The car rental applications market has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Due to urbanization, many people value the flexibility of using a car without the commitment of ownership, while lots of car owners don’t need their vehicles 24/7.
By 2029, the global revenue for car rentals, including car sharing apps, will approach $124.1 billion. Statistics suggest that the number of users will reach approximately 820 million around the same time. Apps like Getaround have revolutionized the industry by addressing this need using a seamless technological solution, and you can do the same — evidently, opportunities for car hire app development are vast.
How to build a car rental app that will have a long-lasting impression and attract a loyal audience? In short, it combines smart technologies, innovative features, and a user-centric design. But we’ve got more; keep reading to learn how it all comes together to make a difference.
This article will tell you how car rental apps work, their benefits, key features, and how to make one.
What is Getaround?
Getaround is a peer-to-peer car rental app that connects car owners and users, making car renting easy without the interference of third parties. It provides solutions for short-term car renting that give owners passive income while offering accessible car options nearby.
How does a car rental app like Getaround work?
Let’s explore the basic steps users go through to use Getaround:
- Sign-up and verification. Users do this only once — they have to verify their profile using their ID.
- Filtering and booking a car. The app’s filtering and search process includes address, price, and car type. Once drivers have chosen the right vehicle, they can book it.
- Unlocking a car. Users unlock a car via the car rental app itself without the keys — we’ll cover it below in more detail.
- Using the vehicle. Once everything’s done, a user drives the car for the designed duration.
- Returning and paying. When a driver doesn’t need a car, they return it and, if necessary, pay more based on the mileage or driving time.
This personal car rental app is also easy to use for owners:
- Enlisting a car. A car owner should register their vehicle with the Getaround system, ensuring it meets the necessary criteria beforehand.
- Rental preparation. A car is parked in a specific area, and the geolocation will be later shared with a driver.
- Driving. Owners receive notification of the contract via email. The state of their vehicle is guaranteed based on the photos users take before and after driving.
Lessons from Getaround
What’s so special about Getaround? The phenomenon of this mobile car rental app lies in how it handles the pain points of both drivers and owners.
- Smart car access. There’s no need for drivers and car owners to meet each other to exchange the keys — the company’s technology Getaround Connect allows users to unlock the car via the app. The system has smoothed out the renting process, driving it (no pun intended) to the ahead-of-its-time level. This reduces the friction during car pickups and returns and ensures 24/7 availability, which was an issue of most Getaround alternatives before.
- Insurance integration. Before Getaround, many owners were hesitant about renting out their cars because they could easily get scammed or have their vehicles damaged without insurance. But Getaround has fixed this problem, offering a comprehensive insurance policy that covers both renters and owners and protects all transactions. This safeguarding feature has significantly boosted the pool of available cars and contributed to greater company and user accountability.
Why create a car rental app?
There’s a significant advantage to car rental app development — current trends indicate that it’s a lush field for exploration if you intend to invest your creativity and resources.
Growing demand
The peer-to-peer car rental market is expanding rapidly: just by the end of 2024, the global projected revenue for the car-sharing market was expected to be $13.44 billion. What’s more impressive is that the market volume is likely to reach $15.78 billion worldwide by 2029.
Many people don’t use cars as often as they need, while others aren’t ready to buy a vehicle for occasional drives. This group of reluctant drivers can be even more common outside of the U.S., where the need for owning a car varies.
Increased customer reach
When you don’t limit yourself to the restrictions of a particular location, you can use your car rental mobile app to expand to a broader audience. By operating digitally, businesses can transcend geographical barriers and offer services to users in multiple regions.
This step drastically expands the opportunities for reach. The best part? It benefits all parties: your users get more options, especially if you grow your network, and your drivers find more people willing to pay them.
Streamlined operations
With technologies like the ones in Getaround, you receive solutions to complex logistics of the car rental market. Instead of opting for brick-and-mortar solution, this approach grants everything from automated booking to GPS tracking. While the initial efforts of installation and organization can be higher than usual, it leads to much simpler solutions afterward.
