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Developing A P2P Car Sharing App Like Turo
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How To Make Money By Developing A P2P Car Sharing App Like Turo?

Sanjay Kidecha,

Peer-to-peer car-sharing has been around for more than a decade, but its reach has been limited to a small group of tech-savvy and affluent millennials. However, the introduction of technologies has brought in new players – online P2P car-sharing platforms such as GetAround and Turo. 

These game-changers have established a whole new segment where owners can rent out their cars to make money. In contrast, travelers can rent the vehicle of their choice as per their requirements. It is pretty similar to Airbnb but for cars. It’s best for customers to enjoy visits to different cities, business meetings, or a holiday trip. 

On the contrary, owners can make some bucks by sharing their automobiles for a short period. Basically, it’s a rewarding business model. And if you deal in the car-sharing market, you must develop a P2P car-sharing marketplace app like Turo. Because according to Statista

P2P Car-sharing vehicles are doubling every five years, 440,000 in 2020 from 200,000 in 2015, and are expected to reach 990k by 2025. 

Conversely, the revenue of online car-sharing shows signs of growth in various countries. For example

In the US alone, the market accumulated over $1.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $3.2 billion by 2025. At the same time, European countries such as Germany, Spain, and France generated revenues ranging somewhere between $250 and $600 million in 2020. 

Therefore, it won’t be wrong to say that the P2P car-sharing business model powered by current technologies will dominate the public transport market.

Before your nervous system sends a signal of confusion about where to start your online P2P car sharing app development, let us make it simple with an example of Turo.

See How Exactly The Business Model Of Turo Looks To Innovate Yours

Well, Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing app that does not own any cars of its own. Instead, it connects car owners with people who need to rent a car for a day or a week. It is a business model built around the sharing economy based on using assets owned by other people.

Key Takeaway of the model: A P2P car-sharing marketplace app will save you significant amounts of money compared to building your own fleet of cars. 

Moreover, calling itself the world’s largest peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace, Turo has a vibrant community of 10M. Because of that, today, Turo customers get to choose from 850 unique models from local hosts across the USA, UK, and Canada. 

Nevertheless, the San Francisco-based P2P car-sharing marketplace has been stuck around since 2010. Besides, Turo leverages smart algorithms and big data to offer a better experience.

On that note, let us have a snapshot of different aspects of the P2P car-sharing marketplace business model.

Who are the consumers?

P2P car-sharing app’s customers are car owners who want to turn their depreciating asset into an earnings engine and renters who wish for a perfect vehicle for specific occasions or travel with leisure.

How to reach the consumers?

Actually, you know how to attract and acquire maximum consumers from your target audience. Since 59.5% of the global population uses the internet, and 92.6% of them access the internet via mobile devices, there couldn’t be a more optimum solution than mobile app development. Could it be? 

But that’s not enough. In addition, you need to spread the word about the P2P car sharing app, services, and rewards you offer, specifically on social media. Once consumers start using your app, you want to focus on sustaining them. Typically, activities you perform for customer acquisition and sustainability must include:

  •  Mobile App development with a Web panel
  •  Social Media Marketing 
  •  Omnipresent Customer support
  •  Regulation Compliance
  • Offer early adopter advantage

What are fair monetization models for a P2P car-sharing marketplace mobile application?

Hypothetically, when owners share their vehicles with travelers, they also share their income with the platform. The sharing economy-based Turo takes a 25% cut from what the owners earn by renting out their cars. This 25% is bifurcated into various fees, such as Trip (road assistant) fee, protection fee if the driver is under 25 then Young driver fee, a Delivery fee (only if a renter doesn’t want to pick up the car), Airport fee.

Do you see? 25% is huge, but consumers don’t mind paying such fees when they look at the benefits it offers. You can also integrate such revenue streams that seem beneficial for consumers as well. On top of that, you can make money with the below monetization models, too.

  • Affiliate marketing
  • Insurance plans (in-app purchase)
  • Cancellation fees
  • Membership or Subscription
  • Sponsorship and advertisement

What challenges does a car-sharing marketplace app encounter?

