Ripe for Reimagination: Making the Car Rental Experience a Pleasure, Not a Chore

Image credit: Jamie Street via Unsplash

Picture this: You've just touched down in a new city, alive with anticipation for what awaits. But instead of being greeted by adventure, you’re caught in the drudgery of endless queues, confusing contracts and "where-did-that-come-from?" fees. When you’re finally handed your car keys, it’s not for the model you were expecting. Sound familiar? 

Renting a vehicle should be a mere footnote in our travel stories. So why, in this age of digital convenience, does the experience feel stuck in the past?

In short, the category is ripe for reimagination, having struggled to keep pace with rising consumer expectations for simplicity. In a world where you can buy a Tesla in just a few clicks or with an app, drive away a Zipcar or a Turo armed with an app and no physical key, the traditional car rental experience feels increasingly out of touch. 

This is corroborated by the findings of the tenth edition of Siegel+Gale’s World’s Simplest Brands study, in which the car rental customer journey fares poorly, ranked 23rd out of the 25 categories examined by over 15,000 consumers. 

There are significant pain points throughout the journey. Still, the most notable are understanding what is included in the rental agreement (in terms of pricing, insurance and returns policy) and facing unexpected changes to billing based on car rental usage. 

The prize for eliminating complexity is huge: 14% of consumers are willing to fork over extra for a straightforward, hassle-free experience, which could be a game-changer in an industry characterised by wafer-thin margins. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most disillusioned cohort are younger renters, aged 18-24, whose expectations for what’s possible are highest, having grown up in a world where tech-driven simplicity permeates every aspect of their lives. 

Rethinking customer experience through the lens of simplicity then promises to unlock significant financial upside and reinvigorate relevance with the next generation of renters.

So, how could the industry deliver better, simpler experiences? It starts with a clear understanding of what rental customers want. Based on our work in the category, it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. We've identified four primary need states that shape expectations and ultimately, satisfaction with the experience:

Efficiency Seekers: They are fast movers. They want in and out. No muss, no fuss.

Guidance Seekers: These are unsure explorers. They'd like a bit of handholding to help them make the right choices.

Attention Seekers: They’re red-carpet dreamers seeking VIP treatment from start to finish.

Experience Seekers: The journey-over-destination types. They want the ride to be as memorable as the destination itself.

It’s important to note that a given customer could express different needs at different times, depending on why they’re renting or who they’re with. A business traveller rushing to make a meeting is likely seeking efficiency at that moment. However, the same traveller renting a car on their honeymoon is more likely to seek experience. 

To improve the car rental experience then, it’s not just about making the journey seamless and pain-free, but also about creating moments of surprise and delight that align with these fundamental category need states and developing the operational sophistication to deliver the right experiences to the right customers at the right time.

Reimagining touchpoints to inject surprise and delight requires creative leaps that transcend existing category norms. It’s helpful to look to other industries for ideas, starting with adjacent categories.

For example, what if we took a leaf from the airline industry's book? Like car rental, air travel is renowned for headaches and hassle, but the industry has made significant strides in elevating the customer experience in recent years. Consider the introduction of digital boarding passes and self-serve kiosks, the privilege of breezing past security with Fast Track status and the advances made to personalise in-flight entertainment systems. 

Now, translate that to car hire—imagine the Efficiency Seeker bypassing queues with digital keys through their app, the Attention Seeker with upgraded status that unlocks additional benefits or the Experience Seeker finding local travel tips waiting for them in the glove box.

As competition in the category grows, success will be determined by brands’ willingness to reinvent themselves to meet the needs of modern travellers, both by stripping away pain and complexity and creating moments of surprise and delight that tap into their underlying drivers. It's not just about moving with the times but moving ahead of them. 

Let's make car renting not just a need-to-do but a want-to-do. Let's transform it from a chore into an adventure in itself. After all, travel—from start to finish—should always be a pleasure.