Big players like Budget, Avis, Enterprise and Hertz can afford to develop custom reservation systems for the online rental marketplace. To succeed in this competitive environment, independent players need the help of the recently launched ExpressITech.com.

"Revolution has grown organically from real-world suggestions from independent rental operators. We’re proud to offer it to other rental industries."

It’s a common saying among Internet advocates that the web has “leveled the playing field.”

ExpressITech helps small agencies zoom ahead.

In theory, it works this way: thanks to search engines like Google, information has been democratized. The big companies in every industry are no longer guaranteed preferential treatment over the smaller players. Every website can be found, and every service will find their audience eventually.

In reality, recent developments in the online marketplace paint a much different picture. Just ask Jesse Hubbard, owner of Rugged Rentals in Salt Lake City. After 15 years in the car rental industry, he knows the difficulty of getting his website and inventory to be noticed on the web.

“It’s difficult to compete with the big franchises,” says Jesse. “They have huge budgets to guarantee visitors to their websites.”

In addition to marketing his website, Jesse must compete with the custom reservation systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars to build from scratch.

Big players like Budget, Avis, Enterprise and Hertz, with their thousands of franchises, can afford that sort of price tag. Jesse is faced with developing his own system for his specific market, mostly SUVs, vans and pick-ups that travel through the tough country around Salt Lake City, Utah.

This scenario is familiar to Stanley Levy, who faced exactly the same dilemma over 10 years earlier. As the owner of his own independent car rental agency, he wanted to break out of the mold, and gain greater exposure to a broad client base. At the time, there was no efficient way in which this elusive clientèle could be accessed on the Internet.

How could Stan, and other independent rental operators like him, gain wide-spread representation on the web? And how could he make it easier for prospective renters to access rental information, and ultimately make a reservation?

Stan’s answer was to create Car Rental Express.com, a forerunner in the online reservation business in Y2000.

The assembly of a wide range of network associates, all of whom offered their rental inventory online at the Car Rental Express.com website created a highly profitable, independent rental market that previously did not exist. Suddenly, any independent rental agency owner could add online reservations and tap into the wide reach of the Internet at a fraction of the cost.

Jesse knows how the quality of reservation system is vital. Rugged Rentals relies on Car Rental Express’s custom Revolution reservation system to make sure his vehicles are accurately represented online.

All seven of their vehicle categories can be shown on their website with photos of the “real” thing. Renters are assured that the vehicle they are shown is exactly the one they are renting, not just one that is similar (a common practice on larger agency websites).

“Our customers complement us on how easy it is to reserve a vehicle with us. In their words they say the search (function) on the main page was quick and that completing the reservation was slick, concise, and that the process works well,” says Jesse. “For me that means my customers come back to us.”

Now Car Rental Express is entering a new evolutionary phase.

The company has been relaunched as ExpressITech.com, in order to offer their reservation technology as a standalone application. Officially dubbed “Revolution” the technology will be available to all industries that need a effective online solution for reservations, including hotels, boats, and equipment rentals.

“At ExpressITech, our mantra is to serve both the rental company and the renter,” says Stanley Levy, reflecting on the road taken since he founded the company. “Revolution has grown organically from real-world suggestions from independent rental operators. We’re proud to offer it to other rental industries.”

About ExpressITech.com:

ExpressITech.com is a private company dedicated to provided innovation for the online reservation industry.

ExpressITech seeks an intermediate PHP software developer, available for full-time employment, to join our development team.

If these skills describe you:

• You are a creative, quality conscious, and responsible developer
• You are extremely motivated and able to focus in an independent, remote office environment
• You are a keen communicator, contributing ideas and asking questions
• You are able to see a task through its lifecycle from conception to production
• You are a fearless multi-tasker, with superior time management capabilities
• You are excellent at troubleshooting and are able to problem solve with little supervision
• You have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and/or related experience

And you possess the following qualifications …

• 3+ years of active PHP development
• MYSQL
• LAMP architecture
• Javascript
• XHTML

(Also a plus …)

• Linux experience
• CVS or SVN
• SOAP, web service architectures
• worked with SimpleTest

Send us your resume along with your answers to the following questionnaire:

http://www.expressitech.com/jobs/software-developer-questionairre.doc

Revolution 1.4.3 includes some important features for our clients. Here’s a brief overview of some of the changes and enhancements:

Combined Rates Administration: Seasonal and Rates Matrix

Does your company need the flexibility of tailoring some rates for a competitive market, while other rates can remain constant over longer periods of time? It’s now possible to administer speciifc rate codes under the Rates Matrix, which varies by calendar day, yet have the other rate codes as Seasonal Rates.

You must be using Revolution Manager to take advantage of this new feature. On the rate code administration page, choose which rate codes you want to administer under each management tool. If you are not using Manager yet, contact us and we will setup up your account.

Maps and Directions in the Locations Module

The Locations module now includes a location overview map, and interacting driving directions to each location (provided by Google™ maps). All Revolution Core and Pro clients that use the locations module will see this addition to their websites in the upcoming weeks.

Reserve a Vehicle or Request More Information

In Manager and the Workstation, you have had the option to allow vehicles to be reserved, or for the customer to request for information, or both.

Now on the detailed rate quote page, the customer will see either/or/both buttons, and continue to submit their reservation or inquiry.

ExpressITech is pleased to announce a joint venture partnership with Kayak, the web’s premier travel search engine.

Participating car rental agencies will be listed on Kayak.com and Sidestep.com’s search results.

Read about our Kayak Program and it’s advantages.

According to Kayak, the conversion rate from clickthru to reservation is between 10% - 12%. The cost of the program starts at $2.25 per clickthru, and there are no further charges. You pay only for the clicks to your website, or standard reservation page (if you do not use Revolution on your website). You receive 100% of the revenue from all Kayak sourced reservations.

If you sign up before Monday July 14th, we will credit your click bank with 25 free clickthrus with a minimum purchase of 25 clicks.

Click here to get started.

It is with great pride that Express Internet Technologies is launched.

The site is the culmination of many years of disparate knowledge being accessed from different industry professionals and combined to inaugurate an advanced level of rental industry information and solutions. The rental knowledge base for ExpressITech is from the car rental industry.

Renting is defined as providing a service or an article for a definite or indefinite time period in exchange for payment. The rental industry prospers in most economic situations, allowing expansion in good times and replacing capital outlays in slower periods. To optimize rentals, the Internet needs to be used in its entirety to market and secure reservations. Prospective renters are best served with complete information, and a user-friendly interactive reservation system. ExpressITech’s applications actualize these goals, and we’re continually working to improve our systems to bring you more online business.

At ExpressITech it is our mantra to serve both the rental company and the renter. Our years of experience jointly in bricks & mortar and online rentals provide you with an exceptional outlook on the rental industry.

Let us supply your company with Internet products that will result in a better top line.