Rental is quickly becoming the new ‘buy.’ Ownership of everything from housing, furniture, and countless other home appliances is no longer considered important. More people are indeed on the move these days than at any time in the past. The rent, use, and return approach seem more suited to the modern lifestyle. The environmental cost is another factor that favors the rental model; collective usage is the key to optimum resource utilization.
The surge of the rental economy has led to a proliferation of online rental marketplace across diverse business verticals. Online marketplaces are digitally sourced, self-service environments that provide a common platform for multiple vendors to connect with their customers.
Some of the best examples of rental marketplaces are Cort for furniture rental, Turo for P2P car rental, and Rent the Runway for clothes rental. Unfortunately, the process can be both time and cost-intensive for entrepreneurs wanting to replicate the said marketplaces in their niche. However, there are a number of ready-made online marketplace platforms that can significantly slash that cost and time.
Top 5 eCommerce Platforms to Launch a Rental Business
Let’s take a look at the top 5 popular eCommerce solutions and how they stack up against each other:
Sharetribe is a reliable platform for launching a Peer to Peer online storefront. It is a self-hosted ready-to-use solution that does not require download or installation. First-time customers can alIn addition, so visit its help center to find setup assistance. Sharetribe is a SaaS application that does not require explicit programming to conduct rental business operations.
Founded in 2011
Country: Finland
Features:
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- Email marketing
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- Order management
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- Multi-store management
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- Built-in payment systems
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- Mobile Friendliness
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- SEO optimization
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- Global Payment Option
Types: Small Business & Medium Size Business SV & MV
Business Model: Sharetribe is a C2C (customer to customer), B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Customer) marketplace platform.
Key Benefits:
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- Ease of use
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- User friendly
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- Affordable
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- Flexible payment options
Pricing: Starting package @79/month
Key Clients: WheelPrice, Fittcoach, Canon
Demo: 30 days free trial
YoRent
Yo!Rent is an online rental software developed by FATbit Technologies. Its feature catalog is impressive, considering its affordability and flexible payment options. Yo!Rent’s capabilities extend to renting, selling, and both multi-vendor and single-vendor support. It is available in both ready-to-use and custom development options, with exclusive rights to the design in the latter. YoRent Rental software comes with a lifetime license at a one-time cost with no recurring payments.
Founded: 2015
Country: India
Features:
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- Renting & Selling
- Smart-Review Management
- Product Inspection
- Agreement Management & e-sign
- Multiple Revenue Channels
- Fully Customization
- Real-Time Inventory Management
Type: Small, Medium & Large Sized Business
Business Model: B2B, B2C, P2P
Key Benefits
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- Unlimited listing of products and services
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- Fully customization with exclusive rights to custom design
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- Free Technical Support for 1 Year
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- Available at a one-time purchase with no recurring payments
Pricing: Available on a quotation basis.
Clients: Gearflow, RENT FOR ALL
Demo: Free Demo Available: https://v3.demo.yo-rent.com/
Arcadier:
Arcadier is a rental eCommerce platform that offers subscription-based web applications. It is loaded with all the essential features for renting and selling products. On purchasing, the buyer gets four default themes to choose from and the full customization option. For extended functionality, buyers can install third-party plugins from Arcadier’s plugin marketplace.
Founded: 2013
Located in Singapore
Features:
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- Order Management
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- Catalog Management
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- Category Management
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- Payment Processing
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- Promotions Management
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- SEO Management
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- Vendor Portal
Type: Small, medium & large
Business Model: B2B, B2C, P2P marketplace platform
Key Benefits
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- Comprehensive function
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- Affordable
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- Available in 4 default themes and also fully customizable
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- No transaction fee
Pricing: Starting at $69 month/user
Key Clients: Kindly, Snap Squad
Demo: 30 days free trial.
ExlCart
ExlCart has a responsive layout and a feature-rich admin panel. In addition, it supports unlimited vendors and is available at an aggressive one-time payment. For more features, the buyer can opt for its premium development plan that comes with native apps for iOS and Android. ExlCart also provides a free demo to its customers.
Founded 2014
Country: India
Type: Small to medium size business
Business Model: B2B and B2C marketplace.
Features:
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- Multi-seller platform
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- Inventory Management
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- Unlimited vendors/products
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- Responsive layout
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- Multi-Store Management
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- Customizable
Key Benefits
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- Flexible payment plans
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- Includes source code
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- Highly-affordable
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- Includes native mobile apps
Pricing: [email protected]$399 one-time payment
Key Clients: Sleepyhead, Spirits4u, Fashion world
Demo: Free Trial
Genstore
Genstore is a robust rental marketplace software that is based on Node JS. It comes with a mobile application with the Facebook Messenger Bot pre-installed. Genstore’s impressive features range from multiple revenue sources to automated management options. Like Yo!Rent, Genstore is also available at a reasonable one-time payment.
Founded: 2000
Country: Thailand
Features:
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- Payment Processing
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- SEO Management
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- Shopping Cart
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- Vendor Portal
Types: Small, Medium, and Large sized businesses
Business Model: B2B, B2C, C2C
Key Benefits:
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- Facebook Messenger bot pre-installed in mobile application
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- Affordable
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- Includes intellectual property rights
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- 24/7 live chat support
Pricing: $999 one-time payment
Key Clients: Gappers, Bridalope
Demo: Free Demo
Conclusion: Top 5 eCommerce Platforms to Launch a Rental Business
Purchasing a full-fledged eCommerce marketplace solution eliminates the need to develop one from scratch. It saves resources on rigorous data collection and explicit programming. While multiple eCommerce platforms are available online, rental business software can help you launch an eCommerce business with renting and selling functionalities. When selecting an eCommerce platform for your business, you consider exploring demos to check how your idea would be materialized.