October 23, 2019

How to build a successful P2P car sharing business using API technology

Charlotte Kosche

Sr. Content Writer

Undoubtedly, the peer-to-peer car sharing industry is thriving. In 2017, nearly 3 million people in North America used P2P car sharing services. But there are several things that make companies like Turo more successful than others.

In previous posts, we explored how peer-to-peer (P2P) car sharing businesses can improve their customer experience by using software to offer virtual car keys, instant bookings, and faster vehicle returns. This time around, we want to take a broader look at the industry and reflect on the factors that have allowed our customers to build successful car sharing businesses using our API technology.

💪 Empowering vehicle owners

The success of P2P car sharing companies depends largely on the success of vehicle owners. Peer-to-peer car sharing companies should make it easy and lucrative for car owners to put their cars to better use. If they encourage vehicle owners to list their cars and make it extremely seamless for them to do so, the next success story is just around the corner.

🚗 Large selection of vehicles

All successful products have one thing in common: they meet and adapt to different customers’ needs. Peer-to-peer car sharing companies are especially good at that, if they diversify their offers and attract vehicle owners with different types of cars. The most successful platforms encompass everything from affordable vehicles for a slim budget to luxury cars for a weekend trip to the beach, and from month-long rentals to bookings for just a few hours.

📱 Great booking experience

Most peer-to-peer car sharing companies offer a well-designed mobile app that makes listing and booking vehicles easy, fast, and convenient from anywhere. Without this user-friendly, tech-first experience, both renters and vehicle owners would quickly run into too many roadblocks, discover other solutions, and churn.

🔑 Easy pick-up and returns

When it comes to renting a car, pick-ups and drop-offs bear more friction points than the whole rest of the process. Some peer-to-peer car sharing companies have managed to abstract away many of these complexities, making vehicle pick-ups and returns incredibly fast and easy for renters and vehicle owners.

Instead of meeting up and exchanging car keys, vehicle owners can simply share a digital car key with renters. When renters return the car, the car sharing company can automatically verify information such as mileage and fuel tank level, saving owners time and hassle.

Those are four ways in which peer-to-peer car sharing companies can build a successful product using the Smartcar API. To learn more about how your peer-to-peer car sharing business can use our technology, check out our website and schedule a demo. We’re happy to chat!

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