Scalability
With digital platforms, you can scale your business whenever needed. An app for car rental can grow alongside market demand based on real-life opportunities, all the while being able to cut back in case of economic challenges. If you plan to expand internationally, you can easily add new languages and partner with different organizations.
Key features of a successful car rental app
What does it take to develop a car rental app that will find its audience? It should cover a scope of features — we’ve highlighted the critical ones for each party involved.
For users:
Easy onboarding
Nothing distracts a user from a long and complex onboarding process; after all, you haven’t sold the idea to them yet. Make it easy: ensure a smooth experience from the moment of signing up to creating a profile and accessing the app’s features. This also includes verification. Once done, it should be enough for further operations.
Search and filter options
Powerful search and filter functions enable users to find the perfect vehicle for their needs. This car sharing app feature should include the ability to choose a vehicle in a specific location and based on budget and car type.
Booking and scheduling
Potential drivers would love a one-click booking without any extra effort. Users should easily select pickup and drop-off times and finalize their reservations with just a few taps, ensuring a hassle-free experience. Remember: the more steps it takes, the less likely they are to book a car.
Payment gateway integration
Your best bet for a secure and fast transaction is to make it simple and connect it to a popular payment gateway. At the bare minimum, this should include credit, debit cards, and digital wallets. You can expand these alternatives as you grow.
GPS tracking and navigation
Your best car rental app should have real-time GPS tracking. This will give users an understanding of where their car is located, and it’s also useful because users know where to park the car once they’re done driving.
Reviews
User reviews and ratings foster transparency—the more people leave reviews on the proposed cars, the more they will trust the owners. This will also help your drivers make a decision among the best alternatives while encouraging your car owners to be responsible with vehicle maintenance.
For car owners:
Vehicle listing management
Even while car owners are accountable for providing real information and taking care of their vehicles, easy listing is a part of the car sharing app development.
Owners should be able to add and change car photos, add new or updated vehicles, and pick the desired pricing. For those new to your platform, it’s also helpful to provide simple onboarding with transparent instructions.
Earnings dashboard
Add an intuitive and simple-to-use earnings dashboard to let your car owners see how much they earn. This will help them understand their rental history and see trends over time.
Booking requests
This feature must include timely notifications and, just like on the user’s side with a one-tap booking, make it similarly easy for the owners to confirm or decline the request.
Insurance integration
Let’s take the best from Getaround: offer peace of mind to drivers and owners alike by providing insurance that protects vehicles from possible damages and protects both parties.
Admin panel features:
User management
Admins should be able to manage users’ accounts fast — here, we mean owners and drivers. The basic functions should cover account verification, handling the primary settings, and ensuring the profile complies with the rules of your app based car rental.
Analytics
To make the best peer to peer car rental, empower it with data. Give your admins powerful analytics tools to gain insights into the app’s performance. Provide details about rental trends, vehicle popularity, and changing demands in pricing fluctuations. All of that should be, ideally, packed in a simple and accessible interface.
Dispute management
Your drivers and owners will have their disputes, even in an ideal scenario, so make your dispute management system simple and quick to make problem-solving fast. Streamlining the resolution process will boost your clients’ satisfaction.
Customer support dashboard
Typically, admins have to handle many tasks during their shifts, so a centralized dashboard with user inquiries, complaints, technical issues, and emerging reports is a smart step. It serves as an effective solution to gather all processes in one place.
Our team can bring your vision to life with an app that delivers both convenience and efficiency. Ready to develop your own car rental app?
How does a car rental app like Getaround make money?
Determining how a car rental app like Getaround makes money will affect everything from your customer base to many app features. There are various options, but we’ve collected the most profitable ones for you.
Commission-based model
Many personal car rental apps go for this model — the majority of revenue comes from the commissions on transactions. Every successful operation gives a platform a certain percentage of the rental fee.
This model incentivizes the platform to drive more bookings while maintaining competitive pricing for users. It doesn’t put too much financial burden on either party and ensures both have a balanced end solution.
