On-demand apps have transformed how we shop, travel, eat – and even how we do our laundry. Instead of setting aside hours for washing, drying, and ironing, users now only have to tap a button, and they can have their clothes picked up, cleaned, and delivered back fresh and folded.
If you are considering developing an app, specifically an on-demand laundry app, you are in the right place. In this guide, we will break down how these apps work, the step-by-step process to develop one, possible business models, costs involved, and more.
What Are On-Demand Apps?
The name itself is quite explanatory. An on-demand app is an app that a customer uses to request a product or service as and when they feel the need for it. Such an app should be available, accessible, and have the right options for the user to choose whichever product or service they are looking for.
The ultimate goal is to give the users an opportunity to avail an offering and save their precious time in the process. An on-demand service should be readily available and provide value to the customer. It capitalises on the need for immediacy. It should not only be the right solution to a user’s problem, but also a quick one, so as to act as an effective bridge between a buyer and a seller.
Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number and variety of on-demand apps available in the market. They cover many areas of life, such as transportation, food, grocery, health and medicine, beauty and fitness, travel and hospitality, retail, and many other essential necessities, one of them being laundry.
Types of Laundry Apps
Laundry apps generally fall into two main categories:
- Single Service Provider Apps: Built for an existing laundry business to digitise operations, improve customer convenience, and expand reach without opening new physical locations.
- Aggregator Apps: A marketplace platform where multiple laundry providers list their services, allowing customers to compare prices, turnaround times, and ratings before booking.
Hybrid approaches also exist, where a single business operates its own services while partnering with others during peak demand or in areas they can’t directly serve. This flexibility can significantly improve market coverage and brand presence.
How Do Laundry Apps Work?
A typical laundry service app is quite straightforward in terms of the process.
Business Strategy
As we discussed before, there are two possible paths that you could take when launching your own laundry and dry cleaning app:
- Building an app for your existing on-site laundry business
- Building an aggregator app that serves as a marketplace connecting customers and laundry service providers
In both cases, you need to scout the market for possible competition, and then find ways to come out one step ahead of them. The on-demand marketplace needs to be thoroughly observed to determine the possibilities of success for your business in the economy.
Your pricing will also likely be influenced by competitors’ pricing strategies. You must make sure that the services you offer to your customers are neither too pricey for them to be able to afford nor too cheap to allow your business to stay afloat. For a marketplace, there are multiple options for setting up a revenue stream, such as monthly subscriptions, per-order fixed prices, and commissions.
It is also very important to think about what you will start with and how your business growth will progress in the years to come. Expansion can come in many ways, such as targeting new segments over time or gradually widening the categories of services offered.
You also need to figure out who you are going to work with. You could partner with multiple existing laundry service companies so that they can provide their services through your aggregator app for the right incentives. You can also choose to work with freelancers – individuals who are willing to provide their laundering services to those who need them. Your app could thus be just like an Uber but for laundry.
There are countless other major and minor factors to consider as well, such as logistics, developing customer and vendor relations, handling of payments, and much more. Thus, a lot of thought needs to go into your business strategy.
What Is on Offer?
Next comes the most important part of building your dry cleaning app: the features that are to be offered. These features, combined, would provide a seamless experience to all categories of users in performing their desired functions.
There are two major sections that your app can be divided into:
- The customer portal
- The platform admin panel
For an app based on the marketplace model, there would have to be another module:
- The laundry service provider portal
For customers, there are some features that are quite standard across all kinds of on-demand apps. However, some other laundry-specific features would also have to be included, perhaps something that makes your app stand out from competitor apps.
- Registration/Login form
- Create/Edit profile
- Address book
- Search with filters such as price, time-to-deliver, rating etc.
- Booking creation form with the following options:
- Time, day, and location for pick-up and drop-off
- Type of fabrics to be washed
- Choice of detergent type
- Choice of service type (wash-and-fold, wash-and-iron etc.)
- Type of wash (hand-wash, machine-wash, dry-clean)
- Eco-friendly services
- Fabric softener or scent choices
- Track booking status
- Booking rescheduling or cancellation request
- View past bookings
- Multiple order placement
- Price comparison
- Cost calculation
- Customer reviews and ratings
- In-app or push notifications
- In-app payment
- Communication with launderer
- Help and support, perhaps with chatbots or live chat
Next comes the admin panel. As the administrator, you may play the role of either a laundry service owner or the aggregator platform owner.
