How to Develop a Car Parking Mobile App that Delights Users?
May 21, 2021
Introduction
You must have experienced an annoying situation when you can’t get a space for your car parking for a really long time. Heavy traffic and a limited number of parking lots are one of the most irritating situations nowadays and even terrible when parking is needed at the last moment. Hunting for a free parking space is just like a nightmare for drivers often. To address this concern, technology is assisting in the development of car parking mobile apps that is time effective and mitigate troubles faced by the driver while finding a parking space.
The smart parking market is flourishing and predicted to develop to $11.13 billion by the end of 2027 at a CAGR of 12.6% according to analysis.
How Parking Apps Functions?
Here are some steps to observe.
Users can search by locating a car with the help of a GPS /by entering the address.
Users can reserve the chosen parking slot and receive a code to access it.
Users can pay earlier by their credit/debit cards or afterward by cash.
Users can drive according to driving directions provided by the app’s in-built navigational assistance.
Lastly, drivers can easily park the car.
Operational Business Models for Parking Mobile Apps
There are three different business models basically followed by the developers to build successful parking mobile apps.
Support only Navigation
This business model enables users to find a parking slot around their vehicle location. Users of these apps can't book a parking slot in advance, they have to arrive at the location to find a vacant space. These sorts of parking apps are most suitable to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of any emerging app.
This business model enables users to find and book the selected parking space in advance with the help of an in-built navigation functionality in the app. There is no need to be present at the location. Users can pay by cash or cards, or other digital payment gateways. There are other features like adding extra parking time or navigation back to the parked car space.
This business model put an end to all parking hurdles of its users. These apps enable the booking of parking slots in advance at a location and at a time users need to park a car. A Valet will take the car, park it, and return the car when the parking time expires. These apps are likely to be more costly contrasted with the preceding categories.
The parking app development process needs homework and analysis on the competitors.
Bestparking
This app helps users to search for a car parking spot at anyplace and anytime the user needs it. Users need to add a destination, landmark name, or neighborhood to see vacant spaces nearby.
Parclick
Users can find parking spaces whenever it is needed, tailored to the user's schedule, at the possible best prices in over 250 cities in Europe.
Parkopedia
Users can find parking spaces using the current location or by adding address detail along with the directions straight to the vacant slot or an entrance. Till now this app has covered 70m parking slots in 15,000 cities worldwide.
ParkMe
Users can find and choose the nearest and cheapest parking spaces along with informative maps. Offers facility to check daily and monthly parking rates, prices on the map and compare costs.
Hire Experienced Developers
If you are looking to develop a car parking mobile app, all you need is a team of professional developers. You can outsource your work to the relevant software development companies or hire an in-house team.
The option of outsourcing is trending nowadays as a mobile app development company offering next-generation solutions at affordable prices.
If you are going to outsource your work to any software development company, analyze the reviews and work portfolio before getting involved with the pricing terms.
Choose several vital features and launch an MVP
Take a look at some of the essential features of the parking app.
Location tracking through GPS
To deliver user-friendly experiences, it is necessary to have a basic feature like current location tracking through GPS that enables to determine the car location and find out the distance to closest parking spaces.
Search and Navigation
Users can identify the distance to the nearby parking space and be guided to where they can park their car. This is a key feature that each driver needs in this sort of application.
Reserve a place
This feature enables users to pay in advance for the parking slot every day, every week, or once per month. As the drivers do not need to book a parking slot daily, it saves a lot of time and money.
Price Comparability
With this feature, users can compare the price of different parking slots and choose the affordable one in the closest areas.
Payout Methods
These apps tend to provide Top Payment Gateways as drivers do not want to mess around with the cash every day. So apps need to integrate payment gateways like PayPal or any other by assuring security and user-friendliness.
Launching of MVP
Marketing activities are quite critical after launching a new app, so it is vital to get prepared for the different market guidelines. Meet your new buyers and get feedback about the car parking app as soon as possible.
To mitigate expenses, launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) at the initial stages. It can aid in noticing the user’s opinion about the app and ensure that updates are required or not.
Consider an Intuitive Design for the App
UI/UX design of car parking apps must be easy-to-navigate and intuitive enough to grab the users’ attention. People will download an app that is user-friendly as they do not want to waste their time figuring out how it works.
Design a parking map that displays parking detail users need. Users can find free and affordable parking lots, filter the map according to their preferences and park their car.
Display a countdown that enables users to know at what distance they can park their cars.
Provide a filter menu so users can identify the parking situation at a specific time and for a particular span.
Good design is all about context so deliver exactly the same users' needs on every Zoom level.
Add a border and city icon to the regions so users can differentiate between covered and uncovered areas. (Icon size should be small so each street can able to display its own icon)
Display various parking slots in different colors to aid users to recognize their best parking options such as green color for free parking spots, blue for when users need to pay for space, grey dots when there is no parking slot available, and much more like this.
Advanced Features to Make an App Unique
Consider these advanced features to develop while building a car parking app that makes it unique from the competition.
Push Notifications
Apps can notify users about discounts, app updates, and alerts before parking time expires so that they can extend their time if it is needed and avoid fine amounts.
Multiple Cities
An app should enable users to find parking spaces in other cities as well so it is convenient for them while traveling out of the city.
Tag location
With this feature, users can save the parked car place and can share the location through social media platforms and messenger.
Waiting List
A driver wants to park a car at their favorite slot but it might be occupied for some time. This feature will notify users when a parking slot is again vacant for a car to park.
Heatmap
This feature displays real-time data for the busiest routes so users can find parking spaces accordingly.
Keep app updated regularly
App updates do a lot of things including discovering and repairing security issues or removing system bugs. Updates can include some new functionality and also enhance existing ones. Keeping your app updated can protect the data and provide stability in ever-updating technology without any crashing. It also enhances the app’s performance and provides more speed while operating.
Without significant updates, your app is open to fraudulent activities and so are your customers. So even though software updates seem to be an annoying or time-consuming process, it is absolutely important.
Are you thinking of developing a Car Parking App? Silicon IT Hub is a future-ready web and mobile app development company committed to delivering a complete range of customized IT services. Get in touch now.
+44 740 760 7799
hemal@siliconithub.com
B1-Ground Floor, Safal Profitaire, Corporate Road, Prahladnagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India - 380015