The parking industry has been around for decades, yet it has been slow to adapt to changing customer needs and technological advancements. Finding a convenient and affordable parking space has always been a challenge for drivers, but with the rise of parking apps, this may be changing.
Parking apps promise to revolutionize the parking industry by providing drivers with an easy and hassle-free way to find and pay for parking. However, developing a successful parking app is no easy feat. This article will explore the real cost of developing a parking app, including the challenges of creating a user-friendly and profitable app.
Are you looking for an app development company that can help you build a parking app? Look no further than Hyperlocal Cloud because we have the right technical skills and expertise to give you an absolute parking app platform.
Understanding The Smart Parking Industry
The parking industry is a complex and diverse sector encompassing many parking facilities, including garages, lots, and on-street parking. The industry is also affected by various factors, including location, demand, and competition. One of the biggest challenges facing the parking industry is finding available parking spaces, especially in urban areas. This has increased congestion, frustration, and wasted time and money for drivers.
Let’s understand the future of the smart parking industry in the upcoming years:
- The compound annual growth rate for smart parking in the USA is growing at annual growth of 22.1% between 2023 to 2030.
- The smart parking market is projected to grow more than $ 1 billion in economic growth before the end of 2023.
- As per the reports, airports are highly possessed with smart parking. Car drivers use a parking app for booking.
How Much Does It Cost To Build A Parking App?
The cost to build a parking app can range between $25,000 - $80,000. It is an estimated figure, and the amount can rise higher and lower due to important factors. Let’s take a glance at the factors affecting the cost:
| Server cost | Project volume | Expertise required |
| Third-party integrations | Features | Development platform |
| Marketing & promotions | The complexity of design | Testing |
Integrating AI power, compatibility on Android & iOS, navigation jetpack, and offline capabilities can also raise the cost of development.
Entertaining Facts About Car Parking
Sit back, relax, and learn some entertaining facts about car parking that can let you think better of your business:
| In the USA; people spend around 17 hours a year looking for a parking spot. |
| An average car spends 95% of its standing in a parking area. |
| The world’s largest parking lot is in Edmonton, Canada, with a capacity of 30,000 parking spots. |
| The world’s loneliest parking metre is located in between the Pacific Ocean on an abandoned island known as Midway Atoll. |
How Does A Parking App Work?
The workflow of parking is as simple as other on-demand services. A high-end parking app follows a symmetric structure of workflow which requires a core level of development, top-tier features, and many integrations that causes a hike in cost-justified.
Let’s understand the workflow of a parking app step-by-step:
- A driver or user opens the parking app and enters their destination.
- The parking app uses GPS to determine the user's and parking destination's locations.
- The parking app queries the data to find parking spots nearby the user’s destination.
- The app lists available parking spots near the driver.
- A driver selects the parking spot and pays for it.
- The app sends a confirmation to the owner. On successful confirmation, the driver can park their car.
Monetization Strategy For Your Parking App
Now, let’s understand how you can generate revenue with our parking app solution:
Ad-Based Revenue
This model is very common but quite effective when monetizing any app. It allows you to place any third-party app in your application, and you will earn money on each view and click over the ad.
Commission
A parking app can generate commission from the parking spot owners and drivers on each booking. It is up to you to decide the percentage of cut you want on each parking spot reservation.
Paid App
Also known as a subscription app, a user or driver will be charged a tiny amount to attain all the services. You can also offer them a free trial for a few days or weeks, letting them taste the exclusive services in your driver's app.
Premium Features
We have mentioned an advanced list of features above; you can avail of them in your parking app, and drivers have to pay either a one-time payment or every time they use that feature. It is a good practice to generate consecutive income.
Boost Sales In Your Parking Business With A Top-Notch Parking App Development
Leading Parking App Examples
Now it’s time to study those 3 leading parking apps that have set a milestone in the parking industry:
| App | Founded | Location | Market Performance | Service Areas |
| BestParking | 2005 | New York | Rank 18/189 | Major International airport areas of USA |
| SpotHero | 2011 | Chicago, USA | Rank 2/189 | 25+ cities in USA |
| Parkmobile | 2008 | Atlanta, USA | Rank 4/189 | Airports, academics, crowd stadiums, and streets |
Features To Include In Your Parking App
We have categorized the features of your parking app into 3 parts: parking space owners, drivers, and admin. The features mentioned below are certain features of a parking app. Any additional implementation of features can raise the cost of development.
