Enterprise Car Share is a car sharing service that is gaining popularity but still lags behind market leader Zipcar in certain metrics. Zipcar has significantly more website traffic with over 1.5 million average monthly visits compared to Enterprise's 173,000. Zipcar also has a lower bounce rate and more pages viewed per visit, suggesting better site usability. To improve, Enterprise could add 360-degree vehicle views and simplify the rental process with a prominent "Rent Now" button to guide customers through selection and payment more directly.
1. Kyle Wallace
Enterprise Car Share Popularity & Traffic Analysis
WEB SITE OVERVIEW
General Industry & Company Information
Overview: The Car Share industry is a rapidly growing industry in today’s day and age. The need
for quick transportation at a low price is rising, mostly in big cities, urban areas, or college
campuses around the world.
There are various types of transportation systems out there. “Station-based” is where the
trips must end in the same place it started. This is what the current Car Share model revolves
around. Enterprise Car Share and ZipCar both use this transportation model. To help give you a
better understanding of the various types of transportation that company’s use, here are more
examples: “One-Way” refers to the vehicle being picked-up at one station and returned at
another. “Home-Area” refers to a virtual fence within, where individuals have the freedom to
park their vehicle anywhere in permitted side-streets or company-marked parking spots. “Free
Floating” is another term, where you can pick up a vehicle, and end the trip anywhere in the
home area.
Popular to contrary belief, Car Sharing is different from Car Renting. Car Sharing can be
used for running errands, or simply taking a day trip in a luxury vehicle different from your own.
There are options to rent for a couple hours, or for days at a time. Pick it up locally, and expenses
such as gas and insurance are usually covered, depending on the company.
2. Companies like Enterprise Car Share and ZipCar are gaining popularity, which is paving
the way for companies implementing the Car Share idea as a part of their business model.
Enterprise is one of those companies that is starting to gain traction in this new revolution of
transportation. With services in 27 U.S. cities, Canada, and the U.K. as well as more than 130
U.S. college campuses, Enterprise Car Share is a main player. (Jones, 2018) Like any company,
there are various pros and cons. A few benefits of this company include: Generally lower rates
than competitors, wide variety of vehicles (compacts, hybrids, luxury, SUVs, cargo vans),
frequent drivers have a no-member-fee option, gas and insurance included, mileage allowance of
180-200 miles with “Keep It Simple” & “Road Warrior” plans. (Jones, 2018) Some cons:
Required to return car where you picked it up, mobile applications aren’t quite as functional as
other services, rates vary by time of day and day of week you rent the car (unlike other services
that have set rates), complaints about cars not being there at reservation time/cars being dirty,
and reports of unhelpful customer service representatives. (Jones, 2018)
Like their competition, rates and fees vary widely by city, model, and day of week/time
of day. Here are a few pricing examples, based on an average of different markets:
$25 application fee, $35 annual member fee, $8.50 per hour/$70 daily. (Jones, 2018) As
mentioned above, you can purchase specific plans which relate to your Car Share. The “Keep is
Simple” added feature runs $40 per year annual member fee. And the “Road Warrior” starts at
$50 per month. (Jones, 2018)
The most famously known competitor, Zipcar, is what I will use to compare overall data
between the two. Zipcar is the most well-renown company in the Car Sharing industry.
3. Trust: According to bestcompany.com, “If you have a Car Share location nearby and you are
looking for an alternative to buying a car, Enterprise is a good choice.” They have a whole
section discussing various Car Share businesses. Enterprise’s Care Share website has been
around for seven years. It was created on 01/09/2012 and shows a registry expiry date of
01/09/2020, according to EnterpriseCarShare.com. This indicates that the company plans to be
around for a good amount of time and that they believe in their product. Upon examination, their
content is also well written, adding to their credibility.
