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Bike Garage finds more time for their customers thanks to Rentle

Bike Garage was founded in 2010 in the beautiful Peak District National Park. James Irwin, the founder and owner, grew up in the area and recognized an opportunity to introduce and offer different biking experiences and bike rentals.

United Kingdom
Bike Rentals
1 Person Team
45 Rental Bikes

Rentle is thrilled to announce a partnership with a biking experience provider from central England, Bike Garage. Rentle will be helping by automating processes and making sure they're offering the best customer experience possible.

Since tourism accounts for 90% of the local economy, James feels fortunate to be able to provide tourists and visitors from near and far another way to explore the area of Peak District. After more than a decade, Bike Garage's operations include sales & rental of premium mountain bikes, as well as service work.

With a fleet of 45 bikes, and an expanded store, James continues to run the shop as a one-man band for the majority of the year.

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Bike Garage faced an unexpected need for a new solution

Bike Garage previously worked with another rental system that they were happy with. Unfortunately, the company in question ceased its operations, and Bike Garage found itself in a situation where it needed to find a new rental system to replace the old one. Because James runs the shop most of the time by himself, the biggest challenge was finding a tool that would help him focus on the things that matter the most.

There are only so many hours of the day and so many bikes that I can fix or maintenance - so having any tool that would help us in being more efficient with our time is massively welcome.

 

One of Bike Garage's challenges the company was looking forward to solving was related to the space they operate in. What once was a fish store is now a narrow and long space for Bike Garage's equipment. The awkwardly shaped space means customers would have to be all crammed together, which isn't optimal, especially during the pandemic. So they needed to find a solution that would have the customers coming in and out of the store significantly faster than before.

Since Bike Garage's offering is focused mainly on premium bikes, it was also important to find software with a clean user interface. They wanted to showcase the products clearly, allowing the customers to book their equipment independently and in advance without having to call up the shop regarding the products or their bookings.

Considering that the tool we would end up would be a direct reflection of Bike Garage, and people would associate the usability and overall booking experience with us, we wanted the software to be easy-to-use and provide a good customer experience.

 

bikegarage

Partnering up with Rentle

Since Bike Garage was starting again from scratch, James weighed his options with other similar service providers. What made Rentle stand out was how easy it was to build a relationship with the team at Rentle.

Rentle was easy to find and I was convinced by the demo. What I especially like and appreciate is, similarly how we had with the previous software provider, I'm able to give a lot of feedback and ideas, and in some cases affect the product development.

Improving time management and customer experience with Rentle

One of the biggest benefits Bike Garage noticed with Rentle is the preparation in advance functionality. Because of the space the company operates in, accepting bookings in advance means they can now prepare the bikes the night before and not have customers walking in and waiting for the bike to be prepped for them. This has freed up James' time and lets him focus on providing the best experience for the visitors.

Rentle does the job really well in offering the customers a platform where they can check the availability, book the product they want in the right size, and so on. Even compared to the previous software, the conversion rate with Rentle is better than before.

 

Additionally, things like pre-authorized transactions and deposits have served both the business and the customers well. Rentle has worked as a continuation of the overall customer experience and has supported the professional image Bike Garage has been building up over the years. 

James mentioned that the transition from the old software to Rentle was smooth and easy, and he feels like Rentle is a good fit for Bike Garage and its needs as a growing company. We look forward to continuing our journey with Bike Garage and finding new ways to improve its operations.

 

Photos and video: Bike Garage 

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