For Drivers
We offer exclusive features for drivers that help them locate and park their car conveniently:
| Registration | A driver can register with their vehicle number, type, and memo on the app. |
| Geo-Location | The geolocation system helps drivers find a nearby parking spot and their pricing. Geolocation needs to access real-time map data, and an open-source provider doesn’t work here. |
| Search Tool | Drivers can search for any parking spot near their location. |
| Time Range | Drivers should know how much time is left that expires their parking time. |
| Booking | A driver can book the parking spot of their choice if they want to pre-book or reserve a space in advance for multiple cars. |
| Payment | Drivers can pay the amount when booking or later while taking their car with multiple payment modes. |
| History | A driver can view all the spots where they have parked their car. |
| Ratings & Reviews | A driver can explain their experience of the parking spot by writing reviews and star ratings. |
For Parking Space Owners
Let’s understand how parking space owners can benefit from the app’s features:
| Registration | Parking space owners can register with their email and social media accounts to manage their parking lot. |
| Parking Space Management | This feature lets owners know how many cars are parked there. |
| Rate Management | A parking owner can increase & decrease the price of parking depending on the car type and duration of parking. |
| Booking Management | A parking lot owner can accept & reject a booking. |
| Accept Payment | Parking owners can accept payment in multiple ways. Premium API keys from banks need to be purchased for multiple payment options. |
| Call & Chat | Parking owners can connect with their customers via chat. An AI-Chatbot implementation in your app can increase the cost. |
For Admins
Admins need to have full control of a parking app. We provide exclusive features for them that are:
| Admin Dashboard | An admin dashboard helps parking owners track their business activity at any time. |
| User Management | An admin can add, delete, and modify a user on their platform. |
| Add/Replace Parking Lot | This feature lets admins become responsible for choosing their specific parking lot to give parking services. |
| Revenue Management | It lets admins monitor their turnover and net worth on the app. |
| Booking Inspection | Admin adheres to the authority to accept and cancel the booking. |
Advanced Features Of A Parking App
Discover the Key Advanced Features of Parking App
| Multi-City Booking | This feature can help users to pre-book a parking lot in another city. It is useful when traveling for visits & business purposes. |
| Virtual Parking | Allows users to reserve a parking space in a virtual lot. This is useful for areas with limited parking, such as downtown cores or near sporting events. |
| Heatmap | A heatmap can help users determine the busiest or easy route to their parking lot. |
Hire Us For A Budget-Friendly Parking App Development Cost
Steps Involved In The Development Process Of The Parking App
Now, let’s see what steps are processed to develop a parking app. The development process of a parking app is the foremost stage where a concentrated cost occurs. An accumulated development cost varies depending on the strength of the workforce, hardware required, if any paid development environments, etc. Read the full step below to know the complete procedure:
Market Analysis
The parking app market is highly competitive, with many established players and new entrance of start-ups for market share. Market analysis is an important part of developing a successful parking app, as it helps identify the strengths and weaknesses of the competition and provides insights into market trends and customer needs.
Designing
The design part to develop a parking app determines the interactivity, navigational flow, user engagement, color panels, font style, and content of your application. This part also includes embedding graphics and animations into a parking app.
Development
The development part of a parking app is where developers perform their programming skills. They develop UI pages on the platform with smooth scroll, symmetric page structure, clickable buttons, contact corners, real-time maps, and many more. The application's development phase also strengthens the parking app's security, SEO, APIs, and payment interfaces.
Testing
A well-qualified QA professional will test the development of the parking app. The testing phase runs in different phases, like functional testing, speed testing, security testing, performance testing, and usability testing. The motive of the testing phase is to detect and eliminate any type of bug or error in the development. Every type of testing performs differently from the others, so for advanced testing like surveys, the hike in price is justified.
Deployment
After completing the development and testing process, your parking app development is ready to be deployed on the server. First, we obtain approval from our clients and maintain any changes they ask for; then, we deploy the whole development unit on production.
Marketing And Promoting The Parking App
Marketing and promoting a parking app are essential for attracting new users and building brand awareness. Many different marketing strategies can be used to promote a parking app, including social media advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), and influencer marketing.
Conclusion
Good things take time and wealth, and so does the development of a parking app. Developing a successful parking app is difficult, but the potential benefits are significant. A well-designed and user-friendly parking app can provide drivers with a convenient and hassle-free way to find and pay for parking while generating revenue for the app developer.
Investing in a parking app requires significant time, resources, and expertise. Still, the potential rewards make it worthwhile for those interested in revolutionizing the parking industry.
As the parking industry continues to evolve and adapt to changing customer needs, parking apps will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in the future of transportation.
