A love for cycling.
In 2021 De Fietsambassade Gent wanted to give a new impulse to the rental of bicycles. A project team was set up to lower the threshold for bicycle use and to put the rental of bicycles in a higher gear. Their conclusion: a complete rental platform in combination with a custom-made web shop, so one can easily rent a bike.
In 2017, 3 parties were merged to form one complete bicycle agency with maximum focus on social employment. They also started investing in order to offer a multitude of rental bicycle types. They also repair everyone's bicycles so that people can travel around Ghent safe and sound. Because Ghent has the largest car-free centre in Europe, the rental of all kinds of bicycles offers a great solution for everyone.
"Constantly exploring new ideas, trying them out and putting them into practice: that is how we want to keep Ghent's cycling policy fresh and innovative."
The project team quickly came to the conclusion that there had to be one rental platform with a custom-made web shop. This way, the inhabitants of Ghent could choose from 17 different bicycle models and easily move around the city centre. However, the rental of these bicycles was still done via an outdated and cumbersome system. People could only rent a bicycle if they sent an e-mail or called between office hours. Regarding services and peripheral factors there was room for improvement. This became clear as the organisation grew. The business operations therefore had to be set up as a process. Hence they where looking for a party that could help them with this.
Unrivalled speed
The specifications were put out around Easter and after Infodatek had visited De Fietsambassade to discuss the project and process, it was time for action! The internal process at De Fietsambassade was cleaned up so that they could work with a software package and Infodatek adjusted the software to make it extremely suitable for De Fietsambassade.
This adaptability was also the deciding factor to choose for RentMagic. After the first contact was made, a follow-up followed quickly in which wishes and needs were made concrete and directly translated by Infodatek. A web shop was developed that was linked to the RentMagic environment of De Fietsambassade.
The wishes and needs of De Fietsambassade were well mapped out in the preliminary phase, allowing for a quick and efficient implementation. It even went so fast, that De Fietsambassade was ready to start working with RentMagic by mid June!
Meanwhile, after a first training, the staff of De Fietsambassade has been working with the software for several months. The bycicle point staff is able to perform their work completely via the RentMagic app. Everything is centrally stored in the system, so everything is up to date in real-time.
The future
As soon as the weather gets better, the bicycle rental season will start to pick up again. Until then, there is a lot of communication between De Fietsambassade and Infodatek to further optimise the entire rental process. Employees will also receive extra training. These trainings vary from a day-to-day training to an administrative training. This way, everyone gets familiar with RentMagic and De Fietsambassade can start the next cycling season with a tailwind. With the efforts of The Bicycle Embassy, Ghent can further develop itself as the smartest bicycle city in Europe!