Market Anslysis- Zipcar

The target market for Zipcar comprises mainly of the people who live in the urban areas, as this place has a greater number of people who had a restricted requirement to drive and were fed up with the expenses associated with parking; they were the number one target for Zipcar. The college students in particular would be taking a shine to this convenient and modern means of transportation. The constraint for this market is that the college going students can't afford such high cost associated with Zipcar service and would rather take other alternative means of transportation. I feel that Zipcar can also expand its market to the executives and working class. As these people have money they will be more willing to pay even high cost to attain the convenience offered by the car sharing services.

Technology: the owner of Zipcar wanted to introduce such technology that would enable the car to only grant access to the "conformed driver" and would wirelessly transfer data pertaining to the usage of the so that they could easily charge the driver. Zipcar also wanted to computerize its reservation system. But for all this to happen they need a lot of capital that they don't have.

Shareholders: Zipcar has made their investors their shareholders. Zipcar has not been successful in increasing its capital to a required level as finding investors has becomes a very difficult task for them.

Competitors: Zipcar has 3 competitors in North American.. The conventional car rental like Hertz and Avis were also a threat, if they discovered how much profit they could make in this organized car sharing service then they would not think and jump right in to avail the opportunity. Moreover, the car manufacturers were also Zipcars competitors because when Zipcar comes in the market their sales goes down as people will buy fewer cars from them.

Customers: Zipcar likely customers are the college going students of the urban area. As these students don't earn a lot of income they are likely to find Zipcar fee a bit too high for their budget and would find it cheaper to take a taxi or a bus.

Government Regulations: Due to the depletion of the ozone layer and its consequential impact on the society the government is likely to stricken its policies and would like to make sure that the cars on the street are environmentally safe and doesn't leave any detrimental affects on the environment. Because of this Zipcar needs to make sure that they continuously make efforts to make their cars more environmentally safe. Other regulations like increasing taxes and safety measures for the clients can also increase the cost for Zipcar.

Zipcar is new to the market and is just establishing itself so it doesn't have much competitive edge that would make it superior to other cometition. Hence it can't keep competitors from entering the market and reaping the benefit of this new concept of car sharing. As Zipcar will buy the cars from the car dealers they could ask for premium prices as well, nevertheless, Zipcar could always change their car suppliers they have their options open. The buyers also have power, if they feel that the service offered is too expensive then they can stop consuming it causing the service providers to reconsider their pricing policy. Zipcar is offering a convenient mode of transportation to people who don't have their own cars. Their service can be substituted by taxis and public transportation; they serve as their direct competitors. Zipcar has a number of rivalries like the other car sharing providers in North America and the car manufacturers. So they need to strive to attain an edge or these competitors will drive them out of the market. I feel that the concept Zipcar is introducing is very good and will definitely be successful if they start focusing on the working class and try to sell their concept to them.

Reference:

• Kotler , Philip . Marketing Management . 12. 2006.