Website Integration with your Equipment Rental Management System – Danger Ahead!

Many equipment rental management systems (RMS) promote direct website integration. The pitch is compelling: customers can book orders online that automatically appear in your RMS, just like manually created orders. Self-service seems ideal – but is it really?

While a fully-automated web-to-order process initially seems like a time-saver and customer convenience, it could actually be costing you money for several important reasons.

The Hidden Cost of Online Checkouts

The biggest problem? Web checkout processes create transaction friction early in the buying journey. How much friction? The general consensus is shocking: over 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned. This means a customer started an order but changed their mind before completion.

This 70% abandonment rate is massive. E-commerce giants spend millions annually trying to optimize order flows and reduce friction because these losses are so significant. Unlike pure e-commerce companies, rental businesses have better alternatives.

 

Why Conversations Convert Better

Instead of forcing online transactions, focus on creating conversations with customers. Encourage them to call or email you! Building even a brief relationship through email or phone makes it much easier for customers to provide payment information and complete orders.

Even if you convert only half of these conversations into orders, you’re closing 50 out of 100 potential sales versus 30 out of 100 with online-only transactions – a 67% increase!

The Inventory Availability Dilemma

With online transactions, you face a difficult inventory availability challenge:

• If your online system strictly follows your stated inventory availability, you lose opportunities to book orders that might create overbooked situations – even when you’d happily take that order and source the missing items.

• If you ignore inventory levels and accept all orders, you risk accepting orders for items you don’t have and can’t easily acquire – forcing you to contact customers and explain why you can’t fulfill their paid order.

Missing Expert Guidance Opportunities

Another downside to online-only transactions: you miss the opportunity to advise customers on the right equipment for their needs. Getting the right gear for the job leads to:

• Happier customers

• Fewer last-minute changes at pickup

• Reduced cancellations

• Opportunities to substitute items if you’re out of stock

• Chances to upsell additional relevant items

These advantages lead to more profitable rentals with less churn.

The Pricing Transparency Challenge

For rental companies that offer discounts, online pricing can cause sticker shock. While whether to advertise rental rates online is debated, completing orders online inevitably exposes pricing.

Price-sensitive customers might never contact you for a competitive quote if they believe your website price is final. You lose the chance to explain value or offer appropriate discounts.

Cybersecurity Considerations

Don’t overlook the potential cybersecurity risks of linking your RMS to your website. Online transactions create tempting targets for hackers seeking credit card information.

While secure implementation is possible, it requires constant vigilance with updates and security patches. Online transactions expand your attack surface, increasing maintenance costs and security responsibilities.

Recommended Best Practices

Based on testing various approaches (and learning some lessons the hard way), we recommend these best practices for equipment rental websites:

• DO provide a comprehensive catalog of rental items with photos when possible

• DO make it easy for customers to contact you by phone, email, or web form

• CONSIDER implementing a low-friction shopping cart that allows customers to build item lists and submit them WITHOUT REQUIRING PAYMENT INFORMATION

  • Skip inventory checks and pricing to reduce friction

  • Request only an email address, making everything else optional

  • Send customers quote request confirmations

  • Let your rental agents use these requests as the basis for customer contact

  • (All achievable using the free version of WooCommerce on WordPress)

REMEMBER: Your website’s #1 goal is for qualified potential customers to express interest in renting from you. Optimize for qualified contacts and watch your profits soar!