How to Choose the Right Shared Mobility Software Provider
From reliability to data insights, find out what you need to succeed in a tough market.
It’s tough out there for shared mobility operators. There’s an increasing feeling of uncertainty in the market, owing in large part to global conflict, a post-pandemic world and the economic downturns of 2022. We now find ourselves entering a new era of financially trying times for operators who once faced seemingly limitless growth options.
In addition, mobility operators are dealing with increased regulatory pressure in key markets throughout Europe. Decision makers at a governmental level are struggling to balance public safety and space usage with the increasing demand for equitable transportation options. There are also growing concerns that the decision to ban shared scooters in Paris could have implications beyond France’s borders.
What does all this mean for operators in 2023 and beyond? And where do mobility software providers fit into the equation?
For operators, the market has already spoken. It’s time to focus on streamlining operations and increasing profitability. And ensuring that your operations are built on top of a flexible and reliable technical infrastructure is an essential foundational element of long-term success and resilience. In short, having the right mobility software at your disposal can be the biggest favor you do for your business.
But knowing what to look for in a software provider can be a challenging task of its own. With so many options on the market and so many brands promising the world and more, how do you sort through the noise and get back to the basics? What do you absolutely need from your software to succeed?
Reliability. Data insights. Revenue starters. These are just a few things your software needs to be capable of to secure your place in a volatile and competitive shared mobility market.
As a mobility software provider ourselves, we’ve come to understand what success looks like for enterprise mobility operators. We’ve identified the capabilities that are essential for establishing long-term success and sustainable revenue growth. It’s our pleasure to share the 9 key factors that you must consider when choosing a mobility software provider.
High levels of service reliability
Downtime and technical issues can be costly, leading to significant loss of revenue per minute during peak hours, reduced customer satisfaction and potentially irreparable damage to your reputation. As such, a reliable software provider must have a proven track record of service uptime, minimal bugs, and fast response times in the event of issues.
At goUrban, our service level commitment is one of the highest across the industry with a minimum level of service set at 99.7%.
Fraud detection and prevention tools
Fraud is a common problem in the shared mobility industry, and it can cause significant financial losses for your business. A good software provider should have robust fraud detection and prevention tools to help protect you against bad actors and their fraudulent activities, such as fake bookings and unauthorized use of vehicles.
Look for a provider that is integrated with industry-proven Know Your Customer (KYC) partners like Veriff. In this way, you can be sure that you’re not only working with leading fraud prevention and detection tools, but you’ll also be able to complete that work faster.
After all, the manual verification of driver’s licenses can take up to 24 hours, prolonging your time to first revenue and increasing the risk that potential customers will abandon the sign-up process entirely. Our partners at Veriff help automate the verification process, saving you labor costs and increasing your overall efficiencies by reducing the time you spend on manual verification tasks.
Real-time fleet management
We don’t have to tell you that real-time fleet management is critical to the success of your shared mobility services. A good software provider should offer a platform that allows operators to manage their fleet in real-time, delivering customizable reports and options for tracking your maintenance team’s progress. You will benefit from easy access to repair logs that display useful information such as the number of vehicles approached, and batteries replaced.
Ask any software providers you’re considering what kind of filters and viewing options exist in their dashboards. For example, are you able to change your view and search for vehicles according to their operational status? Can you search for vehicles with open tasks associated with them? View only the vehicles with offline IoTs? Being capable of searching in these ways can help you make important decisions faster as you will be able to efficiently identify which vehicles require immediate attention, even choosing to prioritize vehicles in high-demand areas.
Data insights and goal tracking
Without the right data at your disposal, you risk basing important decisions on assumptions alone. You may even be struggling to find information to analyze in the first place, as many operators have their data scattered across a wide range of spreadsheets, each of which sometimes tells a different story. Both challenges together can make it impossible to set relevant goals and track your progress.
Software that helps you consolidate your sources and analyze your data in a single place is only the first step in improving your decision-making abilities. Your provider should also be able to help set clear KPIs for your fleet managers that can be monitored for performance around the clock. Add some automation to the equation and now you’ve got robust reporting processes with fewer errors and improved operational efficiency at your fingertips.
At goUrban, we accomplish this with our customizable self-service dashboard that empowers clients to access and analyze critical data in one place.
Client-centric consulting
A support team that treats your success as if it were its own is an indication that you’re in good hands with your software provider. The support team should provide consultative services to help operators optimize their service offerings, improve customer experience, and increase revenue. They should be scheduling regular check-ins with you, asking specific operational questions, and doing more than just training you to use their software.
At goUrban our customer success team focus on helping clients with their strategic planning, operational optimization, implementing new technology and even advising on regulatory compliance — the latter being a key point in securing (and maintaining) those long-sought-after city tenders. Currently, we’ve also embarked on an exciting journey to define the total cost of ownership for our clients, helping them to decrease their operational expenses where possible and increase revenue in high-impact business areas.
Trip safety support
Safety is a top priority for any shared mobility service. A good software provider should offer tools and features that promote trip safety, such as driver verification, vehicle inspections, and real-time monitoring of vehicle usage. These features help operators to ensure that their users are behaving safely and responsibly while using their service.
Multi-vehicle support
When managing a shared mobility organization, it’s crucial to plan for a variety of scenarios, including expansion. Let’s say, at the moment, your fleet is made up of one vehicle type such as fuel-based cars, but as your customer base grows and your revenue increases, you may want to expand your operations by offering new vehicle types. You might think the biggest barrier to this type of expansion would be acquiring these new vehicles, but you may be surprised to discover that your current software (whether in-house made or third-party) simply can’t support additional vehicle types.
However, the right software provider can offer you a multi-modal platform from the start. For example, at goUrban we have one API that works with all vehicle types so that operators can manage either a single vehicle type or a combination of types in one place.
Your software provider should allow you to diversify your service offerings and adjust your fleet according to user demand — which will evolve and change over time.
Booking flexibility
Your software should be capable of supporting free-floating, station-based sharing models together with both spontaneous and scheduled bookings. This flexibility helps you to optimize your fleet utilization and improve customer experience by providing users with booking options that suit their individual schedules and planning habits.
By increasing the likelihood that your vehicles can meet the changing needs of users, you’ll also reduce idle times and increase the number of trips taken per vehicle — ultimately increasing profitability.
Effective marketing options
Effective marketing is essential for any shared mobility service. A good software provider should offer features such as dynamic pricing, vouchers, and referrals to help operators attract new users and retain existing ones. These features can help operators to increase revenue, improve customer loyalty, and build brand awareness.
Vouchers and referrals alone have the power to reactivate dormant users, leading to a 10–20% increase in the number of active users.
Mobility software that scales alongside you
Whether you’re looking for your first software provider, you’re already with one but considering a change, or you’re hitting the limits with your in-house solution, it’s time to take a holistic look at the mobility software market. Look for providers that offer flexible, customizable, and scalable solutions that can accommodate your growing operations and changing requirements.
Remember, selecting the right mobility software provider can make all the difference in the success of your shared mobility business. Don’t settle for a provider that doesn’t meet your needs or make you feel confident in your ability to achieve your goals. Take the time to carefully evaluate your options and choose a provider that can help you thrive in the competitive shared mobility market.
Don’t settle for less. Contact goUrban today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your business goals and succeed in the global shared mobility market.
