There isn’t any other industry that is experiencing the disruption at the scale of disruption the micro-mobility industry is experiencing! Every day, we come across many news of the acquisitions, new launches, hardware upgradations, government regulations, e-scooter accidents as well as micro-mobility companies discontinuing their all operations.

One of the reasons why the micro-mobility industry isn’t augmenting at the same pace is the challenges associated with e-scooter sharing businesses. These challenges are so effectual that if businesses can’t find a way to deal with challenges, they simply cannot save their business.

However, the latest advancements in the different business aspects of the micro-mobility industry enable e-scooter sharing startups to lock horns with challenges and keep running their profitable business without letting challenges influence the profit.

Recently, Bird has introduced a very groundbreaking feature in its app which facilitates Bird to solve major two problems associated with e-scooter sharing business – e-scooter parking and less profit per ride. This new feature is based on the very aggressive new business model of the Bird.

In this blog, we will discuss everything about Bird’s latest feature which we, Coruscate, can accommodate in your e-scooter app and make you earn more without distressing about the parking of e-scooters.

Bird Pay – The most disruptive feature in the e-scooter app

To expand the existing relations with users (and to solve two major business challenges), Bird has decided to make a move in payments. Last month, Bird introduced Bird Pay which allows riders to buy and pay at local shops through Bird main e-scooter app. Currently, Bird is testing this new feature in Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

The company said that the link between local shops and riders is very strong and they have decided to launch such a unique feature in a response to requests from the local shop owners. Bird also claimed that 58% of all the rides through its app either start or end from the local shops.

Bird’s this new surprising business strategy to bring riders and shop owners under one roof depicts the potential of the e-scooter app. Bird’s CEO stated in his official statement that the e-scooter app is no longer restricted to offer last-mile connectivity, but it can foster ways to connect riders and local shop owners with each other.

However, adding payments to the on-demand transport app isn’t a novelty. It is a tested and successful formula. In Asia, Grab has integrated a similar extensive payment module in its main app. Uber has also explored the aftermath of a similar business strategy with Uber Money.

But talking about the e-scooter sharing business, launching Bird Pay is a very disruptive step. By launching just one feature, Bird has successfully started ruling against challenges associated with the micro-mobility business.

Let’s quickly discuss how Bird Pay decodes two major challenges – e-scooter parking and less profit per ride.

How can Bird Pay like feature solve business challenges of e-scooter sharing business?

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

Regardless of the business scale and locations, e-scooter parking and less profit per ride are the most common challenges all e-scooter sharing businesses have been facing. Though these are very common challenges, businesses could not find a legal way to cope up with them. But now, with the launch of Bird Pay, they have got a direction to move in and accomplish business goals.

Challenge #1: E-scooter parking

E-scooter parking has been the major concern of the governments. They cannot simply allow poorly parked e-scooters to trouble pedestrians. For that, they ask the operator to ensure the proper parking of e-scooters. They also ask the operators to remove the poorly parked e-scooters within the 2 hours of knowledge.

To meet such kind of parking requirements, operators must either hire dedicated staff or build the parking spots on the streets. But both of these solutions are costly. So, what is an affordable alternative?

By partnering with local shop owners, you can utilize their doorway space as an e-scooter parking space. Most importantly, they cannot refuse you to utilize their space as by building an e-scooter parking space at their doorway, you are offering them an opportunity to attract your customers!

However, you have to reward your users with built-in payments to enable them to buy and pay things from your partnered local shops seamlessly. This feature does not only help your partnered shop owner to attract more users but it helps you to deal with the second challenge.

Challenge #2: Less profit per ride

Including Bird, all micro-mobility startups are making a $1 of profit per ride which is really low. But with Bird Pay like feature, you can increase the profit per ride by more than 50%. Here is how:

Suppose, a user just ends a ride and you make a profit of $1 from that one ride. Now, since your app is equipped with Bird Pay like features, that user enters your partnered shop and makes a purchase of $5. So, if you take as low as 10% commission on it, you add 0.5$ on the previously earned $1. What if a user makes a purchase of $20? – you make more profit on his purchase than his ride!

So, now when you know about Bird Pay and how it solves challenges associated with micro-mobility business, let’s move ahead and discuss how Bird Pay works.

How does Bird Pay work?

The working of Bird Pay is very straightforward. We at Coruscate can add the same Bird Pay like feature in your e-scooter app or customize it according to your needs. 

• On the map, riders can see the purple star drop pins which show the Bird’s partnered shops.
• Once riders enter into any of those shops,  they have to scan the QR code, displayed at the register.
• Riders are then required to enter the payment amount and initiate the payment.
• They are also required to show the in-app receipt to the merchant to verify the payment.

After reading so far, if you are thrilled to accommodate such a feature in your e-scooter app, let’s go deep down and understand how to actualize it and how much does it cost.

How to actualize Bird Pay like feature in your e-scooter app?

Our developers and business experts have already studied the scope of Bird Pay like feature and possible ways to actualize it without making you shoulder additional e-scooter app development cost.

To actualize the Bird Pay like feature, we need to add 1 new module to show partnered shops to the riders and need to customize the payment module to let riders pay by scanning the QR code at shops. We also need to build a new dashboard for shop owners to get the QR code, know their earnings, and link their bank accounts.

Here, location plays an important role.  Since we are only showing partnered shops before and after the ride, the app should first determine whether a rider is riding an e-scooter, has ended the ride, or just scanning the nearby e-scooters.

• If he is riding an e-scooter, show him the nearby parking locations and names of your partnered shops. 
• As soon as he ends the ride, show him the nearby partnered shops with deals going on in every shop.
• If he is just scanning the nearby e-scooters, show him the parking locations and your partnered shops distributed all over the city. 

How much does it cost to build an e-scooter app with Bird Pay like a feature?

Coruscate is the top e-scooter app development company that has developed 10+ disruptive e-scooter apps for different markets. We accommodate 100+ app developers, app designers, IoT engineers, business experts, and legal advisors who all work together to make your business journey painless.

Our business experts help micro-mobility startups to draft the business plan, decide on the business model, select the e-scooter hardware, and study the market. As if this is not enough, our legal advisors help micro-mobility startups to acquire a permit from the government.

The cost to build an e-scooter app relies on the app development approach you choose.

• To develop a custom e-scooter app with all custom features, we charge somewhere between $15000 to $25000.
• The price to develop the clone version of some popular e-scooter app starts from $10000.
• And our subscription plan for the white label e-scooter app starts from just $500.

To know more about our pricing structures and get the personalized quote, please feel free to contact us. Our one of the senior business experts will welcome you with the free e-scooter 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.