In: Operations Management
What do you think about the growing popularity of Zipcar and other car-sharing services? Do you think they are likely to affect Enterprise Rent-A-Car's future profitability? Should Enterprise do anything in anticipation of further growth in car-sharing services?
Car sharing services offers flexibility to customers to pickup an drop the car as per their convenience by pre-booking the car to ride for as shorter time as 1 hour to as longer as a traditional rental service. Its other features include using digital way(mobile app) of unlocking and locking the car, dropping cars at different destinations etc.
ZipCar doesn't have a huge impact on the profitability of Enterprise Rent-A-Car considering they cater to specific needs viz. shorter time of travel vs longer time of travel. ZipCar is a good option for renting for a shorter time of travel as it offers rides for as shorter as 1 hour duration and though it can be considered for longer time of travel, it gets expensive as the duration increases. Also, its membership is an additional cost compared to the traditional rental services.
Considering Enterprise's rates are competitive compared to ZipCar, Enterprise should provide easier way of renting car and also provide option top drop the car with minimal or no cost at a different destination.