Connecting to gas pumps

[baywash1]

I just opened a new 4/1 adjacent to a C-Store. The gas volume is 200K per month. I amy in the process of connecting to the gas pumps. In my market, years ago, rule of thumb was for every 80 gallons of gas pumped, one car would be washed. With the economy like it is, does anyone have a formula that I can use for estimation purposes on how many washes I can expect based on the gas sold? I am located in Louisiana.

Thanks
Chip
Bay Wash Airline Hwy LLC

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

I would be very surprised if you got 2500 cars/month from this c store but I don't have any numbers to back that up. I do know that it goes down exponentially when it's not on site.

 

[nctraveler]

We service a lot of C-Store operators and one of my larger customers uses a rule of 1 wash to every 200 gallons sold. With aggressive marketing you can definitly improve upon that ratio. They do not discount for gas and have mostly touch-free units. They do market Rain-X for the top wash ($10)

 

[Waxman]

I'm working on this idea, myself. The gas station is a mile from my site and I've contacted the marketing department to discuss it.

To me, the idea is to drive gas sales with a low per-gallon price on the sign that says "with purchase of a deluxe car wash" below the $2.69/gallon price(for example), and consequently drive car wash sales using the cross-marketing effect.

I'd like to hear from operators who have tried this with an off-site gas station.

 

[ajay]

a renovated Mobile gas station has done just that: They discount Gas by .10/gal if you buy the laser wash. I don't know the numbers, just noticed it during my drive to my place.

 

[baywash1]

Thanks for the ideas. I should have mentioned that the my carwash and the C-Store property are adjacent, and have a driveway between them. The C-store operator wants .75 per transaction including any cc fees.

 

[baywash1]

Thanks for the ideas. I should have mentioned that my carwash and the C-Store property are adjacent, and have a driveway between them. The C-store operator wants .75 per transaction including any cc fees.

 

[Jim H.]

I don't want to scare you but I own a c-store with a car wash on site. The wash has been open for approximately nine months, I average one car wash per 300 gal. sold. The c-store averages 93,000 gal. per month. I use a hamilton code system three to communicate with a goldline. Hope this helps.