Laundry App Development: All Traits and Obstacles

An on-demand laundry app is a digital platform designed to connect users with laundry and dry cleaning services conveniently. The laundry app's role involves providing many features, such as booking clients’ laundry orders online with a few buttons, arranging the pickup and delivery date, calculating the cost, paying online, and leaving feedback. It also enables laundry businesses to automate their whole process (booking, payment, pickup, and delivery) and helps them work more efficiently on a large scale.

Online laundry apps work in a simple way. At first, users make an order through a website or mobile application and choose the most convenient time for pickup and delivery. Then, a delivery person takes dirty clothes to the laundry service provider. After washing, drying, and ironing clothes, the laundryman returns them to the client.

There are two popular options for payment. In the first scenario, a customer pays when the clothes are delivered. In the second scenario, the customer pays when he gets a notification that work is done. After the payment, a laundryman delivers clothes.

The on-demand model has integrated so well with today’s reality that traditional laundry setups have almost disappeared. Before learning how to start a business like Uber according to laundry apps, let’s take a quick look at why on-demand laundry app development is popular.

Time-saving convenience

On-demand laundry app development services can save a lot of time. Users do not need to waste a couple of hours washing dirty clothes or taking clothes to a laundry shop. In most cases, such apps also provide dry cleaning, ironing, laundry pickup, and delivery services. Just a few taps and all dirty clothes will be cleaned in a few days.

Flexible scheduling

Laundry app development solutions must allow customers to schedule pick-ups and deliveries. What's more, they can customize their orders. For instance, a customer can ask for washing with eco-friendly cleansers or softeners, and so forth. After placing an order, users can track its status in the application. They can identify whether the order is in a queue or has already been placed.

Scaling business opportunities

In case you have a laundry shop, you can create a laundry app to scale your company. According to Statista, total revenue in the App market is expected to show an annual growth rate of 7.84%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$781.70bn by 2029. By using custom software development services to create a laundry app, you will increase customer loyalty and attract new customers, raising your revenue. Moreover, you will automate the whole process and make calculations easier.

Marketplace for laundry services

An on-demand laundry app development will help you provide a platform that connects customers and laundry providers, providing better and more convenient interactions with clients. For instance, changing cash payments by online in-app purchases (IAP) or extending payment methods by it. Statista reports that in 2024, half of the interviewed consumers said they would complete online purchases in the next 12 months, so you should not miss such clients.

Customer behavior

People love solutions on the go. Book a hotel room in a few clicks, order food to their doorstep, the option to pick up a laundry detergent, etc. Besides, having the opportunity to monitor every step of the process is also a benefit that users want. The transparent approach offered by on-demand laundry businesses is a key point that shifted consumers' focus toward the 'Uber for X model.'

One of the most frequently asked questions is, “How can I make money with an on-demand laundry service app?” First, let’s discover two main business models you can operate:

The marketplace model is a great solution for startups on a tight budget. Your application becomes a platform where users can connect with local laundry shops they choose on their own. After work is done, they can rate laundries. In this model, you can take a cut of every transaction. ByNext, Mulberrys, and DRYV use this business model. If you start your on-demand laundry app development from scratch, it’s important to partner with local laundry owners. As far as your app is a medium between vendors and customers, building good relationships with each side is of great importance.

This model is a great solution if you own a laundry shop but have difficulties attracting new clients and scaling your laundry startup. By using web development services or laundry application development, you allow customers to order laundry pick up and delivery in a few taps. This business model is used by Liox Cleaners, WashClub, and Naperville.

So, if you have your laundry shop, it’s obvious that you will have increased revenue because of an increased client base. But what if you want to create a laundry app following the marketplace model? Most software for laundry businesses earns money by setting fixed prices for each option implemented by laundry app solution developers. Other solutions are to set a delivery fee and get your interest from each in-app payment. Such a popular way as advertising is inappropriate, while with an advertisement, your application won't look trustworthy.

Whether you selected a marketplace or on-site model for on-demand laundry app development, you should consider hiring a delivery man. Most companies usually hire freelancers who want to get some money. Cleanly and Rinse hire part-time employees with a car and pay them for each order. TaskRabbit has created a special platform where users can hire freelancers to wash and deliver dirty clothes. The key difference is that customers choose not laundry shops but people ready to perform chores, so the company does not need to think about delivery services.

