iMessage for dry cleaners and laundries

Dry cleaning is an almost perfect fit for messaging, and most shops still use a paper ticket and hope. The customer has one question, it has a definite answer, and telling them unprompted saves a phone call at both ends.

Ready for collection, and then a nudge

export const cleaning = {
  ready: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.shop}: ${c.itemCount} items ready for collection — ticket ` +
    `${c.ticket}. We're open until ${c.closeTime} today.`,
 
  // Uncollected stock is dead money and dead rail space.
  nudge: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.shop}: ticket ${c.ticket} has been waiting ${c.days} days. ` +
    `No rush, just don't want you to forget it's here.`,
 
  problem: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.shop}: the ${c.garment} has ${c.issue} — photo attached. ` +
    `We can ${c.options}. What would you like us to do?`,
};

Regulars are the whole business

A commuter with five shirts a week is worth vastly more than a wedding dress once. Messaging suits that rhythm — a standing collection day, a reminder when they have not been in, and a route to say 'running late, can you hold them'.

• Note the pattern. Someone who comes every Tuesday and misses two is worth one message, not a campaign.
• Seasonal prompts genuinely help. Coats in autumn, suits before wedding season — these are useful reminders, not upsells.
• Let them reply. 'Can you keep them until Saturday' is a message you want to receive.

For alterations work, which behaves differently because of fittings, see tailors and alterations.