With the recent mass influx of city e-scooter rentals comes many positives and negatives, where electric-scooter companies will need to figure out how to put in an effective solution, or risk folding. Some scooter companies have already come out with billion-dollar sales, others have been bought out or simply lost everything in the process of starting up.
One company is at the front of the scooter pack, and it is because of their mobile application. The app is incredibly well designed, with great functionality and ease of use. Just download the app and it auto links to your apple or google pay, and you are riding within 30 seconds. This app also lets you easily find nearby scooters and gives you the charge percentage of each one, so you will never be caught unaware. Unfortunately, not all e-scooter companies offer this easy-to-use application.
Another e-scooter company is quickly losing its riders due to the poor quality of their mobile app. Like the first company you must download the application from the app store. Only this company requires you to add a credit card manually. Then, after that, you must confirm via your email. Next, it asks you to put in your cell phone number, after which it will send you a code that you have to type in. Then you can finally scan the QR code, where riders only receive a message saying, “scooter out of service”. Due to the lack of charging stations or people leaving the scooters in non-designated areas, more and more e-scooters are showing this frustrating error message. People are finding it is easier just to walk than to deal with the process of trying to rent the scooters from this application.
While some companies are focusing on the riders and how they can make an easier mode of transportation, other companies are clearly just focused on trying to make money. Ultimately, those companies end up going bankrupt or being bought out because they are focused solely on the company, not about the end user and how well the riders can use the scooters and applications.
Very well-designed apps with great functionality, download convenience, and ease of use, allows for happier end users, which means returning customers. On the other hand, the applications that have little functionality and frustrating, over-complicated steps, are a quick way to lose customers and business.