ICA 1999 Study of Consumer Car Washing Attitudes and Habits RYKO 2000 Summer Sales Meeting

The Details  1999 ICA conducted the second in a series of consumer surveys  The ICA plans to do additional Surveys every three years  The next survey will be done in 2002 with the report published in 2003  Surveys are done to provide information to the membership on the attitudes of consumers and trends in the marketplace  Cost of the survey to the ICA - $125,000

The Details  Initially 20,000 households were surveyed  Of the 20,000, 11,843 responded that owned vehicles  Of the 11,843 that responded, 4,300 were sent a follow up survey  Of the 4,300 who received the follow up survey 3,367 responded  Of the 3,367 that responded, 391 replied they regularly use Stationary-Automatic Car Washes – Choices were: Home, Full Serve, Exterior and Stationary- Automatic  Stationary-Automatic Wash is defined as car is washed automatically but car does not move (Automatic Rollover)

More Details  ICA Survey claims an accuracy level of + or – 5% with a 95% confidence level  The results of the survey are divided into eight areas: – Key Findings – Lease vs. Own – Demographics – Home Washer Results – Full Serve Customer Results – Exterior Customer Results – Stationary – Automatic Customer Results – Self-Service Customer Results

Demographics  The ICA survey was balanced in terms of demographics to represent the general population of the US: – Vehicle ownership – Population density – Income – Age – Marital status

Key Findings Primary Choice of additional Services to Offer at a Car Wash  Gas Station  “C” Store  Express Detailing  ATM  Quick Lube

Key Findings People Would Use a Car Wash More Often If…  Lower price  Coupons  Frequent washer club  Other business offering on site

Key Findings Factors Influencing Decision to Use a Wash  Discounted or free with a gas purchase  Special occasion  Special price or coupons  Impulse  Frequent washer discount  Extra services

Key Findings Important Results for Customers Judging the Quality of the Wash  Thoroughly cleaned car body #1  Thoroughly cleaned windshield #2  Thoroughly cleaned windows #3  Thoroughly cleaned wheels #4  Thoroughly dried car #5

Key Findings of Interest  “Stationary-Automatic wash” has been used by 45%, and is used most often by 12.7% of the population  Stationary-Automatic washes show a significant increase in usage since the last ICA survey was done in – Stationary Automatic usage reported up 34% from 1996

Key Finding of Interest  More Stationary Automatic Customers reported using spray washes than cloth washes. – Spray wash 56% – Cloth wash 23%, – no response 20%  Stationary-Automatic customers rate the importance of quality very high  “ The number one turn off using a professional car wash is long lines/waiting/time”

Key Findings of Interest  Top reasons for having a car professionally washed – Resale Value of the vehicle – Makes you feel good – Important part of maintenance – People will respect me more – The car is visibly dirty – It’s fun to have you car washed – It’s important for my business

Stationary-automatic  More than 62% of the Stationary- Automatic car wash users report washing their cars more than two times in the past four weeks.  96% felt that Stationary Automatics provided a faster overall process than home washing

Stationary-Automatic Customer Results  Convenience was the #1 reason for using the wash they use most regularly – 82% define convenience as a faster overall process – 18% define convenience as location  The #2 reason for using a Stationary-Automatic was price – Most economical/ cheapest  Effectiveness was the #3 reason – Quality is rated very important to customers

Stationary-Automatic  “Spot Free Rinse was chosen by the greatest number of of stationary-automatic customers as an extra service that would be a factor in their car wash selection”

Conclusions  ICA has and will continue to do consumer surveys every three years  The conclusions are based on 391 respondents for Stationary Automatic Washes  About 13% of the population uses Stationary- Automatic Washes  Use of Stationary Automatic Washes is on the rise

Conclusions  Consumers want a quality wash – After a clean body, the second most important quality issue is a clean windshield  Consumers want a dry car after it has been washed.

Conclusions  Consumers want convenience more than anything else and are really turned off if they have to wait in line.  Most consumers define convenience as time.  Spot free rinse is the number one feature that consumers want when they get a car wash.

ICA 1999 Study of Consumer Car Washing Attitudes and Habits RYKO 2000 Summer Sales Meeting