ROI, Costs, Risks, Equipment, and a Complete Provider Playbook
Explore GuideCustomer behavior has shifted toward speed, transparency, and cashless convenience. Coin laundries that keep relying on coins alone face friction that turns into lost sales, higher handling costs, and longer queues. A modern Point of Sale upgrade can remove those bottlenecks, expand the customer base, and unlock data that improves pricing, staffing, and maintenance planning.
This guide answers every question an owner will ask before flipping the switch. What is the ROI of adding a POS system to a coin laundry. How does a POS system increase laundromat revenue. What are the risks and rewards of upgrading coin laundries with POS systems. How much does a coin laundry POS system cost. How much money do I need to upgrade a coin-operated laundry with a POS system. What equipment is needed to integrate a POS system with coin laundry machines. How do I start a coin laundry business with a POS system. How does a POS system work with coin acceptors. What is the best POS system for coin laundromats. Can a POS system reduce operational costs in a laundromat. Which laundromat POS providers operate in Australia.
The article provides formulas, worked examples, equipment checklists, and a 90 day rollout plan you can adapt to your site.
Return on investment is the percentage gain you realize from an upgrade after recovering all costs. In a coin laundry, the main ROI inputs are:
ROI percent = ((Annual benefits minus annual costs) minus initial investment) divided by initial investment, multiplied by 100.
Define the pieces:
Run two toggles to stress test. A 5 percent tariff rise on dryers during peak evenings, and a 10 percent occupancy improvement during shoulder periods through targeted promotions. POS analytics make both tests measurable and repeatable. Keep the wins, remove the losers, and your ROI curve steepens.
Coins limit the basket size to what a customer has on hand. Card and mobile payments free the customer to choose the right drum size and to add drying minutes without a second trip to the change machine.
When payment is easy, more customers add premium wash cycles, extended dry time, fabric softener, or stain treatment. Vending integration captures incremental dollars per visit.
Digital systems enable student discounts, off peak pricing, and rewards. Local gyms or salons can be billed monthly with clear usage records. Repeatable programs beat one time discounts because they compound into higher lifetime value.
A 14 washer and 14 dryer site raised weekday afternoon occupancy from 32 percent to 44 percent by promoting a small credit on the second cycle when both were paid by card. Average revenue per visit rose by 9 percent, while queues during the evening peak shortened because some demand shifted earlier.
Use a hybrid configuration, coins and cashless, to keep every customer type happy.
Install in stages, bank holiday mornings or shoulder periods, to minimize disruption.
Provide a 1 page instruction card at every reader with large icons and plain language.
Keep a 4G backup for network failover and test it monthly.
For a medium site, expect 7,000 to 15,000 AUD depending on the mix of machines and the number of payment points. Larger multi row sites and premium enclosures can push above 20,000 AUD.
Retrofit kits attach to existing coin machines and trigger starts electronically. New machines with integrated readers simplify wiring and reduce small faults. If your fleet is mid life and reliable, retrofit is often the efficient path. If a replacement cycle is due within 12 to 24 months, plan a phased swap to integrated models.
Each machine accepts either a coin input or a cashless trigger. The reader authorizes the card, then sends a start signal that mimics the coin pulse or closes the start relay for a set duration. Machine logic remains intact. The customer experiences the same cycle, only the payment path differs.
By removing payment friction, you reduce walkaways. By making it simple to add minutes or choose larger drums, you lift the basket size. Loyalty and business accounts raise repeat frequency. The effect is measurable in cycles per day and revenue per hour.
You will need reader hardware that supports your mix of control boards, interface kits that match each model, and a hub that can monitor every lane. Ask the vendor for a compatibility list and require a test on at least one washer and one dryer before committing to the full rollout.
Use the small upgrade budget and double the subscription line for a few months while you evaluate. Stage two can reuse the same hub and networking so your second half is cheaper on a per machine basis.
Pick a provider with large, simple on reader instructions, a clean three step flow, and local service. Ask to see a live demo in a nearby store.
Accurate cycle starts and clean venting cut dryer minutes per load. Better data identifies machines that run long or fail to reach temperature. Fixing those outliers often saves more than a small tariff rise.
Choose a system that follows payment industry security standards and uses tokenization. Readers should encrypt at swipe or tap, and the platform should avoid storing raw card numbers.
Collect only what you need for loyalty and support. Publish a short privacy note at the entrance and on your website. Provide a contact for data requests.
Use an uninterruptible power supply for the network hub, keep a 4G modem for backup, and schedule a monthly test. Document the steps to restart readers after an outage and train staff on a simple checklist.
Owners ask whether a POS upgrade is worth it. The answer is yes if the plan is specific and the rollout is disciplined. The revenue lift comes from fewer walkaways, larger baskets, and repeatable loyalty. The savings come from fewer coin jams, smaller banking fees, and faster fault diagnosis. The risk is manageable with a hybrid approach, staged installation, and clear instructions that reduce confusion.
If you map your machines, pick the right equipment, and set a simple 90 day plan, the question changes from whether to upgrade to how quickly you can capture the gains. For many Australian operators the payback arrives inside the first year. The long term benefit is a cleaner, faster, more resilient business that welcomes every customer, coin or card, at any hour that suits the neighbourhood.