Enterprise Car Share is also being talked about and mentioned on many credible news
fronts. One of these credible news sources, “Crypto News”, added them to their Global
Carsharing Market for 2019 article with some of the other big names such as ZipCar. Whenever
doing a Google News Search, I find daily articles talking about the company, telling me that this
company is on the rise. Based on all of this information, I would say that
EnterpriseCarShare.com is a
trustworthy site.
Quality Content Assessment
Credibility: Enterprise has always been a well-renown company in the car business. On the
EnterpriseCarShare.com website, they have unique content, which separates them from their
competitors. When doing a duplicate content search (https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-
checker), I noticed that the amount of duplicate content appeared to be on University websites.
This is largely due to the fact that Enterprise Car Share focuses on Universities around the U.S.
4. to do their business. Students in large cities don’t usually need a car for day-to-day use. Their
Car Share service helps in these situations. So, it makes sense that their content is published on
University websites. Unique content plays a key role in search rankings because search
algorithms rate unique content highly and can penalize websites for posting duplicate content.
Their website also appears to be professional in nature. When running a word check
(https://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/online-spell-checker.php), I found most of the
misspelled words to be in the “FAQ” section of the website. Most of the words would only need
a hyphen to be corrected. Some other terms were one word, since they were used in a URL or a
website address. Enterprisecarshare, carsharing, smartphone were some of the major
“misspelled” words, according to the word checker. This had no relevance in my decision in
EnterpriseCarShare.com being a credible website. I would say that EnterpriseCarShare.com is, in
my opinion, a credible website based on these facts.
5. Value: EnterpriseCarShare.com provides value content to their customers in various ways. They
provide quick and easy transportation guides for various cities they reside in. Detailed navigation
on pricing, where the care is located in the city, and the amount of time you could potentially use
it. Enterprise stresses its transportation value, environmental friends and eco-boost vehicles, as
well as quick and easy convenience. They also provide the value to consumers in urban cities, as
well as college campuses. They explain why Car Sharing is a good idea for these types of people.
They also present a clear picture of the price, based on what you want to use their vehicles for,
and for how long.
There is an easy-to-use email link and call center in the “Contact Us” section of
EnterpriseCareShare.com. This is key for any Car Sharing company. All of this shows the
various examples of value that the EnterpriseCarShare.com website offers. The overall average
price point for Enterprise Car Share seems to be cheaper than its competitor, ZipCar. This may
be due to the fact that they are newer and trying to maintain traction in this new type of
transportation service.
Competing Site
ZipCar is another Car Share company that provides a competing website, as well as the exact
same services as Enterprise Car Share. According to Sally Jones in her article debating various
Car Sharing services, Best Car Sharing Service, “Zipcar is available in more than 170 cities in 44
states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Europe and at more than 300 U.S. colleges and
universities, Zipcar dominates the U.S. market when it comes to a traditional car share.” ZipCar
offers same day reservations, good customer service reviews, insurance coverage and fuel cost
6. included. (Jones, 2018) Some of the main benefits for choosing this company include a fleet of
10,000 vehicles (including small/large/hybrid/truck), gas/ insurance included, up to 180 miles,
easy-to-use mobile app for locating your vehicle, 24/7 roadside assistance, and excellent
customer service, to name a few. (Jones, 2018) The cons: monthly member fee, required to
return the car where you picked it up, one-hour minimum rental, penalty fees for late returns/low
fuel, poor customer service/reviews. (Jones, 2018)
Now the monthly rates vary by city and model, but here is a good example of an average. $8-
$10 per hour, and $66-$78 daily rate (24-hour period). (Jones, 2018) Various other fees include:
$25 sign-up fee, $7 per month member fee (for monthly driving plan), $50-$150 late return fee,
$0.45-$0.55 per mile overage fee (if you exceed 180-mile limit), $1,000 damage fee (insurance
deductible). (Jones, 2018) However, ZipCar does offer incentives. They have offered $25 in free
driving credits to new users in the past.
TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
Visit Analysis
Figure 1 EnterpriseCarShare.com ZipCar.com
12 – month Average Monthly Visits 173.6 K 1.5 M
12- month Average Unique Visitors 100.9 K 765.5 K
Average Visits Per Unique Visitor 1.72 0.00196
7. Definitions: Based on the data in Figure 1, the 12-month average of monthly visits turned out to
be much greater on ZipCar.com compared to its competitor, EnterpriseCarShare.com.
ZipCar.com reaches in the millions on average, while EnterpriseCarShare.com stayed in the low
thousands. The 12-month average for unique visitors also produced similar statistics. ZipCar.com
showed a 12-month unique visitor average ranging in the high thousands, while
EnterpriseCarShare.com still fell in the low thousand range. When I calculated the average visits
per unique visitor, I found EnterpriseCarShare.com having an average of 1.72 visits per unique
visitor in a month, while ZipCar.com had 0.00196 visits per unique visitor in a month.
Visits are can also be described as a session, and it can be calculated as the number of
times a user visits a website during a particular time frame, usually in monthly increments. A
unique visitor can be described as an individual device. The only way to track a person that is
visiting your website, would be to have a login/username setup installed within website. Since
this is not always possible, companies track unique visitors based on each individual device since
they all have a separate IP (Internet Protocol) address attached to them. This is the closest data
tracking individuals can accomplish to determine specific traffic flows. Visits per unique visitor
can be measured to represent how many times each individual device has visited a website in a
certain time frame.
Comparison: ZipCar.com has significantly more unique visitors and visits in a month than
EnterpriseCarShare.com. I think this is because ZipCar is more well-known than Enterprise Car
Share. This is most likely because ZipCar has been around longer and has a bigger customer
base; they have made a brand name for themselves.
ZipCar also showed over a 12 month period to have a much higher average monthly visit
from users. It was actually tremendously higher than Enterprise Car Share. In turn, their unique
8. average monthly visits were also incredibly high compared to its competitor. I credit this, again,
due to the fact of ZipCar being around longer. A well-established company will always have
more traffic than its predecessors. I would also credit the overall site-navigation being a part of
this traffic success. ZipCar’s site is well optimized, loads exceptionally well with speed, and has
various “quick and easy” navigation tools to get you plugged in right away.
Engagement Analysis
Bounce Rate: After comparing data in Figure 2 above, I noticed EnterpriseCarShare.com having
a higher bounce rate compared to ZipCar.com. However, EnterpriseCarShare.com still falls
lower compared to the web averages for the service industry. EnterpriseCarShare.com had a
significantly lower page per visit average compared to ZipCar.com. It still fell in the similar
average to other industry competitors. Both Car Share companies had a similar average visit
duration ranging between 178 to 216 seconds; this fell near the web average standard.
The lower bounce rate of ZipCar.com could be a multitude of reasons. I think they have a
significantly lower bounce rate due to the fact that customers are already familiar with the
company, due to the company being a top player in the Car Share industry. They also have been
Figure 2 EnterpriseCarShare.com ZipCar.com Web Averages
Bounce Rate % 39.60% 28.54% 40% - 50%
Page Per Visit 3.98 8.35 4.6
Average Visit Duration 2.97 min (178 sec) 3.6 min (216 sec) 3.1 min (190 sec)
9. around for a lot longer than Enterprise Car Share, as well as other Car Share companies.
Customers use their website to check minor details (described in definitions section) which
would cause their website to have a higher bounce rate. EnterpriseCarShare.com may still have
customers learning their service, indicating a higher bounce rate, indicating customers sticking
around longer on their website.
Bounce rate is a term used to determine when one page of a website is visited, before the
visitor exits the website. For a company like Enterprise Car Share, the bounce rate for initial
(first time visitors) would aim to be low. A low bounce rate would be the goal, so first time
visitors can familiarize themselves with the content of the website. This would include
information about the company, how their product works, payment options, vehicle locations,
and hours of availability. However, a high bounce rate would also be appreciated from second or
third time visitors, or returning customers. A high bounce rate would be a good thing in this
situation because these returning visitors may be coming back for details about the company
which will allow them to make a purchase and use Enterprise Car Share’s services.
