Delving into the 6-Month journey of developing an advanced online car rental app.
In this case study, you'll discover:
The need to streamline the car rental service came directly from our client’s employees. They saw the potential the car rental service had but realized it was limited by the need for in-person or phone reservations. As a solution, they proposed the creation of an online reservation system that would:
With management approval, they began searching for a provider to develop the system.
Our first tech meeting with bart took place in September 2022, where we analyzed the current booking process and identified several ways to improve and streamline it. The functional solution, meeting all of the client’s key requirements, was ready to go live on March 1, 2023.
The intuitive car rental reservation system is built around two key parameters: rental dates and vehicle class based on interior space (small, medium, large). Customers can also specify additional preferences, such as brand, model, features, transmission type, and drive type.
Once the parameters are confirmed, the search engine filters available cars for rent. After selecting a specific model, the customer receives detailed information about the vehicle and a rental cost estimate. They can also configure additional services like highway toll stickers or a higher daily mileage limit.
The order configuration is updated in real time via a dynamic URL. After making their selections, customers can copy the URL and share it with co-riders for review.
After confirming the configuration, the customer enters their personal details to finalize the reservation. If the customer has another vehicle being serviced at Moris Slovakia, they can enter the registration number of the serviced car to receive a significant discount on the rental.
Registered users don’t need to fill in their personal details again – the system automatically retrieves the information from their profile.
Car rental employees manage all vehicle information, availability, and pricing in long-used Excel files. To maintain their familiar workflow, we integrated these files directly into the API, allowing them to be displayed in the web application.
Employees access the admin system for every confirmed order, where they can generate proforma invoices with customizable line items. These are created automatically based on the additional services selected. They can also generate tax documents, rental agreements, and final invoices after the vehicle is returned. The system autofills nearly all customer and vehicle details, and there’s an option to add notes for colleagues.
All orders are visible in a clear, color-coded calendar view based on their status:
Orders can also be filtered by status.
Employees can view notes associated with each order by hovering over the note icon, and see if a contract has been generated, downloading it directly by clicking the icon.
If a reservation is made by phone or in person, employees can manually enter it through the admin system. For new customers, they only need to input the company’s ID number, and all other details are automatically pulled from public databases like the tax office or statistics bureau.
Employees can also register new customers for the web platform, allowing them to view all past offline orders in their profile.
Existing customers can be easily searched by name, email, phone number, company name, or ID.
Employees can export all orders within a specific date range. The resulting file is named according to the date range, making it easy to organize. All data is correctly formatted, allowing for filtering and formulas to generate important statistics.
Additionally, employees can connect via a unique API key to export orders as an XML file, which can then be directly imported into the accounting system, Pohoda.
While the web application was designed to help our client's customers rent cars quickly and at any time, it provides even more benefits. These features significantly simplify the work for car rental staff, reducing the amount of administrative tasks associated with each rental. As a result, employees can work more efficiently and use their time to further optimize customer services.
The most important incorporated modules
Technologies used
We initially approached bart with a relatively simple request for a reservation system. However, they helped us realize that with an online application, we could achieve so much more. Our employees no longer need to fill out contracts manually, stick notes on orders, or carry papers to the accounting department. The system takes care of everything. We’ve already noticed a faster rental process and fewer errors that are common with manual work. We’re excited to continue developing the application and explore all the ways it can help us optimize our services even further.
