What we believe is wrong. Micro-mobility isn’t a new phenomenon. Many micro-mobility startups have been running their business successfully since the last decade. And surprisingly old-fashioned startups are competing bravely with spanking new startups like Lime and Bird. 

In this blog, we will discuss a USA-based bike-sharing startup named Zagster which is one of the early micro-mobility startups, established in 2007 and how it manages to compete bravely with most technologically-advanced micro-mobility startups.

• Insight into Zagster 
• Technology and operating models of Zagster 
• Major reasons why Zagster is still profitable  (very important learnings for you)
• Top features to add in e-bike sharing app like Zagster 
• How much does it cost to develop an e-bike sharing app like Zagster? 

Insight into Zagster

Zagster is the Boston-based micro-mobility startup which was founded by Drexel University graduates Timothy Ericson and Jason Meinzer as ‘CityRyde’. 

CityRyde initially launched a bike-sharing program in the Philadelphia region, but later they decided to establish themselves as a software provider in the industry. 

In September 2009, they launched an off-the-shelf bike-sharing fleet management software named Spark. That feature-packed software was implemented at 10 universities in the USA. 

In 2012, CityRyde was renamed as the Zagster and in 2012, Zagster raised a $1 million from Launch Capital. 

In summer 2014, Zagster launched a bike-sharing program for General Motors, Duke University, and Cleveland, Ohio. 

Zagster carried out the major business expansion in 2015 when they launched an e-bike sharing program for Workday Inc, Intuitive Surgical, Purdue University, and Samsung in California. 

Zagster has also begun operating in Santa Clarita, as the name “Pace” on December 12, 2018. 

Operating models and technology of Zagster 

When it comes to the operating model of the Zagster, it is much refined than the operating models of other new micro-mobility startups. Sensing the reducing amount of opportunities in the micro-mobility market, Zagster has already innovated the operating model. Let’s quickly discuss the top 2 operating models of the Zagster. 

Zagster provides bike-sharing infrastructure, technology, design, implementation, and operation service to its customers. The hired staff members of the Zagster take care of repairs and system re-balancing. 

Zagster also ties up with city councils and drops its e-bikes on the public roads and an e-bike sharing app on the App Store to let residents rent an e-bike and pay for it effortlessly. In this operating model, Zagster brings sponsors in the game. Zagster prints the logo and messages of the sponsors on its micro-mobility vehicles and earns extra bucks.  

Talking about the technology, Zagster deploys the same IoT technology other micro-mobility startups are using. The IoT-enabled bicycle- electronic lock can be locked and unlocked through iOS and Android mobile apps. One can also give commands to this lock through Zagster operated SMS service. 

Where is Zagster running its bike-sharing program? 

Zagster is a successful bike-sharing company. It runs the bike-sharing program in more than 200 locations across the USA. Major locations include Princeton University, Cornell University, Yale University, Salem, MA, Cleveland, Ohio, Quicken Loans, Hyatt, General Motors, The Related Companies, Irvine Company and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

After reading so far, you must be wondering what makes Zagster a successful micro-mobility startup. So now, let’s study the factors which help Zagster to be profitable even in the intensified market. This learning is very crucial for you if you are planning to develop an e-bike-sharing app like Zagster. 

What makes Zagster a successful micro-mobility startup? 

Amid rising competition and maintenance cost, being profitable is a challenge all new micro-mobility startups are facing. To lock horns with this big challenge, they employ their own business strategies which many times do not work well for them. So, why not employ the business strategies of the startup which is already profitable?

Following are the top 2 business strategies of the Zagster.

• Private land is the best business terrain! 

Since its inception, Zagster has never tried to start e-bike sharing business in the big tier-1 city. Do you know why? 

Because starting an e-bike sharing business in big cities requires many costly resources along with a permit which is very time-consuming and costly. By investing the same energy and money, a micro-mobility startup can easily tie-up with many corporate parks and universities to kick off e-bike sharing programs. This requires less capital investment, basic e-bike app & e-bike hardware and no permit! 

If you want to know how you can start e-scooter sharing business on private land, you can read our dedicated blog.  

• Durable hardware 

Zagster accommodates very durable hardware in the fleet; they accommodate bicycles (not e-scooters)! 

The mechanism of the e-scooter is much more complex than the e-bike. Due to this complex mechanism, e-scooter cries for long and frequent sessions of maintenance which of course cost more. Whereas, an e-bike requires very less maintenance than the e-scooter, all thanks to its bulky body. 

Most importantly, the average life-span of the e-bike is 3 years. Whereas, the average life-span of the e-scooter is just 28 days! The game-changing factor! 

So, if you are thrilled to develop an e-bike sharing app like Zagster, let’s put forth the feature-set which plays an important role in offering ultimate user experience. 

Top features to add in e-bike sharing app like Zagster 

Following are the top features to add in an e-bike sharing app like Zagster. 

• Profile 
• Allow users to sign-up by entering the least possible details. 
• Present a small tutorial for educating them to ride e-bike safely and park it properly. 
• Ask them to add and customize other personal and contact details later, from the profile menu. 
• Ask them to add a preferred payment method and card details. 
• Show them the details of the previous rides, if any. 

• E-bike discovery and booking 

• Detect the location of the user and show him all nearby e-bikes with battery percentage. 
• Enable users to book the e-bike. 
• Let the user navigate himself to the location of the bike through a built-in map. 
• Let the user unlock the bike by scanning the QR code printed on the e-bike. 
• A user should have an option to add coupon code to claim the rewards. 

• E-bike locking and ride information 

• Users can end the ride and lock the e-bike. 
• As soon as a user ends the ride, show him the details of the ride like time, distance, saved CO2 and fare. 

• Payment
• Let users pay for the ride either manually or automatically. 
• There should be a feature in the app from where users can see the status of the payment and all historic payment data. 

• Customer service 

• Let a user report any problem he faces through the app itself. 
• Enable him to see the status of the query he has raised. 
• Let users talk directly with the customer service executives from the app. 

How much does it cost to develop an e-bike app like Zagster?

How to Make an e scooter App Like Zagster , Develop Alternative app of Zagster , Zagster alternative app features to consider

Coruscate is the top e-scooter app development company which has developed many e-scooter apps and e-bikes apps for different markets. 

We accommodate 100+ app developers, app designers, IoT engineers, business experts, legal advisers, and success managers who all work together to make your business profitable from the first month. 

Our app developers, app designers and IoT engineers develop e-bike app like Zagster in such a way that it attracts more users than your rivals. 

Our business experts and legal advisers help micro-mobility startups to decide on the business model, draft the business plan, study the market, acquire the permit and select the hardware. 

The cost to develop an e-bike app like Zagster depends on the app development approach you choose. 

• We can develop a custom e-bike app with all custom features which costs somewhere between $15000 to $25000.
• The price to develop the clone app of some popular e-bike apps starts from $10000.
• And the subscription plan of the white label e-bike app solution starts from just $500.

Are you still confused? Contact us, talk to our business expert and solve every query you have. You will be rewarded with free e-bike app demo and free consultation.

Note : We do not make clones of any exact application, clone means to us is how better we can execute your app idea with existing app features and experience.