After talking about top laundry apps, let’s discover common features for this type of application. If you are considering using an on-demand laundry app development services, this paragraph is essential and can help you estimate development costs. To create a laundry app, you should consider that Uber for laundry apps usually consists of several solutions.

A laundry app development service includes a customer panel consisting of the login form and customer data with all needed information (i.e., customer address, first name, etc.). With the help of this panel, clients can calculate costs and make and track their orders. Basic features for the customer panel can be the following:

Cost calculator

On-demand laundry app solutions let your customers choose the type of clothes and total weight and, according to this information, can view how much a laundry process service will cost them.

Multiple booking options

You should make it possible for clients to make bookings according to their requirements. Usually, customers have two options: book now or later. It’s a useful user feature since they can plan the requests by pointing to the date and time.

Cancel bookings

Users always appreciate the opportunity to cancel their requests in case of an emergency. Some service providers enable clients to cancel their orders via mobile app. Once they cancel the request, service providers get a notification and change their schedule accordingly.

In-app payments

Cash-free payment is an effortless way to pay for services. This feature allows users to pay for services with a few taps.

Push notifications and order tracking

Most users want to be sure everything is okay with their clothes. The application notifies customers whether their clothes are washed, some problems have occurred, or payment was successful. Real-time tracking lets users monitor the service provider’s journey utilizing Google Maps.

Schedule pickups and order history

With scheduled pickups, customers can choose the most convenient time for them. Order history allows them to view previous orders and repeat them.

View and rate laundries

The service connects users to nearby laundrymen who can take the clothes. Customers can enter the dry cleaners’ profile and check the number of completed orders, client feedback, and ratings. The quick-search bar allows users to find the right match for themselves, which improves their experience.

Invoice generation

After the customers pay for the services, the invoice is generated automatically within the app. It displays information about clients’ names/surnames, locations, types of services, and payment methods. Besides, customers can save the invoice for future purposes.

This panel is useful for managing order delivery. It enables delivery men to process requests and choose optimized routes. However, if you select the marketplace business model, you can save some money, as there is no need for this feature. Here are basic features for delivery panel:

Order history

With the help of this feature, delivery men can get info about orders waiting for approval and the time when he/she must pick them up. He can accept or decline the order by his/her availability.

Routing

Depending on orders, the delivery man builds the best route from customers to the laundry and dry-cleaning shop and vice versa.

Managing orders

The delivery man sets the status of the order of the time when the laundry is picked up, prepared, washed, and delivered.

The service provider panel is essential for the laundry apps to manage and streamline operations because it allows them to update service details and monitor total business performance. But, in case your mobile laundry business uses an on-site business model, there’s no need to develop a service provider model. Let's look at the features service provider panel must have:

Information about an order

With this feature, a service business provider can accept or decline orders and view the information about the order (i.e., the customer's preferences).

Manage information about services

This feature allows owners to easily update price lists, special offerings, working hours, promotional events, available discounts, etc.

View analytics

Laundry shops can view their income, the number of orders per month, average order size, repeat customer rate, monthly growth trends, etc.

Add services

Providers can add services by filling out the required data (service type, rates, and other related information). This feature will allow them to get extra money, and it’ll also be helpful for customers to get services done from one provider.

Master reports

Admin can create various reports using one specific feature (number of orders, driver’s order history, total income, etc.). These reports will allow managers to make informed financial decisions.

Laundry app development services need an admin panel that manages interactions between all panels and stores and analyzes data. In order to realize an efficient and scalable admin panel, you need to choose the right cloud technology. We at Cleveroad, as an AWS Select Tier partner, can help select a reliable cloud server for your laundry application.

Finally, let's talk about on-demand app development for laundry service. There are several important steps involved in creating such an app.

Since the laundry dry cleaning app development is quite technically complex and has many features, it is important to start by looking for a development company. In this case, we recommend you look at the outsourcing market. There are a lot of software providers out there, and you are sure to find a team that can meet your needs. You should pay attention to the following factors while choosing on-demand app developers:

• Technical expertise. You should ensure the development company has an appropriate level of technical expertise in on-demand development.
• Experience in creating similar solutions. The vendor must have proven experience in on-demand solution development.
• Portfolio cases. The company you choose must have successful cases which show their reliability.
• Client testimonials. Customers’ reviews will also show the vendor’s quality of services. Look at our Clutch page to see our clients’ reviews.
• Sufficient talent base. You should make sure the company has a considerable pool of experts in on-demand app development.

