ZipCar Business model

Zipcar’s target market is focused on dense urban residential areas, where millions of people that do not own a car, as they are put off by congested, accident-prone infrastructure, sky-high parking fees, vandalism, high maintenance costs, and other nuisances. On top of that, the average urban car sits parked 20 to 23 hours a day; many are idle from weekend to weekend.

Zipcar is a new commercial car-sharing venture that provides convenient on demand means of transportation.

Founded in late 1999, Zipcar’s vision and business model have little changed.

Providing reliable and convenient access to on-demand transportation, complementing other means of mobility.”

Zipcar manages a fleet of cars, at the disposal of its members any time for as brief as one hour. The basis for its business model is a car-sharing model where Zipca

Furthermore, Zipcar offers the convenience and the experience of driving your own car. Hence can easily compete against other mass transportation services (and specifically taxi cabs), where customers’ needs cannot be easily met with other transportation options. Needs such as errands (shopping, driving to school and back), short trips to the country, etc. are not provided by other services or may cost much more.

Its competitive advantages over other rental services are:

Being a service company, both its growth and future is tightly coupled with the service experience and operational efficiency as well as its ability to maintain its customer base. Zipcar’s technology is a key piece in this experience but does not qualify, in my opinion, as a standalone product that can justify and support Zipcar’s existence. Today, many services are usage billed based on multiple parameters. To name a few of these services: Internet hotspots in airports and coffee shops, cell phones to go, video on demand, etc.

Zipcar provides a service to their member that differs from other car rental companies. The key difference is the user experience. Cars are conveniently located in dense residential areas. Parking is reserved (most important in such dense areas where sometimes finding a parking space is one of the key reason

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