6 Best online rental business ideas in this sharing economy

SAJITHA BANU Z
4 min readJun 21, 2021
6 Best online rental business ideas in this sharing economy

Here we will examine some important points related to the rental market like the growth chances, the different profitable business models, the perfect blueprint to go about it and on how to establish a successful rental eCommerce website.

The chances of growth in a sharing economy

You might not believe but the fact is that the rental industry whose value was $ 19 billion in 2017 is well set to reach $ 59.4 billion by 2023. From these the chances of growth in a sharing economy is quite evident and is a clear indication of how the rental market is becoming popular among the masses.

Business models to make money out of in this economy

1. An online rental business of properties

All you need is a good property rental website and you can set your foot in this business. The options in this sector are many as businessmen can opt for renting out home, conference halls, office space. You name it and you can list it. It’s that easy. You can also start a short term rental website like Airbnb and make profits. A revenue of about $ 446 million was derived from apartment rental alone signifying the growth of this sector.

2. Online vehicle rentals

Not everyone can afford to buy a car but with the advancement of technology you can rent out your favourite model. Entrepreneurs can venture out to invest in this segment as the returns are high and customers will find you easily online. US $ 26,873 million was generated from the car rental segment in the year 2019 with an expected CAGR of 3.4 % from 2019–2023.

3. Online equipment rentals

The online rental equipment business has really helped customers to find some of the equipment easily so that they can carry on with their work. There is a huge opportunity for this model of business and the rental equipment can vary from wheelchairs, mechanical tools, home appliances etc.

4. A rental business based on online interior decoration

More people nowadays travel a lot for different purposes and it is therefore not possible for them to transport all their furniture from one place to the next and therefore there is huge demand for online furniture and interior decoration services.

Long term as well as short term rentals are available in this segment and the materials include plants, furniture, household items etc. The current figure of online furniture rental operators stands at 895 and total revenue generated in 2019 is $ 723 million, quite promising indeed!

5. Online clothes rental

The reason why people prefer renting out clothes is because they want to wear branded and expensive items without buying them as they are too expensive and won’t be of much use after a particular event or wedding. The website owner will rent out the clothes to multiple people according to the inventory that he has. You can also try the subscription based model for continuous income. The clothes rental can be for formal, traditional wear, wedding dress etc. The expected revenue generation is a whopping $1,856 million by 2023.

6. Accessories rental business

Renting out accessories like Jewellery, camera lenses, lights etc are also a promising online rental business option. With an annual growth rate of 3.1% the total revenue generated in the year 2019 is $ 6 billion.

Go about with a perfect blueprint

Good amount of research is absolutely necessary before you dive into the online rental business. Have a good idea about the demand and supply chain in your preferred area. It is also equally important to test the market with a minimum viable product (MVP) to test the movement of your product before you completely immerse into it.

Also make it a point that your services are adding more value to the customers. Give very good services and quality products to win the trust factor of customers. Give customers the opportunity to give their feedback regarding your services for better productivity.

How to establish a successful eCommerce rental website

POFI provides the platform to launch your own competitive, cutting edge rental eCommerce website. The features of renting and selling are already there in the platform and you can customize it further to suit your business model rather than building a website from scratch. It helps you to save time and money.

To wrap up

The future of the rental business definitely seems to be at its brightest and with a great website you can go places and make profits unmatched.

Note: This blog was originally posted on the POFI tech site.

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