The demand for sustainability in mobility, inclusive of supportive government policies have acclimatized EV’s in the car rental industry. Read more about car rental apps like Turo!
Increasing traffic congestion on roads owing to an increase in personal vehicles, multiplied by the increasing workforce and the distance required to travel, the demand for ride-sharing services is increasing. This calls for the need to have affordable and convenient transportation. The technology too is catching up. With this (1) Electric and Hybrid Cars, (2) Autonomous vehicles, (3) Personalized Services, (4) Mobile Technology, (5) Partnerships and Collaborations will be the major trends in Car Rental space across the globe.
What is Car Rental?
Car rental is a simple process that involves hiring a car for a ride for a fee. Every ride is a new ride and requires mentioning source, destination, and mode of payment. The car can be hired with or without driver, who earns a commission per ride. The rider has a choice to pay in cash, or by scanning a QR code in case of contactless payment. Once the ride is completed, and payment is done, the car is returned to the company.
Why are Car rentals popular?
- Modern car rental apps offer enhanced user experience, which includes testing all functionalities, such as vehicle browsing, booking payments, tracking and customer support.
- Also, each on-demand car rental app integrate mobile wallets and payment gateways.
- Car rentals will go contactless and keyless in coming years. Additionally, user-friendly design, integration with other services, focus on sustainability, increased use of location - based services, inclusion of virtual reality and increased security measures will make this domain even more interesting and popular amongst masses.
Types of Car Rental Apps
Outstation rentals | Wedding rentals |
Airport transfers | Taxi services |
Corporate rentals | Travel agents |
Car rentals for events | Tempo traveler rentals |
Monthly rentals | Mini bus rentals |
One-way rentals | Bus rentals |
What should you consider while booking a car on rent?
- Before making a reservation, you must meet the company's age requirements and have a valid driver's license.
- To ease the process of car renting for travelers who need a convenient and reliable option for short or long term travel - Car Rentals Companies offer them flexible schedules to book their car. Travelers also get to book a car in ahead of their slot. Also they get to stop the car in between for a break, or to capture a photograph, or to buy medicines, or in case of sickness.
- Car rentals on demand are popular as travelers can choose to book a car according to their budget and lifestyle. Spacious, large, luxurious cars or economic, short, compact cars.
- Customers get a personalized experience and do not have to wait for a public vehicle to pass by.
- Determine the source and destination, time and date before booking a cab on rent. Factor out any potential delays, such as flight arrival or traffic, so that you make sure to schedule your pickup accordingly.
Renting a Car Should be Easy. What steps should you follow?
- Get yourself registered on a car rental website or an app.
- Search for the vehicle you want to rent.
- Check the availability.
- Choose your ideal rental car
- Select date, time and location (source and destination)
- Choose the right category - Small, mid-size, big - luxury - economic
- Consider your budget
- Recheck - rental category, Rental Company, insurance coverage, optional items like insurance coverage, terms and conditions, deductibles or exclusions, level of protection you need.
- Book the vehicle by entering the source and the destination (Pay for the rental period)
- Once your booking is confirmed, fill personal information like name and contact information, payment information, special requests like non-smoking car, specific pickup time. Once you enter the personal information, confirm the reservation details. Provide the credit information and confirm the payment amount.
- Unlock the car by using the rental app
- Use the car and return it to the company after use.
What is Turo?
Turo is a car-sharing platform that allows you to rent a car from a personal car owner. It is similar to Airbnb, where you can list your car for rent and set your own price. Examples of famous car rental apps other than Turo are: Enterprise, Hertz, Lyft, Skyscanner, carSHAIR, SIXT, and HyreCar.
Features for a Car Rental App like Turo
- Registration for new users
- Login to access all the app features
- Creating a space to search cars according to categories, budget, availability
- Create a renter profile
- Integrate all payment gateways
- Provide reviews and feedbacks
- Include car listings with car models, photos of cars, and their salient features
- Also include vehicle details, booking history, and customer support
- Integrate GPS tracking functionality
- Include search with advanced filters
- Provide source and destination locations
- Offer payment processing
- Provide (1) in-app chat, (2) push notifications, (3) uploading documents, (4) analytics and reports, (5) dispute management, (6) listing analytics
Turo App Business Models (How does Turo monetize?)
Turo is an online marketplace that connects people who wish to hire car on rent, with car owners (hosts). Its revenue model (monetization model) includes (1) A 25% commission on every rental transaction, (2) Charging customers if they exceed the allowable kilometers, (3) Charging variety of guest fees, (4) Charging hosts 10- 35% for services like Turo protection; Turo business model is greatly inspired by its innate ability to form a peer to peer rental platform, that involves making money by charging a commission fee on every booking. Turo charges 25% commission for every successful ride. This implies that Turo gets to keep 25% share of the rental fee paid in a transaction.
Also, apps like Turo charge some amount for (1) EV Charging, (2) gas replacement, (3) additional usage, (4) processing fee, (5) guest number show fee, (6) late return charges, (7) smoking, and (8) pet policy violation, etc.
How much does it cost to build a car rental app like Turo?
The average app development cost to make a car rental app like Turo is $15,000 to $60,000. This range has been estimated based on the number of features, app design, technologies to be used, location of the development team, platforms, and the complexity of the app. Essential features to be included in car rental app includes (1) User Authentication, (2) Vehicle Listings, and (3) Basic booking functionalities.
Key Takeaways
Any mobile application development company that is set to create a car rental app like Turo must undergo market research, define their business model, analyze their target audience, and use data to design features and services; they should define the user roles and features clearly, take care of user interface and backend development; they should include the process to develop a car owner app, develop a renter app, integrate insurance and verification services, testing and quality assurance.