P2P car-sharing is an evolving market. Meaning, you may face difficulties in competing with existing solutions, acquiring and maintaining consumers, and securing data. However, overcome these obstacles you can:

  • Target a territory with less competition;
  • Analyze existing solutions for car-sharing and their loopholes;
  • Create buyer personas;
  • Use blockchain technology to secure data collection and car-sharing transactions with smart contracts;
  • Create and stick to a project requirements document;

    User Roles and Functions That Matters To Make an App like Turo

    Whether you develop a P2P car-sharing website or mobile app, you will need a set of features. From signing up, listing vehicles, booking a car to payment, your car-sharing app will cover every facet of car-sharing. Not to mention, intuitiveness has to be at the core. In other words, you need a harmony of features that effortlessly accomplish a desired function on the app. 

    Let’s look at features required to cover functions from renting out or booking a car to the payment process and manage the whole app via an admin panel.

    Features for tenant drivers to book a car:

    • Registration, Login & personal profile
    • Filters to search specific cars in the particular location
    • Booking schedule calendar
    • Fare calculation
    • Cancellation
    • Delivery Option
    • Payment methods
    • Review & ratings

    Features for owners to rent out a car:

    • Registration, Login & Profile Setup
    • Add vehicle images & description
    • Manage multiple cars for rent
    • Set vehicle availability
    • Manage car fares
    • Payment methods to get paid
    • Feedback management

    Features an admin needs to manage the entire platform:

    • Profiles management- car owners and tenants;
    • Car list management- approve or reject;
    • Manage reservation schedules;
    • Location management- country, state, region, area, city;
    • Payment transactions management;
    • Manage app promotion via blogs, comments, reviews, and ratings;
    • Manage ads and subscription packages;
    • Generate Analytical Reports.

    Apart from the above, you can add the following components to attract more consumers and grow faster:

    KYC verification— Collect data from a customer and validate it to ensure the utmost security for both car owners and tenants.

    Blockchain and smart contracts— By employing smart contracts on your car-sharing app, you can keep car rental histories that no one can alter. So in case of any incident, you can quickly discover who was driving the car at the time. 

    Real-time tracking— Integrating GPS technology, you can let car owners pin the exact location where tenants can find the car to pick up.

    Notification— Push notifications offer multiple benefits for your car-sharing app. You can update consumers about new offers, scheduling status, payment procedure, reminders, etc.

    Chat & Call— Let your consumers connect with each other for any assistance and feel backed up.

    What Does It Cost To Develop A Car Sharing Marketplace App Like Turo?

    Fairly, the cost to develop a P2P car-sharing marketplace app like Turo ranges from $10000 to $50000. In case you build customized features and exert cutting-edge technologies, the cost may increase. The car-sharing marketplace app development cost comprises different phases and their cost such as:

    • Market research and analysis
    • Technical documentation and defining the project milestones
    • UI/UX designing
    • iOS and Android app development
    • Backend/ Frontend development
    • QA analysis and lifelong maintenance

    Dig up the superior mobile app development technology stack!

    To carry out each phase, you need experts in the respective area. Besides, the hiring hours taken during every step affect the final cost to develop a car-sharing marketplace app like Turo. Given the development, the cost is calculated hourly, and the hourly rate differs in different locations.

    Thereupon, outsourcing your P2P car sharing app development from an Asian software company appears to be pocket-friendly.

    Altogether

    Now you know everything about the Turo-like P2P car sharing marketplace app, it’s time to apply this knowledge to your project. Whether you want to start an online business or pivot to a car-sharing app, we’ve got you. You will watch your idea come to life, working with our team side-by-side. 

     

Sanjay Kidecha

Sanjay Kidecha is the Chief Operating Officer at Kody Technolab, where he seamlessly blends his expertise in operations, finance and technology to drive innovation and operational excellence. A passionate advocate for digital transformation, Sanjay writes extensively about how various industries can leverage technology to stay ahead. His insights on emerging trends and practical guides helps leading companies navigate this fast-paced tech world.

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