I've been thinking about this same phenomenon. I reside in Norway, where, interestingly, five different car washes opened in 2023 within a 2 km radius of my local neighborhood. Remarkably, four of these are clustered within a 300m stretch inside a commercial park. Our local area has a population of roughly 5,000 to 7,000 people.
Each car wash is operated by a different entity, offering unique apps and subscription plans.
It's hard to imagine this being profitable given the circumstances. But what do I know, I wash my own car.
Honestly I bought freezer food bags recently and even they had a bloody app. Each one is stamped with a QR code and you can use the app to record what's in each one. Absolutely bizarre. I continue to use a Sharpie.
There is one by me that lets you pay wirelessly with an app. They have an unlimited wash subscription plan you can only get with that. I am not really sure how it works (bluetooth?) but I guess it would speed things up.
I would try it to puzzle it out, but its one of those spinnybrush antenna destroyers and I'm not gonna risk it.
Each car wash is operated by a different entity, offering unique apps and subscription plans.
It's hard to imagine this being profitable given the circumstances. But what do I know, I wash my own car.