What do you do if you’re a dry cleaner? Think about it. You choose a dry cleaner not on price, but on convenience. Location, location, location is what this game is all about. Would you really choose a dry cleaner that’s 10 blocks away, if there’s one 2 blocks away…even if the one that’s 10 blocks away is 10% cheaper? Of course not. The plight of the dry cleaner is fascinating to me. The bulk of their business has to come from a small radius. All the advertising in the world isn’t going to change that. The pricing and margins are roughly the same for every dry cleaner. Loyalty and customer retention has to be nearly impossible. Again, if you move to a new city or a new neighborhood, you’re not going to drive out of your way to keep going to the same dry cleaner. The lifetime value of a customer is completely tied to how long they’ll live inside of that radius. Can you differentiate on speed or quality of service? I’m not sure. I mean could you tell the difference from an exceptionally pressed shirt and just a well-presses shirt? I can’t.
Ok, so increasing awareness will have diminishing returns, creating loyalty is nearly impossible, the pricing has very little elasticity, and there’s little you can offer from a shopping experience to differentiate from the competition. Ouch. So, I ask you, what would you do?
Head of Social Media at Walgreens. Interactive marketer, innovator, boat rocker, continuous learner, movie lover, risk taker, dad and all around good guy. I'm always up for a spirited conversation. These are my thoughts and ramblings, not those of my employer.