Getaround Connect subscription
Such a subscription requires car owners to pay for the usage of a technology that automates their rental process. Getaround Connect is one of the smartest solutions with varying pricing based on where it operates. Car owners get easier access and enhanced security with an immobilizer and remote access to protect their vehicles against damage and theft.
Partnerships and integrations
Getaround has mastered the art of partnerships, and you can follow its lead. For example, Getaround’s collaboration with Uber enables rideshare drivers to rent cars seamlessly through the app. These partnerships give a few perks: they expand the user base for both partners and establish additional revenue streams.
Step-by-step guide to building a car rental app
We’re moving toward practical steps now — how to build a peer-to-peer car sharing app? What are the steps from your idea to the end result? Let’s dive into the matter.
1. Conduct market research
Create a car rental app with the knowledge of your audience and market. This step will give you a better understanding of what audience you will target and what your next steps will be.
Research the industry trends, financial possibilities, ages, and expectations of your target customers. Use surveys and feedback to understand what potential users value most in a car rental app.
2. Partner with a development team
A skilled development team will build a car rental app for you, so it’s a key to a successful product. Consider your expectations and budget, of course, but remember that your team will be your major advantage in the market.
Find the right fit that understands your vision and can offer technical mastery up to your standards. Develop a roadmap outlining project timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
3. Define the MVP
Your MVP, or minimal viable product, will help you first focus on delivering essential features without overspending on additional functions. This will help you gather user feedback on onboarding, vehicle listing, booking system, and secure payment process.
4. Develop and test
Start the development process of your car rental application with the chosen team using agile methodologies. No one will like a buggy app, so this aspect is essential — be ready to spend time and resources on making it functional and able to work with the growing number of future users.
In the final step of your development process, implement user acceptance testing (UAT) to make sure your end-users actually like the product you’ve made.
5. Launch and market
Have you determined a particular region or audience you want your brand to concentrate on first? Direct your marketing campaign to target them specifically. This will determine your advertising channels and what messages you’ll deliver.
Go for social media, online platforms, and even collaborate with influencers or other companies to reach the right customers. Monitor user feedback post-launch and address any issues promptly to build trust, as your first responses will be the highlight of your company.
Best practices to ensure your car rental app’s success
You know what features your app should have — but the market isn’t static, and you need to adhere to certain practices to be in touch with car hire application development in the future.
- Focus on UI/UX design. No matter how the trends change, you must always provide a visually appealing but intuitive interface. You can transform the style over time as you grow and introduce a new “look,” but a clutter-free design should be the center of any future guidelines.
- Ensure data security. You can never compromise your user protection; it’ll be your showpiece whenever someone searches your company’s name. Incorporate data encryption, secure your servers, and be sure to make your app compliant with the regulations in your country. Have a crisis strategy in case of a security breach, too.
- Provide customer support. In addition to functionality to make customer management easier, you must train specialists who can handle user inquiries and solve disputes quickly. Make your customer service responsive and flexible — considering the business specifics, it’s best to make it round-the-clock as well.
- Incorporate analytics. Your analytics (or lack thereof) can determine your success or failure; use the data about user behavior, market trends, app performance, and booking changes to find new solutions and constantly improve and increase your appeal.
- Regularly update the app. Keep the app up-to-date with new features, bug fixes, and performance enhancements. Even the best programs need occasional improvements, which will keep you competitive against your rivals.
The bottom line
Now you know how to create a car rental app, but it’s just the beginning. Creating your own contactless car rental app is an outstanding opportunity for you as a future entrepreneur to tap into a rapidly developing niche. Research, innovation, and new opportunities — you can have it all. Be ready to invest resources into a great product, and you’ll see the returns soon.
Need help making your car rental app the best out there? Want to stand out from the crowd and seize the moment? Car rental mobile app development isn’t easy. Let us help you; we know how to make apps that’ll stick with your audience. Contact us, and let’s bring your idea to life.
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About the author:
Oleg Roberman, Chief of Delivery at Eastern Peak
With strong technical background and outstanding project leadership skills, Oleg helps Eastern Peak customers introduce competitive advantages and instill productive changes in every process by resolving complex business issues and managing multicultural teams through innovation and creative thinking.
