Case Study
National Carwash Solutions
National Carwash Solutions manufactures and distributes car wash equipment and cleaning solutions across North America under the NCS, Ryko, and MacNeil Wash brands. eWay designed a central parts database schema serving three coordinated WordPress and WooCommerce eCommerce stores, with tax calculation across all continental US states, FedEx shipping integration, multiple payment options, and full mobile-responsive design, delivered end to end in five weeks.
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Platform
- WordPress with WooCommerce
- Services
- WordPress eCommerce Development + Cloud Hosting
- Engagement
- Project-based
Client Snapshot
About National Carwash Solutions
- Founded
- 1973
- Scale
- Multi-brand manufacturer of car wash equipment and cleaning solutions across North America
National Carwash Solutions, Inc. (NCS) manufactures and supplies car wash equipment and cleaning solutions across North America. The company offers automated car wash equipment including friction rollovers, tunnel touchless systems, and enterprise-level machines for dealers, fleets, and rental agencies, plus appearance-enhancing accessories, tire and wheel cleaners, dryers, water reclamation systems, activation and payment terminals, and a full line of detergents, waxes, and protectants.
The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Grimes, Iowa. It was formerly known as Ryko Solutions and changed its name to National Carwash Solutions in May 2016. NCS operates across multiple brands: NCS, Ryko, MacNeil Wash, and CleanTouch, serving car wash operators, gas and convenience store car wash owners, and auto dealers across North America with maintenance, repair, parts, and cleaning supplies.
The Challenge
Three brands, one database, online parts sales in five weeks.
The car wash industry was consolidating, and suppliers were becoming vertically integrated as full-service providers with equipment, chemicals, service, and parts. Industry innovators were disrupting the market with new investor models and equipment eCommerce. To gain market leadership and scale their business, NCS needed to take their parts sales online by building a modern website capable of displaying thousands of products, making it easier for car wash operators to order parts without going through traditional sales channels.
The complexity was multi-fold. NCS, Ryko, and MacNeil Wash are distinct brands with their own identities, but the parts catalog overlaps significantly across them. The platform needed three separate eCommerce stores, one per brand, but sharing a single underlying parts database so the catalog could be maintained once rather than three times.
Beyond the catalog architecture, the stores needed sales-tax calculation across all continental US states, FedEx shipping integration with automated label generation, credit card and PayPal payment options, mobile-responsive design, and SEO compliance. The full development needed to complete in five weeks.
What had to ship
Three branded eCommerce stores: NCS, Ryko, MacNeil Wash
Central parts database schema serving all three brand stores
Tax calculation across all continental US states via API integration
FedEx shipping API with automated label generation
Credit card and PayPal payment options
Mobile-responsive design across the public-facing stores
SEO compliance for indexing and search visibility
Complete delivery in five weeks
The Solution
Shared parts database, three branded WordPress eCommerce stores.
eWay's engineers worked with NCS to consolidate the parts database including specifications, photos, pricing, and related information. The database schema was designed and the site architecture set up, with products imported into the store and navigation hierarchy configured. Designers and developers streamlined the look and feel of the stores using HTML and CSS while back-end work programmed the cart, checkout, tax calculation, and shipping integration.
Central parts database schema serving NCS, Ryko, and MacNeil Wash branded stores from one consolidated source
Three coordinated WordPress and WooCommerce eCommerce stores, one per brand, with shared catalog data and brand-specific presentation
Mobile-responsive site templates built with HTML and CSS
Cart and checkout programming tuned to NCS's specific requirements
Tax calculation through API integration with a third-party service covering all continental US states
FedEx shipping API integration with automated rate calculation and shipping label generation
Credit card and PayPal payment options at checkout
SEO compliance configured for indexing and search visibility
Hosted on Google Cloud Services for high availability and redundancy
Web Application Firewall protection against common web threats
Architecture
A glimpse of the stack
Platform
WordPress with WooCommerce
Cloud
Google Cloud Services with Web Application Firewall
Backend
PHP and MySQL
Integrations
Third-party tax calculation API, FedEx shipping API, credit card processing, PayPal
The Outcome
Online parts available 24/7 across three brands.
Parts available 24x7x365
NCS, Ryko, and MacNeil Wash stores moved online so car wash operators can order parts without going through traditional sales channels. The stores serve customers around the clock rather than only during sales-hours.
Easy checkout with multiple payment options
Customers complete purchases through credit card or PayPal at checkout. Tax is calculated automatically based on the shipping address. Multiple shipping options including Ground, LTL, and FedEx are available with automated shipping label generation.
One database, three branded experiences
The shared parts database means catalog updates apply across all three stores from one place rather than three separate maintenance cycles. Each store still presents with its own brand identity and customer experience.
Hardened by Google Cloud and WAF
Hosting on Google Cloud Services delivers the high availability and redundancy a multi-store operation needs. The Web Application Firewall blocks common web threats at the perimeter.
NCS's parts business now runs as three coordinated eCommerce stores sharing one underlying database, available around the clock, with the tax, shipping, and payment integrations a multi-state online retail operation requires.
Common questions about this engagement
What buyers ask before engaging us on a project like National Carwash Solutions
Why three separate stores instead of one multi-brand store?
NCS, Ryko, and MacNeil Wash are distinct brands with their own customer relationships, market positioning, and visual identities. Customers shopping for Ryko parts expect a Ryko-branded experience, not a unified storefront where the brand is one section among others. Three separate storefronts preserve the brand experience while sharing the underlying parts catalog so NCS does not maintain three duplicate catalogs.
How does the shared database work across three stores?
The central parts database holds specifications, photos, pricing, and related information for the full catalog. Each store's WordPress installation reads from the shared database and presents the catalog under its own brand identity. Product additions, pricing changes, and inventory updates apply across all three stores from one place rather than requiring three separate maintenance cycles.
How does tax calculation handle continental US complexity?
Sales tax across the continental United States involves thousands of jurisdictions with varying rules, rates, and product-specific exemptions. The stores integrate with a third-party tax calculation service through an API. At checkout, the service evaluates the destination address, the products in the cart, and the applicable tax rules to return the correct tax amount. NCS does not maintain tax tables internally; the service handles the complexity.
Why Google Cloud rather than AWS for this build?
Google Cloud Services delivered the high availability and redundancy NCS needed for the launch and ongoing operation of the three stores at the project's price point and timeline. The platform runs on Google Cloud with WAF protection layered on top, supporting the operational requirements of a multi-state eCommerce operation.
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