Building a Renting Car App

Introduction

The mobile app market is full of great apps for different purposes. Using your smartphone, you can create to-do lists, buy things without leaving your home, find a job, and plan your next vacation. Some apps are successful and profitable, some are less popular but still useful, and some are economically unviable, so they fail.

This time, we decided to analyze the car rental app market. Here is a fascinating fact: even though there are myriads of similar apps in the market, people prefer looking for this service on Google. It means that the existing apps do not meet particular users’ needs, and there is enough room for a car rental mobile app that will win over users’ hearts.

Today, we are going to guide you through the development renting car app process, hidden pitfalls to avoid, and valuable features to add.

Beware of These 3 Pitfalls

Do you know how to create renting car app? Are you aware of the potential issues that may wait for you right at the starting point? Let’s take a look at three main pitfalls before we proceed with the development guide.

Competition is high

Depending on the country and the city you would like to target, there may be up to a dozen other well-established car rental businesses. Study your potential competitors, find out about their strengths and weaknesses, and try using their service yourself to see how you can beat them.

Data collection is challenging

You may already have a car rental business and now just want to extend it. In this case, get ready to organize your customer database in a brand-new way. Implementing a CRM will help you out.

Data security is crucial

You do not only collect and process the information about your customers and their preferences but also have to guarantee its protection. Do your research on today’s data security standards and approaches to provide reliable services.

4 Steps to the Top

In 2019, the car rental segment revenue is expected to grow to more than $24 million. Isn’t this a reason to start acting immediately?

To build car app for renting purposes, you should take four steps toward its success:

1. Make your vision detailed

Without a clear vision of your future product, you are helpless. Make your vision clear and define your goals precisely. Is it a non-profit app or you plan to monetize it? What type of monetization do you want to implement? Would you like to focus on mobile devices only? Will there be a desktop version available?

2. Gather a team of professionals

Mobile app development requires a high level of expertise. Even if you are familiar with IT and mobile development tools, you won’t get far on your own – you still need a team of qualified professionals to help you. Start your recruiting campaign and find the experienced specialists in the following fields:

• Software engineering;
• Mobile app design;
• Testing and quality assurance;
• Marketing;
• Business analysis.

Delegate tasks and responsibilities to save valuable time for business development.

A skilled team is your chance to save cost building a renting car app. Here is an actionable tip: it is better to invest in your development team than spend money fixing critical bugs on the QA stage.

3. Decide on development tools

There is no one-fits-all-solution, so deciding which tool is the best for mobile development depends on the specifics of your product. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some languages and frameworks make development easier; meanwhile, others provide more opportunities for maintenance and scalability. Objective-C and Swift are the languages for iOS development, and you need Java or Kotlin to make an Android app. As an alternative, you can use React Native or Cordova to develop a cross-platform app.

On this stage, deep research and a competent engineer’s advice are your must-haves.

4. Keep in mind 3 key requirements

When your plan is ready, and your team is looking forward to the start, let’s define 3 key requirements for your renting car app:

Design

Both UI and UX are important for the mobile app’s success. Try to Stick to one color palette, follow the latest design trends and avoid too much creativity. As our experience has shown, there is no need to reinvent a wheel. Pick one of the existing design patterns, create an easy-to-remember logo and slogan, and enjoy the results!

Seamless user experience is one of the key car rental app development approaches you must implement. The user won’t waste time browsing your app trying to find the Order Now button. Make the navigation clear and let it serve him or her well.

Compatibility with various devices

If you plan to reach the top position on Google Play Market and App Store, you should develop an app that looks brilliant on any device. Test the solution thoroughly and make sure you provide every single user with the app of the highest quality possible.

Simplicity

Multiple-step authorization, complex navigation or low performance are likely to be the reasons your app will be abandoned. By ensuring simplicity, you take care of the user’s comfort and time.

8 Features That Will Make Your App Better Than Any Other Solution

We have years of experience in mobile development. We have built hundreds of products and helped dozens of businesses to succeed. Thus, we defined these top eight features you need to include in your car renting app:

1. User account

Each user account should include four vital things:

• User’s photo;
• The ID and driver’s license scans;
• Address;
• Preferred payment method.

You can add more details, but make sure it is easy for the user to enter all the information. Besides, the verification process should be fast.

As we have mentioned above, it is important to protect personal data. So make sure you follow the security guidelines and have the user’s permission for personal data processing.

2. Convenient admin panel

Data management is one of your top responsibilities. The more full-fledged admin panel you create, the easier it will be to deal with the management tasks. The information about active users, reservations, and important notifications must be shown on your admins’ main screen.

3. Smart notifications

Your app should automatically determine when it is the best time to notify the user about an update. It should be a small but noticeable popup with an informative message. Be careful with the colors you pick for a popup: it should attract the attention, not annoy users.

Apart from that, notifications can inform the user about important events. For instance, it can remind him or her that the renting period is soon to be over.

4. GPS

There are a couple of reasons for implementing GPS:

• The user should be able to find the closest rental offices quickly and easily;
• Instant access to the map will help him or her feel more comfortable in a new location;
• You as a business owner need to have access to the user’s routes in case of an emergency.

As you can see, the GPS feature can improve user experience and help you mitigate potential risks.

5. Reservation opportunities

Car reservation is another essential component of your solution. Provide the following information to help the user select a car:

• Calendar;
• Detailed descriptions of the cars available;
• Information about discounts or special offers;
• Book a Car button;
• Prices.

6. Payment and integration with other third-party services

Integrating online payments is a must-have for you. There are three most popular options for payment:

• Visa or MasterCard bank cards;
• Mobile payments;
• eWallets.

Integration with PayPal and Google Checkout will make your app more convenient for your users, and thus, give them more reasons to use your app.

Besides the payment systems, you may integrate other third-party APIs for providing information about the current weather, hotels or the cheapest gas stations nearby.

7. Face recognition system

A tried and tested tip is to allow authorization through face recognition. Besides, there is an option to develop a face tracking system that helps the user drive. Such a system analyzes users’ emotions and actions and completes certain tasks if the driver smiles or blinks.

8. Reports and infographics

To track your app’s achievements, enhance your admin panel with the report system. Define the most important metrics you need to keep an eye on and let the software solution take care of the analytics.

What’s Next?

You have developed a great app with powerful functionality, it is available on App Store and Play Market, you are glad that your idea has been turned into reality, and… nothing happens. You haven’t reached the expected 1,000 users during the first month. You haven’t earned the expected $10,000 yet. What can you do then?

The magic of marketing

Promote your solution. Cooperate with local bloggers, order guest posting, and create your product’s account on social media. Develop a SEO-optimized landing page to take your website higher in the search engines’ results. Add some gamification and create a special loyalty program for your first users.

Testing and optimization

The successful launch is just a beginning. Now, it is time to try A/B testing and identify users’ preferences. Step by step, you will reveal your app’s weaknesses to improve it.