In today’s fast-paced world it’s hard to think of buying, selling or renting without the Internet as a guide. The first place to search for product reviews, stores, and rental marketplaces is the world wide web.
Starting with WP Rentals 2.01 we have introduced the option for an hourly booking that applies to many products and services. Rentals theme is now the only WordPress theme with Hour Rentals option. According to a recent study in the US, 77% of people prefer renting products over buying. The reason is that renting is a great money-saving solution.
Online rental platforms are on the rise with peer to peer renting as the latest force. Niche-based marketplaces for dresses, photo equipment, travel gears, etc., are getting popular among customers. For these types of business, we have developed demo Ski Rent that uses hourly bookings for winter sports equipment.
For a successful rental business, it is vital to have a trustful online presence that creates a good impression. The good news is that you don’t need to invest a great deal of time, money and effort into building a rental website. With WP Rental your potential customers get a professional-looking website that has all the booking settings needed.
Online businesses with hourly booking rates
What types of business ventures does hourly rental apply to?
1. Venues: office, event or storage
If you are a real estate owner, you can enlist your rental property on online platforms, such as Zilok, or easily customize WP Rentals to cater to your needs. With the hourly booking option, you can rent your real estate location on an hourly basis for conferences, meetings, as a workspace or special events (parties, cocktails, etc.). For example, if you host a conference, you can customize your offer to perceive rates for extra guests or extra amenities such as the internet, drinks, and meals that will show in the total booking invoice.
2. Classes: One-to-One language and cooking classes, an art course, and more
You can create your platform to allow people to book one-to-one classes or experiences with you. Use business hours to make the calendar available daily for when you wish it to be free, then use custom prices (for specific periods) to offer different hourly rates for specific days. With our extensive list of features and amenities and custom fields, you can enrich your booking offer. You can give discounts for advanced booking (Early Bird Discount), for bringing a friend (Extra Guest rate), etc.
3. Health, beauty and wellness appointments
Medical tourism has become more accessible to access at reasonable prices. Online medical appointment platforms such as Booking Health put medical services into a new perspective. Hourly booking option would be a smart solution for easy clinical investigations or beauty and spa appointments.
4. Vehicles: cars, bikes, buses and more
As a vehicle owner, you can make money out of your spare car and list it on Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing company. For entrepreneurs, WP Rentals helps build a flexible vehicle rental website thanks to its custom fields. With special prices fields, you can offer different hourly rates for Weekends or 30+hours and ask people to rent a car for a min number of hours. Other vehicles that are popular among rental customers are bicycles and shuttle buses.
5. Clothes and accessories
Renting special event attire has become a serious alternative to buying. Online platform Rent the Runway lists high fashion brands that rent out their designs. With WP Rental you can get creative and ensure a full fashion counseling advice. Customize your booking form to include a full head-to-toe attire and offer special deals for extra items or accessories or give discounts for booking in advance.
6. Travel & sport
Whether you offer equipment such as camping tents or venues & activities such as tennis courts, travel & sport is a generous domain for rental websites. With the booking per hour option you can create a dynamic and versatile rental offer. Choose endless extra items (fields) to add to the initial offer, publish a complete listing with different prices for specific periods, etc.
7. Appliances and furniture
Rental furnishings are perfect for venues that need to be decorated for a small amount of time such as special event locations. There are dedicated platforms that have a rich offer such as Direct Appliance Rental or Cort for furniture. Hourly booking applies mostly to event rentals such as weddings or corporate meetings. With the extra options, you can create a complete furnishing offer and include lighting and small decor elements to your furniture rental booking.
8. Equipment and gadgets
Lending out your professional equipment that is not in use is a smart economic decision. There is a growing request for niche tools from industrial equipment to drones and 3D printers. Photographers, video makers can offer their camera gear on peer-to-peer rental platforms such as Quupe or Fat Llama. However, with WP Rentals you can build a versatile rental offer with daily or hourly bookings.
9. Home improvements
Most people don’t have handyman skills, so they seek help for home repairs jobs. Homes need to be cleaned and renovated, and the list of services that can be contracted include plumbing and electrical repair, carpentry, gardening and lawn mowing, laundry and ironing, vacuuming, etc. You can organize your services with the help of categories and custom fields.
