Since its iPhone app was first launched in 2009, the success has exploded.
Zipcar is experiencing a revolution that is being entirely connected with mobile technology.
According to the company’s CEO, Scott Griffith, it will likely change the way the entire transportation industry functions, not just his own company. Since they first launched their iPhone app back in 2009, Griffith stated that “We were almost shocked by how fast things took off.” He was a panelist at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium last week.
He discussed the way that Zipcar consumers, nicknamed “zipsters” are now using their mobile devices instead of their computers for 60 percent of their transactions with the company. There have been 800,000 downloads of the company’s apps, which are now available for Android devices as well as for the iPhone.
Because of the popularity of its mobile technology, Zipcar has been able to offer its customers more features.
For example, one of the app’s new features is a service that gives its users a picture of the building near where their own vehicle is parked. They also intend to add a new range of features that will help to reduce any anxiety that consumers may feel about whether or not they have enough power to reach the next charging station, as these electric vehicles increase in their popularity.
Griffith said that “Today we’re thinking holistically about how will the entire business be run off a mobile device.”
Though Zipcars had been using RFID tags to help to identify members, they believe that by using mobile technology, instead, they will be able to have their customers more easily recognized simply by using their devices. This will help them to almost instantly sign up for a Prius, Mini Cooper, or another Zipcar.
The Zipcar market is measured by the number of consumers who are capable of walking to one of the vehicles within a 10 minute window. This, according to the CEO, equals about 10 million people. Among them 1 million have already signed up through their mobile devices. Therefore, he said, that mobile technology is certainly a helpful tool for overcoming many of the marketing challenges that they face.
