What is a difference between bike rental app and bike rental software? The use of the terms has been blurred recently. The apps are mainly used on tablets and smartphones whereas software can be used on all devices.
Do you need bike rental app or bike rental software?
To answer this first of all you need to take a step back – what problem are you trying to solve?
- Taking bookings online
- Managing all my inventory, reservations and maintenance in one place.
They are two separate things really and many people mistakenly start with taking bookings online only to discover the problem they are really trying to solve is managing it all (point 2).
Which one do you need?
Traditionally bike rental software will be able to cover more of your needs than a bike rental app and a good rental online booking system will look and feel like an app to your customers if it is fully responsive, especially on mobile phones and tablets, like Bike Rental Manager.
You have taken the excellent decision to make your rentals hassle free with a rental system, so what questions should you ask to ensure it will be a success?
1. WILL BIKE RENTAL APP OR SOFTWARE COVER ALL YOUR CRITICAL BUSINESS NEEDS?
Many retail businesses have developed their own apps but rental business is more complicated than retail so you want to make sure your business needs are covered so that you can have a competitive advantage.
Managing rentals
Some of the rental needs you might have are:
- Visual availability of your bikes to make sure you can use them to full capacity.
- Easily amend the bookings to save time on admin?
- No double bookings.
- Does it cover your whole rental cycle, all the steps in your rental workflow. So that you don’t need multiple tools.
- Does it track your individual bikes, who has got them and when are they returned.
- Do you have retail items to upsell, would you need separate POS.
- Can you choose how to price your items. By hour, day etc.
- Easy billing, payments, tax and deposits.
- Choose when you allocate the bikes, when they are booked, when they are picked up or anything in between.
- Does it handle digital waivers so you can go paperless.
- Has it got integrated maintenance so you can make sure your bikes are safe to rent. Can you schedule maintenance efficiently according to actual usage of bike to maximise your rentals.
- Does it handle deliveries with easy scheduling.
- Do you need barcoding to speed up your customer service.
Online bookings
Will you rent your bikes online so customers can book them 24/7 with self service:
- Can your customer choose the model and size they want.
- Checks against your LIVE inventory, so you don’t get double bookings.
- Can you accept bookings for at least a year in advance.
- Are you able to take a payment when they book, so you get paid straight away.
- Automated confirmations and invoices.
- Can you easily upsell extras like, helmet, lock, baby seat, pedals etc.
- Do you get access to LIVE online reservations or only get them periodically.
- Will you own your online customer data or does the service provider keep it.
- Do you have to pay commission.
These are just some of the features that BRM offers, check out for more features.
If you are not a BRM customer yet, you can test the online booking here.
2. WHAT ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER’S EXPERIENCE?
Ultimately customers want to feel secure that they will get what they reserved when they arrive at their holiday destination to make sure they have a successful stay.
- Can your customer choose the model and size they want.
- Will they get a confirmation.
- Are they able to add easily a baby seat, tag-a-long, pedals etc. to their rental. That could lose you a customer if they are not able to book all extras they need.
- Will you be able to hand out the bike/s they booked when they turn up, no double bookings to deal with.
- They want to feel secure that they will get what they reserved when they arrive at their holiday destination to make sure they have a successful stay.
3. YOU GROW AND YOUR BUSINESS IS A SUCCESS, WILL THE SYSTEM BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT?
You have managed to make a success of your business and need more features or your rental ticket volumes have increased. Check that company offers features for your future needs and can handle the amount of business you will have also in the future.
BRM offers a full range of bike rental features that help shop of all sizes and shapes. You can easily move between our plans to cover your needs.
4. SHOULD YOU PAY COMMISSION?
You do the hard work, renting your bikes. Should you give away your hard earned cash to pay commission? Make a calculation: what is your yearly turnover x the commission % = the commission you will have to pay. Are you happy to pay that amount or should you choose a software company that charges a yearly fee and don’t penalize you for lots of bookings and you being successful. Check carefully what features you need and don’t pay too much, especially for not getting what you need or paying for something you don’t need.
5. IS THE SYSTEM UPDATED OFTEN ENOUGH?
New technology is changing how we work on day to day basis, check how often the company releases new features and how it has evolved over time.
BRM does hundreds of updates each year and is constantly evolving and bringing you the latest in technology.
6. ARE YOU ABLE TO CUSTOMIZE IT TO YOUR NEEDS?
No two rental businesses are the same. Will you be able to pick and choose the features you will need. Will it for example to be able to Track your bikes or handle Bike Allocation, Deliveries, Invoicing, Multiple locations, Events, Bar coding etc. if that is important part of your business.
BRM is fully customisable to your needs, we are the only dedicated bike rental software so we understand your needs.
7. WHAT ABOUT SUPPORT?
Check that you are able to get high quality support to run your business smoothly from your bike rental app or software.
BRM was built by the current CEO, who started building the product when he was a bike rental shop owner and he still works with our highly qualified support team. We are prized for our excellent support.
Good bike rental software should also be able to offer you and your customers an app like experience with many added benefits to you, like managing the online bookings together in the same place as you walk-in, phone etc. rentals.
Make sure your subscription price covers your most critical business needs and calculate the total price for any additional commission and or extra features. And add up all pieces of apps and software if you are not going for all-in-one solution. Online booking apps might seem like a good value but a good rental software will also reduce your admin and save you precious time.
Bike Rental Manager is the only bike rental software that understands the complexity of bike rentals. No commission on your rentals, only a small flat fee.
Rent more, work less.
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