Most car wash operators still think of online checkouts as a “nice to have” feature. Something they will get to later, once the site is redesigned or once they finish upgrading equipment. But the data tells a very different story.
Rinsed is powered by data from more than 3,500 car washes and over 10 million members, and the trends are crystal clear:
Operators who do not offer online checkouts are leaving real money on the table every single day.
When you only sell memberships on site, you are restricted to the hours your wash is open and staffed. Meanwhile, customers are shopping and buying at all hours of the day.
Across 3,500 sites, Rinsed sees a consistent pattern: a significant portion of online membership purchases happen outside operating hours. Many customers buy late in the evening, early in the morning, or during breaks at work. They buy when it is on their mind, not when they happen to be in their vehicle at your wash.
Without online checkouts, every one of these customers simply disappears.
Lost revenue example:
If even 2 to 3 signups per day occurred online after hours, that is 60 to 90 new members per month that never enter your POS.
Most operators do not realize this is happening because they never see the customers who leave.
Across operators using Rinsed ecommerce, 9 to 14 percent of all active memberships now originate online. The range accounts for operators in different location count cohorts. Believe it or not, location (state or rural/metro) has little impact on who shops their local car wash online.
That is not a small slice. For many washes, online sales represent the difference between:
Stagnant growth or compounding growth
A flat membership base or a consistently expanding one
Slow winter months or stable recurring revenue
This percentage also scales with any paid media, email campaigns, SMS engagement, landing pages, or digital promotions you run. Online checkouts become the engine that turns your marketing into actual revenue.
Without online checkouts, all of those marketing dollars have nowhere to convert. In a way, online checkouts unlock the ability to track literally every dollar spent.
A growing portion of consumers prefers to buy without interacting with staff.
People want:
Privacy
Time to read details
No pressure
A clear way to compare packages
A fast checkout on their phone
In nearly every consumer industry, self-service has become the default. Car wash customers are no different, and your competitors are increasingly offering online membership checkout.
If your wash cannot sell online, you are losing every self-service buyer who would have converted digitally but will not enter the lane to be pitched in person.
Without online checkouts, you miss all early-stage interest:
Shoppers checking prices
Drivers comparing washes
Competitor customers
Gift card buyers
People researching before visiting
Online checkout forms capture emails and checkout intent. Rinsed can then automate nurturing through email and SMS to convert these leads into paying members.
No online checkouts means you never capture the lead, so you never get the sale. Leverage features such as abandoned cart emails to re-engage failed conversions.
Every click from ...
Google Ads
Facebook and Instagram (Meta)
Direct mail QR codes
Website landing pages
... needs a place to convert. Without online checkouts, marketing sends customers to a dead end.
With online checkouts, you have:
Measurable attribution
A trackable funnel
Re-engagement through abandoned checkout flows
Real conversion rate benchmarks
In short, online checkouts make marketing work.
Let’s compare two sites:
Site A has no online checkouts
Site B uses Rinsed ecommerce
Site A
8 to 16 organic members per month
No online sales
No after-hours conversions
Site B
8 to 16 organic members
Plus 7 to 14 percent of total memberships coming from online checkout
Steady sales even after hours
Higher marketing conversion
Lead capture and nurturing
The growth curve is completely different. Site B compounds. Site A stalls.
And the large operators? They're doing it. For groups of 65+ locations, it's basically an extra site's worth of members sold every year. It's the opportunity every small operator has to compete with the big guys down the street.
Online checkouts are no longer optional. It is a central part of a modern sales strategy that increases revenue without adding any labor.