The biggest roadblock to “business as usual” in this COVID-19 period is social distancing, as many of the businesses around the world are still based on face-to-face interactions across the counter or outlet based transactions, which is why digital transformation for car rentals is required.

The car rental industry has adapted more slowly to new and digital customer-experience realities than other sectors. A good example for the current disconnect between what customers expect and what they get to experience is booking.

"We do believe the concept of 'self-unlocking,' will play a huge role in the car rental industry going forward," Arne Eivind Andersen, CEO of Sharebox, said in a statement. "Everyone is searching for critical digital systems where a customer can book a car and sign a rental agreement on their mobile phone. Customers need the ability to locate their assigned car, pick up the key, and drive away."

Sixt Fast Track Success

In Norway, Sixt has ceated a digital strategy prioritizing “mobile as first point of sale” and display it with due prominence on the website as well as in the marketing campaigns. Sixt fast track makes it possible for customers to order, collect, and deliver a rental car, without being in direct contact with the company's employees.

"Many people will spend the least amount of time on pickup and delivery," Ingvild Torp Pedersen, brand manager in Sixt Car Rental, said in a statement. "Now we simplify the entire customer journey and save time and resources for both the customer and ourselves. A win win situation."

The Norwegian branch of Sixt offer fast track service on 25 Norwegian airports and major cities. In the Sixt setup, Sharebox is integrated with mobile phone controlled lockers that remove any complexity, overcoming significant technical barriers. A considerable favorable setup to complete transformation of manual check-ins with a self-service customer model.

The Agile Solutions platform keeps track of the rental contract, report damages, check vehicle status, check-in information, cleaning process and has been fully integrated with the automated lockers from Sharebox. This enables the customer to pick up keys on the go without visiting a rental counter. Completing the rental forms and payment for the rental are done through the customers mobile phone from a link sent by SMS to the customer from the rental system.

How it works

All fleet check-in can be managed in an app running on all platforms which can be managed on any mobile phone or tablet. Date, mileage, fuel etc is registered into the rental system and the damage history (existing damages included images) are available from the app. New damages can be registered and reports of new damages become available in the rental system immediately for follow up.

A powerful SQL database fully hosted in the cloud with state of the art security and unlimited processing resources that grow with your business. A set of apps for all kind of devices and all kind of form factors.

Dynamic setup of locations, rates, and other infrastructure. The front and back end systems provides a wide variety of settings allowing you to customize the system to fit your rental operation. The rental locations are set up individually, allowing full flexibility in market adaptions.

Additionally, incremental sales are an integrated part of a rental operation. Reporting on performance and KPI's to improve efficiency and performance at all levels.

Reservations are made directly into the system through user-friendly and customized web pages. Provide your corporate look by easily designing the interfaces in the Agile web engine before deploying them in the cloud.

A cloud based database with unlimited processing resources as the backbone - user friendly and logical interfaces, designed with the rental process in focus as front end. State of the art logistics and hands on reports including an application for check in and damage control.

Fully integrated, Sharebox and Agile Solutions enables car rentals to enhance their operations, making them more efficient and providing an elevated customer experience through smart mobile technology including key exchange cabinets with digitally operated lockers.

Sharebox purpose-built hardware and API-integrated software platform makes the technology meaningful in a car rental setting. The car rental software and front end can be integrated with the Sharebox back end systems in a wide variety of settings, allowing customizing of the system to fit any rental operations worldwide.

Operations with text messages and mobile openings are set up individually, allowing full flexibility in market adaptions. The combined setup give staff all the tools needed to serve customers in a contact-free and expedite manner. Consumers are concerned about Covid-19.

Effective and digital tools are crucial to business efficiency and performance in the new normal.