All parties who use your dry cleaning app for providing their services would want control over the bookings. You would need the following tools and features to help manage things at this end:
- Viewing customer details
- Order approval
- Order management
- Scheduling and relevant reminders
- Delivery management
- Order tracking (with GPS)
- Receiving payments
- Performance monitoring and reporting tools
There are two key functions that you, as the aggregator platform owner, would want to perform:
- Customer and vendor management via a consolidated database
- Monitoring in-app interactions
- Live chat management (this is optional)
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How to Develop a Laundry App: Step-by-Step
Developing an on-demand laundry app requires careful planning, precise execution, and the right technology stack. Let’s delve deeper into the four key stages of developing a laundry app.
Step 1: Research and Planning
The first step always begins with market research. Identify your target audience, understand their laundry-related challenges, and explore how your app can provide a better solution than existing competitors. Study other apps in your niche to pinpoint strengths, weaknesses, and missed opportunities. You should also define whether your app will cater to a single laundry business or serve as an aggregator bringing multiple providers under one roof.
Step 2: Designing the User Experience
The design phase focuses on making your app user-friendly and engaging. This includes wireframing to map the user journey, prototyping to visualise the final product, and planning a clear feature list.
If you have limited resources or are building the app for the first time, you might not be able to include all the features you have planned to have in your app. In this case, you should prioritise features that you consider essential and add on others as you scale your app. Some examples of essential features for a laundry app can be:
- Secure login
- Detailed service selection with filters
- Real-time booking management
- GPS-based order tracking
- Multiple payment methods
- Push notifications for order updates
Step 3: Development and Technology Stack
Once your design has been approved, the next step is choosing the right technology stack, which typically includes GPS integration for delivery tracking, cloud storage for secure and scalable data management, push notification systems, and AI-powered features such as chatbots and personalised service recommendations.
Analytics and reporting tools are also essential for monitoring performance and understanding user behaviour. Whether you choose in-house development or outsourcing, ensure your team is experienced in creating scalable, secure, and high-performing applications.
Also read: How To Build A SaaS Product
Step 4: Testing and Launch
Testing is critical to ensure your app functions flawlessly. This involves three core tests namely:
- Functional testing (checking the user experience/user interface (UI/UX))
- Performance testing (ensuring the app runs smoothly when there are multiple users)
- Security testing (protecting sensitive user and payment data)
After successful testing, you can proceed with a full-scale launch or start with a soft launch to your targeted market. A phased rollout helps collect real user feedback, refine features, and improve before expanding to larger markets.
Cost of Developing a Laundry App
The cost of building a laundry app depends on multiple factors, such as complexity, feature set, design customisation, technology stack, and the development team’s location. In the UK:
- A basic single-provider laundry app may start from £25,000 – £50,000, while
- A feature-rich aggregator platform can easily exceed £70,000 (due to added modules for multiple vendors, advanced analytics, and AI integration).
Additional costs may arise from app store listings, server hosting, and ongoing updates, so budgeting for post-launch maintenance is equally important. Outsourcing your app development to a trusted partner, like GoodCore, can reduce your overall costs while ensuring that you have a quality product.
Business Model of Laundry Apps
Choosing the right business model is crucial for profitability and scalability. Here are four different types of business models that you can choose – one or more than one – for your laundry app:
- Commission per Order: You take a percentage from every transaction processed through your platform. This works well for aggregator models where multiple providers list their services.
- Subscription Plans: Customers pay a fixed fee for unlimited or discounted laundry services each month, so you have a steady and recurring source of revenue.
- Advertising: You can partner up with businesses to promote their services within your app for a fee, adding an extra income stream.
- Premium Services: Offer faster delivery, special garment care, or luxury fabric handling for an additional charge. This upselling model is highly effective in increasing average order value.
Wrapping up
Needless to say, on-demand apps are the future. The on-demand economy is growing at a commendable rate, and laundry apps are a significant part of that economy. With increasing growth comes increased competition, which means you need to figure out the best path to success.
How you go about your laundry app development process will have a significant part to play in your ability to capture the market, but that is not where it ends. Your app also needs proper marketing and promotion so that it reaches the people you intend it to reach.
Our software development company, GoodCore, is here to join you on your journey to successfully breaking into the on-demand market!
FAQs
How much does it cost to develop an app in the UK?
Laundry app development costs in the UK generally start from around £25,000 for a basic version with core features like scheduling, order tracking, and payments. If you opt for advanced aggregator models with real-time tracking, multi-vendor integration, AI-based recommendations, and high-end UI/UX, the cost can easily climb much higher.
Can a laundry app help me make money?
Absolutely. A well-designed laundry app with a smart monetisation model can generate steady income through commissions on each order, subscription packages for regular customers, and premium add-ons such as express delivery or special fabric care.
How profitable is an on-demand laundry app?
It depends on market demand, operational costs, and how well you retain customers. Many laundry businesses see a solid return on investment (ROI) within the first year when they combine efficient service delivery with a strong marketing and referral strategy.