Pageviews Per Visit & Average Visit Duration: During my research, I concluded that pageviews
per visit would be determined by how many pages a user browses during a single visit to a
particular website. While average visit duration shows how long a user spends on the actual
website. I noticed that ZipCar.com had a higher number of page visits, as well as site stickiness,
compared to EnterpriseCarShare.com. I contribute that to a variety of reasons; either people are
spending more time on ZipCar.com because they like it and decide to purchase a Car Share from
them, or it could mean that users are searching around for what they need, indicating that
10. ZipCar.com could be harder to navigate than EnterpriseCarShare.com. I believe it is due to the
fact that ZipCar.com is a more popular company, with a higher customer base.
For a website like EnterpriseCarShare.com which I believe has a harder navigational website
compared to its competitors, users may be searching around more to find which Car Share works
best for them. This contributes to the statistics that users are spending more time on the website,
and even though their customer base is significantly lower compared to ZipCar, their visit
duration is still fairly close. I know that ZipCar’s customer base is larger compared to Enterprise
Car Share due to the 12 – month Average Monthly Visits outlined above. (1.5M compared to
173.6 K)
Value Content & Engagement Improvement Recommendation
One major feature I would build into the EnterpriseCareShare.com website would be a 360
degree view of each vehicle you are renting, as well as an inside view of the inside of the
vehicle; this would include the trunk. Some purchaser’s would like to see exactly what they are
getting, especially if they are using the vehicle for moving or anything other than single-rider
use. This would help drive more rentals, and would make the customer more at ease with their
purchase.
I would also include a big button in the middle of the website that read “Start Your Journey
Now!” I found it hard to navigate to the actual car sharing piece of the website, where the money
exchange happens. For a user with no website navigation experience, or a user who just wants to
process the transaction without any delay due to time restraints, EnterpriseCareShare.com does
11. not do a good job at routing the customer directly to this part of the website. There is too much
reading before renting your vehicle, in my opinion, and this would alleviate that.
After clicking on my new button I am introducing, it will take you directly to “choose
your city” with market rates for the city applied. After this step, you will decide which vehicle
you want - this is where the 360 degree view will come into play. Once you decide on your
vehicle, the payment occurs. This will be combined with the amount of use you want to use the
vehicle for, giving you a rough estimate of your total. I think this simple 3-step transaction
method, basically simplifying the website as a whole, would be an added benefit to the website. I
think Enterprise Car Share’s competitor does a good job of this, which is my theory why ZipCar
is doing better in the Car Sharing market as a whole. There are numerous other factors that make
Enterprise Care Share a runner-up in the Car Sharing business currently, this is just my
speculation as to a contributing factor. This would be one tool that would help propel them to the
next level, over-time, in the competitive market of Car Sharing.
12. https://www.slideshare.net/secret/qJt5cuQUp4qCBb
APA WORKS CITED
Jones, S. (2018) Best Car Sharing Service: Enterprise Carshare vs Zipcar vs car2go vs Turo vs
Getaround. https://www.earthsfriends.com/enterprise-carshare-vs-zipcar-vs-car2go-vs-
turo-vs-getaround/
Karr, D. (2011) Industry Website Bounce Rates and Advice. https://martech.zone/industry-
bounce-rates/
Murph, D. (2013) Renting or Sharing a Car. Which is Cheaper?
https://www.shermanstravel.com/advice/renting-or-sharing-a-car-which-is-cheaper/
WEB TOOLS USED
https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/
https://www.semrush.com/analytics/traffic/overview/enterprisecarshare.com?competitor=zipcar.
com
https://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/online-spell-checker.php