“We don’t consider ourselves a car rental company. We’re a mobility provider”- Harry Hurst, Skurt co-founder.

Skurt is a technology and logistics platform that offers the easiest way to get access to a car, and drive. Skurt aims to create convenient and affordable access to short-term mobility for people who may not have even considered using a rental. Skurt has a radical take on the car rental industry, on both the demand and supply sides, satisfying a new market of users seeking on-demands access to their cars.

Fueling Growth

Skurt’s framework on the supply side is pretty fascinating. Skurt doesnt have a fleet of its own. It fills its inventory by partnering with fleet owners — anyone from auto manufacturers with excess inventory to dealerships or traditional car rental companies. As a result, Skurt is fueling business growth for car-rental companies by providing them an opportunity to get into markets they they didn’t have any other means of penetrating.

Business Problems

Despite having its supply side sorted out, Skurt needed help setting up creative partnerships with businesses that would drive new user ship to the app. Another consideration that Skurt needed help with was the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday dilemma.

The P&P team proposed business development solutions by conducting extensive market research studies. Our consultants , who are trained to pick up the fundamentals of virtually any industry identified brands that align with Skurt’s brand and focused on developing unique campaigns with each business to drive new user ship.

Development and deployment of the solution

Working alongside the team at Skurt, P&P developed a structured framework of steps to drive new user ship to the app, and to solve the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday dilemma.

1. App Analysis — Our User Testing team ran a comprehensive app analysis campaign to gain insights on the different features of the app. This analysis also enabled the team to work out how various partnership campaigns could be integrated within the app.
2. Research Potential Partners — Our consultants were assigned different sectors in different parts of LA to identify potential brands for Skurt to align with. We did this by creating user personas for both customers of each sector and residents of each neighborhood by using Skurt’s data dashboard. Some of the sectors we looked at were — Hospitality and Tourism, Auto Body and Dealers, Food and Beverages, and Lifestyle.
3. Sales Pitches — We developed sales pitches that captured the value propositions of different campaigns and the moments of delight that it would create for users. We pinpointed business managers and set-up calls with them to gauge their interest in establishing partnerships. We also developed a commission structure to estimate cost per sign up. For Example- A Unique Experience that we created was to partner with Skate & Surf shops for weekend experiences by creating a raffle for $100 gear plus a 24-hour Skurt car.
4. Onboarding process — We developed an onboarding process to incorporate such creative partnerships with the app. We migrated the design ideas to the development team at Skurt with detailed description of the features that would have to be added to facilitate smooth implementation.

Results

• Our detailed sector analysis and market research strategies culminated in a comprehensive database that included potential partners, categorized by sector and neighborhood, with multiple points of entry for each of the businesses. We also developed a commission structure with a rough budget and proposed returns per clients that stressed on lean marketing with the goal of increasing sign ups and bookings.
• We developed Outreach Strategies to reach out to clients which included creating enough content and an FAQ’s list to adapt to all business types.
• We proposed a solution to the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday dilemma by identifying sectors of business in which Skurt is a direct complement. We developed sales pitches that effectively explain value propositions, and is adaptable to all business types (via online or in person campaigns).

Future Plans

Skurt is currently operating in Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami on both iOS and Android, and has delivered “tens of thousands of cars.” While the company hasn’t named any specific cities, they say they plan to expand to “other major cities” across the U.S. during the next 12 months.

Skurt’s flexible, affordable and convenient renting policies has made it very attractive to millennials, who constitute a large chunk of its current users. Skurt’s supply chain infrastructure and tech capabilities, combined with P&P’s market research and analytical skills, has placed the company in unique position to take advantage of a consumer trend spurred by ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft.