P&G launches 'Tide Cleaner app' - a laundry solution for time-constrained consumers
There is nothing worse than getting ready for work and discovering you have no clean socks. It's been a busy week and your washing bag has been overlooked. Recognizing that time is an increasingly valuable commodity for consumers, the laundry detergent Tide is rolling out a full-service, on-demand laundry solution, where customers can get their clothes washed at the click of an app.
‘Tide Cleaners’ is a mobile laundry service that allows customers to pre-pay for laundry through the 'Tide Cleaner app' at their own convenience. The move is part of a wider strategy by Procter & Gamble (P&G) to extend its brand reach beyond the traditional wholesale-retail model by offering services that encourage users to repeat use of its products.
Rolling out across 2,000 locations by 2020, Tide has already opened 125 24-hour dry cleaning stores across 22 states.
Targeting city-dwellers, suburban families and students, it has launched a 24/7 drop-box, found inside high-rise apartment buildings, offices, and storefronts. After placing their washing in the drop-box, consumers can use the app to submit cleaning instructions for cleaners. The app will then notify them when the washing is ready to pick-up.
The service will also reach university campuses. College students can hand over their dirty washing to on-campus delivery vans parked outside of resident halls.
Sundar Raman, vice president of P&G’s North American Fabric Care business, said: “Many people believe that in order to get laundry done right, they have to do it themselves.
“Tide is taking this challenge head-on and aiming to give people clean, cared-for clothes and some time back. This new service will complement our existing business and give people the option to get the Tide clean they deserve on their terms, not on their time.”