By Jim Utter
Director of Journalism
There was plenty of interesting data – some good, some worrisome – when the International Carwash Association released its Q4 2024 edition of The Pulse Report to its members this week.
The Pulse Report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the car wash industry each quarter. The Q4 report research was completed in November.
Among the key findings from Q4 was an increase in the number of people who have been washing their cars at home, which correlated to a small decline in washers in the past year who used a professional car wash.
That decline appears related to non-subscription members who were more dissatisfied with pricing. Subscription members, however, saw an increase in price satisfaction. Overall, customers remained very pleased with their favorite car wash.
“The Pulse surveys have shown that the vast majority of customers are very satisfied with the car wash they use most often and, in our Q4 survey, 93% of members said they intend to renew — the highest level this year,” said ICA Research Director Bob Klein.
Other key findings in Q4:
• Members’ intent to renew reached the highest level this year (93%).
• Transactional (non-subscription) customer price satisfaction dipped to the lowest level since Q1 2023 with only 30% saying they are very satisfied.
• Non-subscription customers value offers such as BOGO (but-one-get-one-free) and loyalty programs when deciding on whether to visit a car wash.
“The Pulse Report Q4 2024 features information that has been researched and fielded exclusively for businesses involved in the car wash industry,” said ICA CEO Eric Wulf.
“We want our members to be able to make informed decisions about the growth of their businesses and be able to base those decisions on relevant and timely research.”