Once you have decided on a software vendor, the on-demand laundry app development process begins. The first step is to meet the Solution Design team, which usually includes business analysts (BAs), a solution architect (SA), and a designer. The team defines the business goals, work scope, team composition, and a timeline, making a rough estimate. We at Cleveroad offer a Solution Design Workshop for free to help you align your on-demand laundry app vision with technical realization.

At this stage, your software development team turns project requirements into a clear plan. This process speeds up the development and improves the product quality. Experts specify your business processes and detail the earlier collected requirements—features you want to include, third-party services to integrate, and many more. In this way, our initial feature list gains more precise details. The team documents the technical and business decisions that have been made. Also, you get an estimated timeline and team composition for the creation of on-demand laundry app solutions. Once the discovery phase is finished, the project can move on to the next phases.

After you agree on all the project requirements, on-demand app development for laundry starts. The development team can proceed to create the app. You and the development team agree on the work scope to complete during the set time. At Cleveroad, the development process is divided into several sprints, during which a team implements a certain part of the apps' functionality. Each development stage is accompanied by testing. Once all the sprints are completed, the QA starts the regression testing, which is a complete check of the application to identify all possible bugs.

Once all the previous stages have been passed, the laundry application can be launched on AppStore or Google Play. Also, the team hands you all the project documents, such as specifications, the project plan, design details, source code, etc. In the case of the web project, the team moves it to the live server on the release day. Once you’re satisfied with the result, experts pass project materials to you.

You can continue your collaboration with laundry on-demand developers after the project is completed. Since the application is quite feature-rich and the service area is rapidly evolving, you may need further updates. These may include bug fixes, support for new OS versions, and adding new features. At Cleveroad, our cooperation with clients doesn’t end when the software is live. We can continue support and maintenance on the software to add various tweaks, looking at feedback from your users.

So, how much can on-demand laundry app development cost you? The main price drivers are the development rates of an outsourcing company you partner with (depending on region), features, and platforms (iOS, Android, or both). Taking the average rate of $50/h in our region (Eastern Europe), we have estimated the approximate timeframe in which our development team would need for basic laundry app development.

Notice: The time above is approximate and based on one platform. Feel free to contact our Senior Business Analyst to get a custom feature list and project estimate for your laundry app.

In the table above, you can see the approximate time to create a laundry app like Cleanly Uber (development time only). Remember that software developers aren't the only specialists you need on the team to build such a product. Here is the full team composition required to build laundry app:

• Front-end developer
• Back-end developer
• UI/UX designer
• Business Analyst
• Project Manager
• QA engineer
• DevOps engineer
• Team lead

Given that team composition and the amount of work, it'll cost you approximately $90,000 to create a laundry app. As a software service provider, we can guarantee successful product delivery within a specified time frame only if all needed specialists are on the team.

Cleveroad is a professional software provider with more than 12 years of experience in the IT field. Our experts work with startups and businesses of all sizes to help them bring ideas to life. Our team of over 250+ in-house engineers has successfully completed 200+ diverse projects. These have included applications for FinTech, logistics, healthcare, education, and more.

By entrusting laundry app development to the Cleveroad team, you will receive the following benefits:

• On-demand services. Our team can both create a laundry app from scratch as well as optimize your existing app.
• Proven standards. We are an ISO-certified company implementing ISO 9001 quality management systems and ISO 27001 security standards.
• Privacy. We sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) per your request.
• Quality assurance. Your laundry mobile app development will be accompanied by comprehensive tests at all stages.
• Support and maintenance. We provide multi-level technical support options and maintenance services for your software.

Cleveroad team has a deep experience in on-demand solutions development. To demonstrate our expertise, let's discuss one of our cases, an on-demand platform to book custom services called AYIO.

AYIO is an on-demand app whose main idea is to deliver clients an opportunity to find experts in different fields. For instance, in case something needs repairing, users can quickly access AYIO service to hire an expert, which significantly simplifies users’ lives. Moreover, our customer wanted us to implement a quick switch between customer and vendor roles to provide users with high-quality service while offering UI and UX, which is as simple and intuitive as possible.

Cleveroad team addressed all of our client’s business needs and created a functional and user-friendly on-demand platform for custom service booking, remaining within the budget required for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) version of the app.

There's no denying that developing Uber for laundry apps can be profitable for both startuppers and laundry business owners. Contact us for advice, and we will help bring your ideas to life.