I recently attended conferences in San Diego and in Austin and primarily used car sharing type applications to zip around on scooters and hire cabs. My experience in navigating the several brands and getting around was that there is competition in this marketplace. The main interaction point to start the transaction with these services is a map on your mobile phone. To properly understand their customer the developers of these applications need to understand the user journey on their mobile maps. Maptiks can provide 3 valuable metrics to use to compete in this market

1. Where – Heat Map activity

Asset Sharing applications that utilize maps need to understand certain key factors to make the appropriate business decisions. To understand where new inventory should be deployed one should compare actual hires to the where users are accessing your map from.

Heat map of map activities in an area.

2. When -Session Activity and Length

To assess how the application guides users or drivers to the correct spot, determining how many activities occur in a session and how long sessions on the map last is important. The application with the most appropriately positioned inventory of assets is going to win out. The company who creates the easiest interface and quickly links up the asset or driver to the passenger in the shortest session will be most likely to succeed. Tracking the hire rate vs. analytics about activities/session need to be analyzed.

3. Bounce Rates – Failed Sessions

Speaking for myself, I found some scooter rental applications easier to user than others. When I was outside my hotel there was a certain brand with inventory in my area and another brand had more inventory near the convention centre. When a customer loads you map and does not interact with it immediately or bounces, you failed to meet their immediate need. If they pan or zoom even a little you might loose their business. Shorter sessions and a low bounce rate are essential in this industry. Because of this, the zoom level needs to appropriate to the method of transport.

At Maptiks and Sparkgeo we love analyzing maps and how people interact with them. We can help you understand how this impacts your business.

A comparison of number of map sessions and their average length to successful transactions on any given day could suggest you need to develop a more user friendly interface, different price point or are experiencing disruption from a competitor.

How may people are trying to access your sharing software in a city you do not service? Heat map activity outside your current operational area might suggest deploying assets elsewhere, or expanding to a new city.

How many clients load your application, have a map session and then do not hire an asset or driver? In appropriate zoom levels or simple design of your map might be causing a bounce.

Though a new industry, car, scooter, bike sharing is becoming very competitive. Get the upper edge by analyzing you map usage and understanding your customers in ways your competitors do not.