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RENTALSOFTWARE
IRN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015
Thedemocratising Internet
Eugen Russ, CEO of erento, said it was up to rental companies to define whether the internet became an
opportunityor a threat for their business.
“However,morebusiness-heavy rental sectors like tools,machineryormedical equipment arenow seeing
moreandmoreof theirbusinesscoming through the Internet. Thischangeconstitutesauniqueopportunity
for rental businesses.”
Mr Russ highlighted increased visibility and customer reach as key opportunities – and not just for the
larger playerson themarket.
“The internet is an additional sales andmarketing channel that allows even small companieswith a small
budget to advertise their products and services effectively. Rental platforms like erento provide a level
playing field for all companies. Even the smallest, family-run companies cannow compete directlywith the
bigplayers,” he said.
“This is because the Internet has a true democratising effect and is greatly transparent: good customer
serviceandproduct qualityare key.”
Erento is one of many online resources targeting the rental industry – an arena which has seen new
start-ups launched in recentmonth, all jostling for space togetherwith thewell-knownandwell-established
equipment auction sites like IronPlanet andRitchieBros. Hereare someexamplesof the latest launches:
Equippo.com
Equippo isanonlineusedequipmentmarket designed to link sellersof used
heavy equipment and buyers in international export markets, like Peru,
Poland or Russia. CEOMichael Rohmeder said, “The resale of equipment at
theendof its useful rental life is a key income stream for rental companies.
Weare trying tobreakdown tradebarriers. Pricing is all-inand transparent,
including customs, transport, logistics costs and independent equipment
inspections.”
Kwipped.com
Kwipped is an online platform designed to connect rental suppliers with
customers. Users can navigate rental availability, execute rental contracts
and co-ordinating delivery. It takes into account issues like insurance,
security deposits, accessories, return shipping, replacement costs and
the reliability of both the renter and the supplier. Founder and CEO Robert
Preville said the site would “enable businesses to expand their capabilities
and bid on projects they may have previously passed on due to lack of
access to thenecessaryequipment.”
Indoogoo.com
Indoogoo is a heavy equipment trading website that has introduced a
service using geolocation technology known as MyRentals. The idea is to
create comprehensive search results from both local rental companies
and other Indoogoo users, helping them locate and rent heavy equipment
from different sources. CEO and founder Mark Turner said, “With this
service, everyone can be a renter. It gives all users the opportunity to hire
out their equipment when it is not in use. Renting equipment should be
straightforward.”
Allequip.com
IronPlanet launched AllEquip.com, a global online, “buy now” marketplace
of used construction equipment. IronPlanet CEO Greg Owens said, “We are
committed tomaking thebuyingandsellingof equipment fasterandeasier.”
AllEquip is said to manage the complete transaction between buyer and
seller, from listing on the site to final payment. Every item for sale has a
guaranteed inspection report.
mobilisation and the pickup and off-rental process,
according to Sowerby.
“We tend to go with the larger companies or
companieswith quite unique products and business
set-ups. I, terms of the uptake of new rental
management software in the industry. I thinkmobile
apps have forced a sea-change in senior executive
thinking – peoplenow interactwithabusiness in far
moreways than just over the phone.
“Some rental companies have been very forward
thinking, but I would say the majority are still
waiting to seewhat theothers do. Themost obvious
advantages of adopting software to manage your
rental fleet are gains in efficiency and productivity,
aswell as removingunnecessaryadministrationand
providing truemobile connectivity.
“Rental software can have a huge impact on a
company’s understanding of the availability and
reliability of equipment, as well as true utilisation
figures – giving a real-time take on what is actually
goingon.
“We’ve seen an increase in enquiries over the last
12 months, with lots more construction companies
getting more interested. For 2015, I think we
generally expect to see an increase.”
Mobile future
Looking to the future, managing director at
inspHire, Graham Dobbs, said theworldwasmoving
increasingly towards mobile solutions, and being
able to transact around the clockwouldbecome the
norm.
“Customer Service has always been important
but even more so now with heightened awareness
of choice,” he said. “Hirers will also look towards
recommendations from independent sources such
as Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, twitter and other
reviewmethodswill play a bigpart.
“WebPortals for customerswill bemoreprevalent,
hire companies providing the ability to do more
online will encourage people to use them more.
Mobile Apps for hirers will be more in demand
and drive how hire customers do business and will
dictatewhere they shop.”
Mr Dobbs said the challenge for developers was
making sure that new software featureswereuseful
and designed with the users in mind. “Keeping it
simple is key,” he said, “Hire software will become
more agile being able to be used onmany different
devices, integration to customers ownweb site and
other 3rdparty softwarewill becomemainstream.
“InspHire already offer Cloud Hybrid solutions
as well as mobile applications and customer web
portals and have done so for some time, we are
seeing companies taking more of an interest and
Director at Navigator Systems David Rose: “Theway
that a professional small company operates and a
larger company operate are actually very similar, from
pitching to invoicing and pricing.”
adding to the already expanding list of features and
functionality.
“We alsohave a totally pure, cloudbased solution,
already in use in some rental businesses, these
businesses can use the application free of any
windows licences and the costs of windows server
software andhardware.”
With technology such as smart phones and tablet
computersnowcommonplace, softwaredesigned for
rental companies has potentially never been more
accessible. It will be interesting to see how smaller
rental companies react to these changes.
IRN
