Page 185 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

168 6 Mobile Commerce and the Internet of Things

The Solution Hertz also installed inward-facing video cameras in an
attempt to upgrade its NeverLost service.
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Hertz pioneered several mobile commerce applications to For more functionalities, see finance.yahoo.com/
increase its competitiveness. Mobile commerce is now embed- news/navigation-solutions-hertz-neverlost-r-
ded in the company’s national wireless network. This informa- 221503204.html.
tion is needed to reserve a car, confirm or change reservations, • Additional customer services. In addition to the location
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and other customer-related services (e.g., review rental his- guide, the NeverLost system provides driving direc-
tory, direct credit mileage to the proper loyalty program). tions, emergency telephone numbers, city maps, shopping
Here are some of Hertz’s mobile services: guides, customer reviews of hotels, restaurants, and other
consumer services. This content also is available to
• Easy and quick rentals. Reservations can be made by Hertz’s club members at home, where they can print the
phone, e-mail, and on the website (via smartphone, tablet, information or load it into their mobile devices. For more
or desktop). Confirmations are e-mailed (or texted) within on customer service at Hertz, see Gingiss (2015).
seconds of making the reservation. Upon arrival in a city, • Car locations. Hertz is experimenting with a GPS-based
the renter receives a text message pinpointing the car’s tracking system, which enables the company to find the
location in Hertz’s parking area. In many rental locations, location of a rental car at any given time. Furthermore,
the cars are equipped with an RFID system. In such a the system may be able to report in real time the speed
case, the renter sweeps the Hertz keyfob/card over the at which the car is being driven. Although the company
RFID reader to unlock the doors. Alternatively, in some promises to keep the collected information secure, many
locations, Hertz’s curbside attendant confirms the reser- view it as an invasion of privacy. However, some renters
vation on a handheld device, and transmits the arrival may feel safer knowing that they are being tracked at all
information wirelessly to the rental booth. This in return times. Note: Currently (March 2016), Hertz is using the
reveals the location of the car. All the renter needs to do is system only to track stolen cars and to find when cars are
go to the slot where the car is parked and drive away. For returned.
interesting new features, see Elliott (2013). • Hertz 24/7 (with on demand technology). According to
• Instant returns (eReturn). There is no longer any need their website, Hertz 24/7 with on demand technology
to wait in line in Hertz’s office to return the car. An atten- offers self-service access to a rental vehicle for a short
dant with a handheld device connected to the wireless period of time (by the hour, or a day), competing with car
system enters the return time, and the system calculates sharing company Zipcar Inc. (zipcar.com). The Hertz
the cost of the rental and prints a receipt. The checkout 24/7 mobile app is available for download at hertz.com/
time takes about a minute, right in the parking lot. rentacar/productservice/index.jsp?targetPage=hertz
• NeverLost® GPS Navigation System. Many Hertz cars mobilesite.jsp and can be used to find car rental loca-
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are equipped with the Hertz NeverLost GPS system tions. This application is available on PCs and mobile
(neverlost.com) that includes a display screen and voice devices at the same site. The application includes ride
prompts (e.g., when to make a turn). A map (either sharing (e.g., rate comparisons of public transportation
Google Maps or MapQuest) shows the routes and busi- versus car rental).
ness information (e.g., public and consumer services, • Wi-Fi connection. Free high-speed Internet access is
such as the location of the nearest hospitals, gas stations, available in Hertz’s offices in all major Hertz locations
and eateries displayed). Hertz also offers the MyExplore™ in the United States, Canada, and some other countries.
NeverLost Mobile Companion app (see neverlost.com/ • Hertz mobile apps. With the Hertz apps, which are avail-
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Products/ProductDetail?ProductName=hertzneverlo able for iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Android, you can
stcompanion). This app allows you to plan your trip on make reservations, search for store locations, enjoy spe-
your smartphone and use the app to navigate selected cit- cial offers, and much more. See the Hertz Mobile page at
ies such as Washington, DC and New York. Some of the hertz.com/rentacar/productservice/index.jsp?target
app’s features include augmented reality (turn your cam- age=hertzmobilesite.jsp. For recent mobile apps, see PR
era phone into a live map); social media integration (share Newswire (2014).
your experiences on social networks such as Facebook • Social media. Hertz is active in social network applica-
and Twitter); and weather information (get live weather tions.
information and five day forecasts). For details on the above, see Barris (2014).