Scope of the online laundry service in India:
The Internet has been a boon to the consumer industry. Starting from Food -Groceries -Utensils-Furniture-Automobiles-Consumer Electronics-Consumer Durables-Clothes-Laundry and you name anything it can be delivered online in a ‘jiffy’
The largest players in the e-commerce/food space are- Amazon/Flipkart/Swiggy/Zomato
Off late laundry is also making its presence in the hyperlocal delivery segment
Laundry should be done according to the worth and the market cannot be captured by giving hefty discounts like the other giants in the consumer tech space.
The biggest challenge is the logistics which is the backbone of the online consumer space
Here is a small comparison between the Delivery Processes of an E-Commerce/Food and Laundry Companies:
A. Delivery process(E-Commerce/Food Delivery)
E-Commerce:
Customer places an order — Company — Vendor/Fulfillment Centers — Customer
Food Delivery:
Customer places an order — Company — Restaurants/Cloud Kitchens — Customer
B. Laundry delivery process:
Customer places an order — Company — Delivery Executive goes to the customer (pick-up the clothes) — Process the clothes (factory) — Delivery Executive deliveries the clothes back to the customer
*There will be a lot of sentiments attached to the clothes and that is the biggest risk
So the basic driving point here is the delivery guy should go twice to a customer’s place which is same as picking a defective product from a customer in the e-commerce context i.e., ‘return product’.
Normal pickup and delivery of clothes is as good as ‘returning a product in the e-commerce’. At the time of delivery, the customer will check the quality for around 20–30 min. If there is any quality issue they will return them back and again we should deliver. So it is as good as ‘returning a product’ TWICE in the e-commerce terminology
Comparison between E-commerce/Food/Laundry Deliveries:
As per industry standards for e-commerce segment the return ratepercentages are-
1. Industry standards- 30%
2. Flipkart- 15–20%,
3. return percentage for Amazon- 5.5%,
But when it comes to the online laundry industry it is 100% return all the time when compared with the e-commerce space
So, online laundry service cannot be compared to Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola or with anyone who provide their services online
In my view as a laundry consultant if the following points are followed judiciously then there is a lot of scope/growth for the ‘online’ laundry segment to prosper-
1. Pricing:
Price your service accordingly without hefty discounts. Once the investments die down this segment cannot get back on its legs like the other e-commerce or the food delivery companies
2. Quality:
Quality should be given the topmost priority without which there will be no return customers
3. Delivery Time:
Promise the customer if you are only 100% sure of delivering the clothes on time. If there is any issue inform him prior to the delivery date
4. Stain Removals:
The stains cannot be removed 100% but make sure that the same will be conveyed to the customers properly
The laundry industry is itself a 2.2L cr industry and the organized sector is under 5% and the rest is still unorganized. So there is definitely a lot of scope. But keeping all these constant it is time that the laundry industry shows it’s really worth to the customers.
If you have more doubts on how to get into the laundry industry (or) on how to start a laundry plant (or) invest in the laundry industry you can visit-
Website: www.pk-enterprises.com
Email: md.pkenterprises@gmail.com
Call: +917569800675
