CASE STUDY
Scroll down
Äkäslompolo Sportshop is one of the biggest bicycle rental operators in Finland. They operate in the village of Äkäslompolo, right next to the Ylläs fell in Finnish Lapland. In addition to the full service sport shop a significant part of their revenue comes from renting out fat-bikes and mountain bikes during the summer and alpine and cross-country skis during the winter. Sportshop has used Rentle since summer 2019. We interviewed Jari Ahola and Jarno Helassalo to find out their thoughts about Rentle.
Online store
Online bookings
Digital Inventory
In-Store Layout
Before Rentle, Sportshop took reservations via phone and email but didn't have a system for online bookings. Rentle enabled Äkäslompolo Sportshop to start taking online bookings and the impact has been instant - compared to previous years the number of online bookings have multiplied.
This has led Sportshop doubling their rental revenue (2019 vs. 2018). Jari Ahola points out that even though the popularity of mountain biking is growing fast in the area, Rentle has helped the company a lot to achieve these numbers.
According to Ahola and Helassalo their clients have been very satisfied and even older people have found online bookings fast and easy. The benefits of online bookings have also been noticed in the internal processes.
A clear benefit that has been recognized in Sportshop, is that advance bookings enable better usage of time. Helassalo says that if clients make their bookings online and fill their information in advance it saves a lot of time in the rental shop. The saved time can be used for example to prepare the orders before the client arrives and provide more personal customer service.
Sportshop was looking for rental software and decided to give Rentle a try because the leap of faith was quite small. The commission-based pricing model made testing risk-free, while there was always the possibility to return to the old ways.
"Rentle proved out to be a good service and the product developed constantly to the right direction. We didn't see any reasons to go back to the old systems and the pen and paper."
Sportshop didn't use rental software before Rentle, so the beginning of the journey required making small adjustments to the daily routines.
These are very practical issues, such as where to place check-in kiosks and admin terminals. The growing number of people booking online has required making some changes, but the changes have been mostly for the better and made everyday life easier and more organized.
When asked about the most important features of rental software, Helassalo and Ahola mention speed and ease-of-use, and flexibility.
Like always in the software business, every once in a while, there are situations where Rentle doesn't have a feature to solve a problem.
However, according to Äkäslompolo Sportshop, they have been able to resolve these situations with a bit of creativity. And eventually, the feature has been added to Rentle.
At Rentle, we are always learning from our customers and are willing to hear about different use cases and scenarios. Without open and transparent communication with our customers, we would not be able to build the best software for rental businesses.
Start accepting online bookings for your rental business in minutes.
Book a demo with our team to learn more about what Rentle can do for your rental business.
Copyright © 2021 Rentle Oy. All rights reserved.