efforts you put in prototyping and design sprints, the more prolific the quality of the app would be as it would be tested by people that are your target for the business. It saves time and cost too. 

Tip: rapid prototyping is needed. You do not want more time investing in a dummy product when you are looking for a faster launch. Many less experienced companies may take a lot of time in prototyping which is not ideal. Ideally, it should not take more than 12 weeks and the company should start prototyping stage-wise as the design sprints are getting approved by you. 

Also, if 12 weeks are sounding too much, still you should not avoid this stage. It is very crucial that you visualize the product before starting to invest your time and money in actual development. This would save you a lot of time later while you are testing and there would only be minor issues to solve. 

Stage#3: Testing 

Estimated time: 2-3 weeks 

Once your app is ready and all tied up together, it is time to start testing it. automated and manual testing is a part of end-to-end car wash development services. This allows you to see any glitches in the app and also resolve them. Bugs are removed from the app and robust tests are done to ensure the quality of the app. 

Stage#4: Deploying to the app stores 

Estimated time: 2 weeks 

Deploying the app doesn’t take a lot of time on the part of the development team but the app stores have their own processes to approve the apps. The time taken during the deployment stage in the process can be broken down into submission and review. This would include submitting information about your company, contact information, screenshots, descriptions, icons, demonstrations, etc. 

iOS is known to take a lot more time than android app stores to deploy applications. Their reviewing process takes a lot of time. But with android, they have an advanced algorithm that pre-analyzes the app for any violations, but Apple conducts the review manually which makes it time-extensive. 

Stage#5: Post-launch support, improvements, scalability

Estimated time: Not Applicable

Apps need constant improvements and maintenance, over time they are infected with bugs and this takes down the experience of the app. The app may glitch, and become slow. Sometimes they don’t even respond to user commands. And hence you have to be on a constant watch and also, keep the app up to date since it is hard to predict when the app starts misbehaving. 

When it comes to scaling the app and making improvements, you should make a list of things you want to do with the product and prioritize it. it would help you make informed decisions for your business and also, keep the cost at bay. You can introduce new features and services on the app in stages rather than adding everything at once and delaying the regular updates and launches. 

Tip: Go with the company that offers you 24*7 support and also has omni-channel communication in place to get in touch with the company. 

Also, read - 9 Reasons Why to Invest in Mobile App Development to Boost Your E-Commerce Sales

Wrapping Up 

Depending on your business model, features, and functionality, no. of developers working on the app the time of development may vary. Different developers who have different skills to develop different types of apps like car apps, food ordering app & etc. The important thing is you hire an expert car wash solutions provider because they would maintain professionalism and would provide you with end-to-end development services. Furthermore, they would be very transparent about the time and cost of development from the very beginning.

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