Car rental isn’t a new thing, but renting vehicles directly from auto dealerships, or retail rental, certainly is. As the demand for rental vehicles increases, more dealers are cutting out the middle-man and renting their vehicles directly to consumers. Early adopters are seeing significant revenue impacts as a result of this new source of business, and there’s a lot to be won for dealerships that choose to compete. According to AutoRentalNews.com, rental revenue in the U.S. increased by 21% year-over-year, reaching $21.8 billion in 2021.
Retail Rental Opportunities for Dealers
Retail rental isn’t only for vacations and work trips. There are a multitude of vehicle rental opportunities that dealerships can explore. More drivers are looking for environmentally-friendly cars, and some are downsizing their garages or forgoing car ownership altogether in order to reduce household costs. Dealerships have the unique opportunity to meet new consumer demands with short and long-term rentals.
These might be paid extended test drives or electric vehicle trials for shoppers who want to test the waters before buying, or week- or month-long rentals for drivers who’ve shunned ownership. More familiar reasons for non-buyers to want a car can be sources of hidden revenue, too: dealers should consider paid loaner options for certain service customers, or insurance rentals for on-site body shop customers. But no matter which mix of rental options a dealership decides to roll out for customers, relying on the right tools and guidance will be necessary to successfully disrupt traditional rental players.
Retail Rental Fleet Management
The right partner to get these programs up and running quickly will provide the techniques and technology dealerships need to assign fleet cars to rental duty, adjust contracts accordingly and gradually optimize cash flows for maximum profit. Dealerware is already powering dealership rentals around the U.S. We’re ready to be your partner in capturing a new kind of business and winning customer loyalty with a great rental program.
The first step to any rental customer experience is making a reservation. With Dealerware it’s easy to not only make reservations but more importantly, keep them. Users have the ability to easily make reservations on both Dealerware Web and Dealerware Mobile. You can manage those reservations with our interactive calendar views on mobile or desktop devices, see your upcoming daily schedule so your team is prepared for every customer that arrives, and easily monitor and manage fleet availability. This set of features helps you make sure rental customers get the vehicle they expect, every time.
Revenue Generating Retail Rental
The key to a profitable retail rental program is maximizing the return on the vehicles already in your fleet. Dealerware makes it easy to assign different rates to each vehicle in your fleet based on its model and source of business. Customize each model’s daily rate, weekend rate, and long-term rental rate while having the flexibility to assign different rates based on different use cases for your vehicles. This means you can apply one rate if you’ll be charging a warranty or insurance company, and another rate for the same vehicle if a customer is footing the bill.
On top of that, Dealerware allows you to assign each vehicle to as many different groups and use cases as you’d like. We empower your fleet to work harder for you, by letting you use any vehicle as a loaner car one day, a paid rental the following day, and an extended test drive the day after that! And, our Revenue and Receivables report features, provide your accounting team with the information they need to easily recoup and reconcile all of your payment types. This flexibility means you’re able to expand your fleet’s capabilities, set competitive rates, drive in business and ensure customer satisfaction.
Retail Rental: Low Risk, High Reward
With many dealerships, OEMs dedicate and often subsidize loaner fleets with very specific user terms and conditions — and rentals aren’t usually on the list of allowed uses. Dealerware gives dealerships the ability to create and upload a second, customized contract to fit rental needs. This contract can be assigned to vehicles outside of an OEM-backed program, giving dealers the flexibility to offer new mobility options like rentals while still ensuring legal and insurance compliance.
Trusted Retail Rental Advisor
Dealerware knows offering retail rental at your dealership is an investment, and we’re here to make sure you get the most out of your fleet. Our support team is well-versed in the challenges you may face and how to make rental work for you and your team. We will guide you along the way to being a profitable rental solution for all of your customers’ mobility needs, helping you consistently improve and maximize your retail rental operation and experience.
Anytime I’ve ever had a question, the customer service has been so spot on."
With the rental market size increasing year over year, along with the ever-growing demand for new mobility options, it’s time you take advantage, with Dealerware as your trusted retail rental partner.
