All you need to know about the scooter-sharing system

Imagine you are in a rush, no fuel in the car and the cab will result in you being late for the meeting. Now, you see an e-scooter across the street that can take you to your office without getting stuck in the traffic and breaking a sweat from running. Smooth, simple, and fast! Thus, the popularity of the scooter-sharing business has taken over the micro-mobility industry. If you want to take advantage of this demand and start your journey in this accelerating industry, you are on the right page. In this blog, we will talk about the scooter-sharing system or a bicycle-sharing system to help you kick-start your journey. 

If you want to be one of the tip scooter-sharing companies like Lime, Spine, Bird, Bolt, and more, you’ll need an efficient scooter-sharing system to manage your operation, e-scooter, and users. But, what is a scooter-sharing system? Let’s start by answering this question. 

What is a scooter-sharing system? 

A scooter-sharing system is a collection of various digital tools to help you rent a scooter. Gone are the days when you had to go to a physical office to rent a scooter and park it back to the shop. With scooter-sharing systems, you can rent the bike, ride it, park it when you reach your destination, and pay with only a few clicks on your phone. Several elements like apps, scooters, and software are included to make this process possible. These elements are the same for bicycle-sharing systems. 

The four pillars of an efficient scooter-sharing system

The profitability or longevity of your scooter-sharing business relies on the following four pillars that form the core of the scooter-sharing system. Synergy and effective operation of these four components ensure that your customers are satisfied and the business thrives. Let’s talk more about the four components of the scooter-sharing system that you must know before starting your scooter-sharing company. 

Electric scooter 

When starting your scooter-sharing business, the first thing you need to figure out is how scooters work in the micro-mobility rental business. The e-scooter is a small yet effective vehicle to move on the congested road like a breeze. It is the core component of the scooter-sharing business. So, you must research and compare many e-scooters to select the one for your rental scooter business. The scooter must be lightweight, sturdy, and easy to use from your user’s perspective. Additionally, the scooter must have compatible IoT tools to connect with the software and app to improve the quality of service. You can rely on a skilled e-scooter app development company, like Squillion Tech, for seamless IoT integration of your scooters and software. 

Do you want to find the best scooter for your business? We can help you! We have worked with diverse scooter-sharing companies to help us determine which features and scooters give the best ROI. Our team of experts can help you shortlist the best possible scooter that fits your needs and budget. Let’s talk more about your project, leave us a message and we will reach out to you. 

Mobile app for users 

The mobile app is the most important part of the scooter-sharing system. It is one of the easiest platforms to connect with your target audience. It allows you to cater to your target audience’s needs, and analyze their behaviour to optimize the layout and functionality of the mobile app for customer satisfaction. The most successful scooter-sharing companies like Bird, Lime, Dott, Spin, and more offer robust customer apps with captivating designs and electric scooter sharing features to engage users and convert them into loyal customers. 

Software for management 

While the app is the visual front of your scooter rental service, the backend software is the founding pillar of your business. The software or admin panel is a management tool for scooter sharing business. The software connects with an e-scooter for fleet management, and a user app to support the users at any point. The scooter-sharing software helps you track the e-scooters and rebalance the fleet depending on the live demand trends. The software can identify the user pattern and improve your service. 

Scooter-sharing software is the core of your business as it helps you control and manage your operations, track your KPIs, analyze your performance, and make data-backed decisions. Easy Ride, our scooter-sharing software is designed to streamline your scooter rental operations to minimize waiting time, manage your fleets, offer direct customer support, improve performance, and more. Check out our website for more information.

Parking system 

Parking is one of the most crucial parts of the scooter-sharing system. While the whole system revolves around making scooter riding efficient, parking focuses on a scooter when it is in a resting position. The optimal parking strategy makes finding the scooter easy and helps you reach your target audience. 

So, depending on your business plan, demand, and infrastructure you can opt for dock parking (fixed spot parking) or dockless parking (parking anywhere). You must adhere to local parking regulations. 

Let’s understand how these four pillars form the scooter-sharing system from the user’s POV. 

How does the scooter-sharing system work? 

The following is the standard process for renting an electric scooter and how users engage in a structured scooter-sharing system. 

Integrating scooters into the system

To find the scooter for rent, one needs to put those scooters up for rent. Thus, the first and most crucial step is to list the scooters in the system to make them available online. For this, a skilled developer will integrate the scooter’s IoT device with an app to ensure your target audience can find the available scooter nearby. For fleet management, you have to connect the scooters, software, and the user app. Therefore, this classic feature is available in all the well-performing apps like Bird, Lime, and more. 

Additionally, it will help if you rebalance your fleet using real-time scooter availability and demand. Therefore, you utilize your resources well but get the best ROI in addition to customer satisfaction. 

User registration from the app 

Registering the user makes the renting process easier. Therefore, you must make the registration process smooth. It is known that the more steps there are to get your product, the quicker users will lose interest. Thus, a simple registration with name, mobile, or email will suffice for verification. Integrating third-party apps can make this process better and engage more users. 

Locating the nearby scooters 

The first task of renting a scooter is to find the scooter. Therefore, the user uses the app to check the availability of the scooters near them managed on the software. In a single click, the user gets a list of scooters nearby and books the scooter that fits their needs. Users mostly check the rent and features of the scooter to evaluate whether it is suitable for the distance they have to travel. So, it would help if you highlight such details to ease the decision-making process. 

For example, Voi shows their rents per minute, the scooter model, and most importantly the battery and maximum speed of the available scooter. It helps the user make a well-informed decision. Here, they have skillfully integrated all four parts of the scooter-sharing system to provide the best service to their user. Now, users can decide which scooter and path is best suitable to reach their desired location in their budget. Thus, they can secure a conversion as the user feels satisfied with renting the e-scooter. 

Unlock the scooter with the app 

Once they choose and book the scooter, they’ll be guided to the parked scooter. They have to unlock the scooter to start the ride. So, when they unlock the scooter, their ride starts. There are multiple ways to unlock the scooter. One of the most popular options is to scan a QR code on the scooter-sharing app to verify it’s your account. Furthermore, IoT integration can be used for Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth to unlock the scooter even if you are offline. 

For example, scooter-sharing companies including Spin have incorporated NFC to enable the ‘tap and unlock’ feature to make scooter access time-saving. The scooter-sharing app by Squillion Tech allows users to unlock the scooter with little to no internet connection using Bluetooth. 

Riding the e-scooter to the destination 

As the user unlocks the scooter, they will be shown a live map indicating the optimal path with the least traffic and ETA. When starting a scooter you need to select the speed of the scooter. The scooter transmission system rarely contains brakes like regular scooters, it works on a steady Therefore, you can ride the scooter at your desired pace by following the map to avoid congestion. The telematic tracking allows the scooter-sharing companies to track their scooters on the field. 

To ensure the safety of the riders and the scooter, the scooter-sharing system offers highlighted maps and a security alert system. The security alert is triggered when the scooter enters a dangerous zone marked by the scooter-sharing company. It alarms the user and the company about the scooter. Therefore, the scooter can be tracked and the user can access help when the need be. 

Park and lock the scooter after the ride 

There are two alternatives for parking the rental scooter: Dock Parking and Dockless Parking. 

Dock parking is like the general parking system. You must park the rental e-scooter in a designated parking spot. It can be a specific parking spot for the rental scooters or a general parking area. It makes finding and managing the fleet easier for the riders and the company. 

Dockless parking is a popular parking system. In dockless parking, there are no fixed spots for parking the scooter. The user can park the scooter in any place unless it prohibits parking. It allows flexibility to the users when they are in a rush or there are no designated parking spots for scooters. 

The scooter-sharing app with live tracking and software support shows parking spots near your destination. For example, the Dott scooter-sharing application shows parking zones on their live map. The parking zones are marked in two ways: are marked in light blue with ‘P’ where you can park in that spot only and area market in dark blue where you can park anywhere in that area. You must follow the general guidelines for parking in both types of areas. 

Make the payment after ending the ride 

Once the rider reaches their location they will pay through the app. For payment, you can rely on diverse options like an in-app wallet, credit/debit card, online payment portal, loyalty points, and more. The easier the process the more satisfied the user is. By creating a reliable back-end with the software you can offer lucrative rewards to retain users and boost user engagement. 

How can Squillion Tech help you set up your scooter-sharing system?

Squillion Tech is a skilled scooter sharing software development company. We have worked with clients from across the globe to hone our skills and knowledge about micro-mobility fleet management software development. Thus, we have created diverse subscription-based scooter-sharing software and user applications, crucial to set up a scooter-sharing system. 

However, our services are not limited to the software. Our team includes industry experts from software development, and UI/UX, and has expertise in the micro-mobility industry. We can help you select the best e-scooter available under your budget, optimize your services, and analyze your performance. Thus, with an understanding of your project, personalized service, and transparent pricing and communication we can help you kickstart your scooter-sharing company and streamline your operation leading to user conversions and profit. Let’s talk more about your project on a free demo call! 

Conclusion 

Establishing an efficient system is the key step to success in any business, especially scooter sharing business. The scooter-sharing system includes four components that help engage users and offer the best services. These four pillars are the same as any rental micro-mobility service, including a bicycle-sharing system. Therefore, we discussed in detail the four pillars: scooter, software, apps, and parking system. The quality scooter offers a reliable ride to the users to keep them coming back to you. The user app and admin software are focused on providing quality service to the users and making fleet management easy. The optimal parking options help you attract more users and follow the city rules to work in peace.