by Turo
posted on September 5, 2019
Understanding seasonality, search, and delivery
Learn how to prep your listings for long-term success with these fresh data-driven insights. After you’ve optimized your availability settings to capture as many trips as possible, adjust your business to account for broader marketplace trends and sustain your earnings all year round. Read on to learn how to plan ahead for every season, rise in the search results ranks, and get your delivery settings up to snuff.
Understanding seasonality
Rooted in the travel industry, car sharing is unsurprisingly a highly seasonal venture: the marketplace’s two major seasons run from April to August, and then from October to December.
PREPARE FOR HIGH DEMAND IN THE SUMMER
Across the vast majority of markets, April to August is the busiest period of the year for Turo hosts. As the weather heats up, guests rely on Turo for summer vacations and sunny weekend getaways. Demand peaks in July and August — hosts complete 15% more trips, on average, relative to the rest of the year.
CAPITALIZE ON WINTER HOLIDAYS
While July and August are the overall best months to earn, the sharpest spikes in demand occur around Christmas and New Year’s Day. Guests book cars to visit family or enjoy holiday getaways, so keep your listing available and make sure your car is winter-ready.
UNDERSTAND LULLS AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY
Use the slower months to prep for the rest of the year: catch up on cleaning and maintenance, add more cars to your inventory, or upgrade your listings with Extras or Turo Go (currently only available in select markets).
Demystifying search rankings
If you want to drive guests to your listing, it helps to rank higher in search rankings. The Turo search algorithm prioritizes cars that have robust profiles and enable certain features, so take note of these tried-and-true tips to beat out the competition.
INCLUDE 5+ GOOD PHOTOS AND A 250+ WORD DESCRIPTION
Take high-quality photos that showcase your car’s condition, including multiple interior and exterior shots, and pair it with a thorough description of your vehicle. Let guests know the car’s house rules, pickup and dropoff deadlines, and any useful vehicle features — people often look for cars with features like all-wheel drive.
PRICE AT OR BELOW MARKET RATE
The easiest way to price competitively is to use the Automatic Pricing feature, which uses your unique vehicle (year, make, model) and your local market’s unique demand patterns to calculate the optimal rate for your listing. You can also set your own daily prices using our recommendation as a benchmark.
Location, location, location
Earn extra cash and make your listing stand out by offering custom delivery locations. Guests often choose cars based on proximity, and are willing to pay to make pickup painless. You can maximize your bookings by providing a variety of delivery options for both out-of-town visitors and locals.
VISITORS PREFER TRANSIT HUBS
Out-of-towners usually book cars they can pick up at airports, hotels, and train stations. Since they tend to opt for longer trips, consider offering these options if you want to keep your car booked for longer stretches of time.
LOCALS STICK TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS
Locals often choose hosts who deliver close to their homes. Deliver to busy landmarks and residential neighborhoods if you want shorter trips that are easier to fit into your calendar, or if you want to capitalize on a higher number of delivery fees.
Practice makes paper
Seasonal availability, search priority, and delivery settings all help determine which cars get booked and which ones fall by the wayside. Update your listings to align with these marketplace trends, and watch the cash roll in.
As the Turo marketplace continues to grow, our data only gets bigger and better. Keep your eyes peeled for more hot insights and useful optimization tools that’ll be sure to help you thrive on the platform.
