Zipcar Case Study

1. What is the major issue?`

1. What are the major options the company could possibly consider?

• Zipcar should focus on trying to retain a large portion of Zipsters after graduation of college and into their professional careers. The continuation of corroboration with universities is a great idea and initiative to try and create a Zipster culture. College is where many lifestyle choices are made and often adopted for the remainder of the person's life. If Zipcar is able to appeal to a large portion of college students and then retain them once they move into the city with a job, then they will flourish and become a main mode of transportation.
• A second option Zipcar could take would be to try and venture into the one-way city to city trips, or to abandon the idea that the car needs to be left in a designated parking lot. If they were to look into having the option to leave the car anywhere could become an attractive business strategy. Having to leave the car in a specified area limits your options of where you will end up. They could see opportunity in loosening the rules on where you can take the car and where you can leave it

1. What are the major strategy selection criteria? Please do focus your attention on KFS and competitive advantage criteria.

• Key Success Factor

Zipcar prides itself on providing great customer service and staying tuned in to customer's needs. They hope that consumers will be less attracted to car rental companies who are just in it for profit and more attracted by Zipcars's lifestyle of innovative service and global lifestyle brand. Zipcar's values focus on convenience, selection, service, and value. Zipcar is successful because of its clearly defined purpose that aims at high quality customer services. Zipcar delivers a quality service to a diverse membership, and one thing that guarantees both the delivery and the enjoyment of this service is the technology that supports it. Their collaborative efforts with business' and universities have become strength. Among Zipcars business partnerships is their presence on over 70 college and university campuses nationwide.

• Competitor Analysis

Enterprise is the largest company of its kind in North America with over 700,000 vehicles in their rental fleet and another 135,00 in their corporate servicing fleet. They specialize in local opportunities and mainly avoid congested travel/airport segment, where Hertz is pain player. Enterprise caters to consumers who need temporary use of a vehicle while their car is being repaired or for a special even such as a vacation or business trip. Enterprise was the first rental car company to establish a phone number for reservations and coined the phrase "We'll pick you up." Enterprise entered the airport market in the late 90's and has had great success. They were also the first rental car company to offer car sharing with their program called WeCar.