What is car wash software?
Car wash software is the system a car wash uses to run the day: the till where each wash is rung up, the wash menu and prices, the number plate of every car, who washed it, how the customer paid and what each washer has earned. Instead of a notebook at the gate and a calculator at the end of the day, every car is recorded once, at the till, and everything else is worked out from it.
Afritelligence is car wash software built for car washes across Africa. It runs in a web browser on a phone, tablet or computer, so you can start with the phone you already have and add a tablet at the cashier's desk later. Payments are recorded in your currency, with mobile money, card and cash side by side.
Who uses a car wash system?
From a single bay by the roadside to a busy car wash with several branches in towns and cities across Africa, the problems are the same: cash that doesn't add up, washers who aren't sure what they earned, and regular customers you can't recognise. A car wash system fixes each of these by putting the plate, the wash, the washer and the payment on the same record.
- ✓Roadside and estate car washes with two or three washers
- ✓Car wash and valet businesses with several bays and a cashier
- ✓Car washes attached to petrol stations, malls and garages
- ✓Owners running more than one branch who want every branch on one login
Car wash management system features
These are the parts of Afritelligence a car wash uses every day. They're switched on when you sign up as a car wash.
- ✓Number plate on every sale: type the plate at the till; the customer it belongs to is attached automatically
- ✓Wash menu with prices: body wash, interior, engine, full valet, seat and carpet shampoo — and products like air fresheners
- ✓Washer commission: a flat amount or a percentage per car, worked out for each washer as cars are washed
- ✓History for every vehicle: each wash, what was done, who washed it, what was paid and what is owed
- ✓Loyalty washes: set every 6th wash (or any number) free and the till tells the cashier when it's due
- ✓Customers with their cars on file: save a regular customer with their number plates for next time
- ✓Credit for fleet and corporate clients: put washes on account and send a statement
- ✓Daily takings by payment method, so the cash and the mobile money statement can be checked against the till
How a day at the car wash works
A car drives in. The cashier types the plate — if it has been before, the customer and the visit number appear, and the till shows if this one is a free loyalty wash. The cashier taps the wash, picks the washer and takes payment by mobile money, card or cash. The receipt shows the plate.
At the end of the day the owner sees how many cars were washed, the takings per payment method and what each washer earned. At the end of the month, commission payouts are recorded against each washer, so there is no argument about who was paid what.
What car wash software replaces
Most car washes start with an exercise book and a WhatsApp group. It works until there are more than a handful of cars a day. Plates get written wrongly, a wash is missed, washers dispute their count and the owner can't tell which customers come back. Car wash software records each car once and builds the totals for you — takings, commission, loyalty and history — so the book and the end-of-day arithmetic go away.
How to choose car wash software
Whichever system you look at, check these before you pay for it:
- ✓Does it record the number plate, and show each car's history when you type it?
- ✓Can it pay washers per car, flat or percentage, and keep a record of payouts?
- ✓Does it handle loyalty without the cashier counting by hand?
- ✓Can you record mobile money, card and cash on the same sale?
- ✓Does it work on the phone you already have, without buying a machine?
- ✓Can you add a second branch later and see both from one login?
Getting started
Sign up as a car wash, add your wash menu and prices, add your washers with their commission rates, and set your loyalty rule if you have one. Most car washes are taking their first sale the same day. Ask us on WhatsApp for a demo or for the price for your car wash — it's a monthly subscription per branch, with 10%, 15% or 20% off when you pay for 3, 6 or 12 months.
