Acquazero Eco Wash, a participant in Franchising Brasil — the result of a partnership between ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) and ABF (Brazilian Franchising Association) — has very much resumed its international expansion process at the end of last year. The network started the internationalization process in 2019 and, after a period of pause in expansion during the pandemic, it resumed its growth abroad. For 2022 the brand has plans to reach 1200 operations in Brazil and inaugurate units in three more countries. By 2026, the company has even more ambitious goals: to reach the milestone of 4,000 units.

“We came back with full energy in the ​​internationalization field, participating in many meetings and creating a new department, which today focuses entirely on the part that concerns the development of the business abroad”, quotes Henrique Mol, president of the Encontre Sua Franquia group, which owns Aquazero.

The brand already has deployments in Crete, Mexico; in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; in Sydney, Australia; and a unit operating in Orlando, United States. Now, Acquazero’s strategy is to work in priority markets defined for the moment: Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay and more Latin countries. According to Henrique, the main areas of focus for the network this year are South and Central America, in addition to the specific development in the US, in the state of Florida.

“Mexico also has potential for development and next month we will participate in a fair in Mexico City”, mentions the head in relation to the company’s participation in FIF (Feria de Franquicias de México), which will take place soon.

Aquazero

Acquazero Eco Wash is a reference in the segment of automotive aesthetics and residential hygiene. The chain’s pillar and competitive advantage is ecological cleaning: it works with biodegradable products and a unique sustainable cleaning method that uses only 300ml of water to clean a car. The company is proud to have saved more than 200 million liters of water since its founding in 2009. In 2018, the brand was purchased and incorporated by the Encontre Sua Franquia group and, since then, has been expanding significantly, presenting accelerated growth.

Another highlight of the brand is the standardization of its services, since the products supplied to franchisees are all from ZaplusCar, a company whoch also belongs to the group that owns Acquazero. This control in the supply of the units generates a unique experience at the end, which means to the customers.

But the main attraction of the network is the technology part, such as its own system, “AcquaOn”, which the franchisee uses to enter financial transactions, services provided and customer entry. This technology makes online sales channels available, such as e-commerce and the brand’s app. The most interesting thing about the system is its ability to create marketing intelligence with stored data. Strategies are created from this internal information, without dependence on the franchisee. The franchisor creates this prospect and the franchisee only focuses on the operation and on providing a good service.

“For example, the unit puts there that it made a car for the customer, then I have the data on that customer in the system, what service was done and what the consumer needs, but was not sold. Strategies are created in this sense. We also recently made a partnership with Sem Parar, so all our points will also have this payment method. With this initiative, together with Sem Parar, we were able to work on the marketing strategy of this data that we have within a single base”, explains Henrique.

Pandemic and brand growth

The chain, which is among the best franchises to invest in according to data from the magazine Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios, grew 153% in 2020, even in the midst of the pandemic.

“When we talk about our model, we don’t make money washing cars. The average ticket is low, we need to add jobs. We have a wide range of services that we offer to the customer and, during the pandemic, we sold more products, which are usually difficult to sell, such as, for example, internal hygiene and oxy-sanitization, which kills fungi, bacteria and viruses. Demand grew in the pandemic period, as well as the average ticket, which generated an increase in revenue from the units”, quotes the president.

Another factor that made it possible for the franchise to grow during the pandemic was the mature way in which the company was already working on the issue of online and delivery, which was even higher during the period. In 2019, the group bought a technology startup that enabled two online sales channels: e-commerce and the Acquazero app, in which the customer can hire the service remotely, move the vehicle to a store or even request the delivery service at their home or business.

About Franchising Brasil

Franchising Brasil is a joint project of the Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), which aims to support the internationalization strategy of Brazilian franchise networks and their international trade promotion. The initiative was conceived to promote this recognized business model in the main international markets.