Car Parking App Development- A Complete Guide for Entrepreneurs

By Hyperlocal Cloud

April 12, 2023

With more cars on the road, finding a parking spot has become tiresome and time-consuming. Parking lots are jam-packed with vehicles, which aggravates the drivers. It often takes several laps around the parking lot for drivers to find a spot to park their cars. Our developers devised a novel idea for a car parking app development to solve this problem. These are tools for parking cars that guide drivers in locating open spaces. Then, it will be simple to park vehicles in these locations.

At the moment, there is a huge demand for parking applications. The drivers find it to be of great assistance. Parking apps help drivers save a ton of time and money. Additionally, since they lessen traffic, maximize available space, and reduce accidents, apps like these help develop city infrastructure.

Why Develop A Car Parking App?

The car parking app development is a practical way to avoid the hassle of finding parking in densely populated areas. The app directs you to your next location and displays the closest parking options for users. Drivers can quickly arrive at their destination with the mobile app. It will make travel easier for the user and offer real-time location assistance. However, to offer customers these advantages, you must incorporate features that make your auto parking app development stand out.

There are many things to consider when developing a parking app, including integration features, UI/UX design tools, support, maintenance, etc. This blog will assist you in addressing the key components of your app that are required to make it seamless and a user favorite.

Market Overview And Key Growth Factors

The smart parking market is flourishing overall. By 2025, it is projected to increase by 20%, reaching $43 billion. According to a Statista survey from 2021, among American smartphone owners who use parking apps, 45% use them to locate open spaces, 20% to pay for parking, and 14% to make reservations for parking in advance.

Do you know - Finding a parking space in crowded cities typically takes 8 minutes per trip? In cities like New York, drivers waste about 107 hours annually. This translates to an average annual cost of $20 billion for the USA.

Additionally, given the car-park issues, 63% of 6000 drivers avoided driving to go shopping in malls, airports, leisure, or sports facilities, which harms the overall U.S. economy. These difficulties are increasing the need to create more cutting-edge parking app products.

It is also important to draw attention to the four factors listed below, which support the expansion of the global smart parking market:

• Greater use of intelligent parking sensors
• The use of intelligent transportation systems is expanding
• Telematics-based advanced analytics to ease traffic congestion
• Expansion of the automotive sector

We have huge growth potential, a market to make money in this promising industry, and favorable market trends.

Top Industry Players

• SpotHero
• ParkMobile
• Parker
• Park Me App
• Best Parking
• Parkopedia
• Parking Mate

Business Model Of Car Parking App

You need a business idea for a perfect car parking app development. Among them, navigation & booking, and complete solution are the most popular. Below, we'll take into account every detail.

Navigation- Finding a parking space close to the user's car is the only primary function this option offers users, making it the most basic. Such a program cannot reserve a spot in a free parking lot. To start the business, an MVP of the parking app development is ideal for this solution.

Reservation- The complexity of this type exceeds that of the first. Users can use it to locate and reserve their preferred parking space. The app can also direct the driver to the specified location. This parking service app offers a flexible payment system. Users can typically pay with a credit card or cash. Additional features include extending parking times or returning to a parked vehicle.

Complete Range Of Functionality- The car parking app development cost is typically higher than that of earlier ones. These programs entirely resolve the parking issue. They let customers reserve a parking space. Additionally, door-to-door service can be ordered. Some valets will take the car and park it.

Revenue Model Of Car Parking- For a long time, every business needs to make money. Knowing how to monetize your app is crucial for this reason. Parking apps can generate revenue in one of three ways, which are as follows:

Commission- People can reserve parking spaces there because they offer parking spaces with an interface where they can list themselves. Users of these apps can also make payments directly from the app. After subtracting a commission, this sum is deposited into the parking owners' bank accounts. For giving them a platform and promoting their parking space on their app, a commission is demanded.

Advertisements- Ads generate significant revenue for apps or any mobile app development company with a large user base. Apps for parking can attract a sizable user base. Since more people will book slots with them, some parking owners will undoubtedly be interested in marketing their parking and wanting it to be at the top of the list. They must pay a large sum for this, which the apps use as revenue.

Premium Options- The premium features are last but not least. Users can access premium features like monthly passes or reserved parking spaces, paying extra to reserve the same space, or getting one convenient for parking.

Must-Have Features In Car Parking App

Let's talk about the features your parking app needs. It is important to remember that there should be two versions of the parking app: one for users and one for parking owners.

Features Of Parking Owners

Registration- Parking lot owners can register via social media, just like users, to easily manage their parking.

Parking space administration- Parking spaces may be increased, decreased, or managed by the owner.

Price control- A parking owner can control the price and raise it if one or the other spot is more in demand. For instance, long-term parking might be less expensive than short-term parking. Additionally, some vehicles may require expensive parking spaces (e.g., oversized vehicles).

Registration- Users must register by providing their login details to access the app fully. People can sign up using their existing Google or Facebook identities, which is currently more common.

Geolocation-This feature helps drivers use the navigation system to find their car, find nearby parking lots, and calculate the distance to the parking lot.

Search tool- Drivers can use a filter search tool to look for parking spots in a specific city or neighborhood while considering other parking regulations (cashless payment, the number of vacant spots, etc.).

Time range- Users should be able to see how much time is left before the parking deadline expires so they can extend it if necessary. Additionally, this function estimates how long it will take to get from the driver's current location to the required parking lot.

Booking- Customers can reserve and use the parking space of their choice. A pre-booking tool enables users to reserve the ideal space in advance. Pre-booking features, however, might not be included in an MVP version.

Payment- We noted that there might be a wide range of payment options. Offering both cash and cashless payment options is preferable. Some parking lots also provide QR codes that can be used to pay for parking immediately. These options—including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal—must be available to ensure a larger audience.

History- Drivers can access information about their parking habits, favorite locations, the cost of each space, and other details. Drivers can park once more in their preferred location.

Ratings and reviews- It is very helpful for customers to see all the information about a specific parking space, such as whether it is comfortable, tidy, etc. Because of this, new drivers research reviews and ratings before choosing.

Advanced Parking App Features

Although the most fundamental features are sufficient for car parking app development, you must include complex functionality to draw more users and distinguish your app from others. While creating a parking app, consider including the following sophisticated features:

Different Cities- Choosing parking spaces in other cities is crucial when traveling or on business trips.

Push Notifications- With this feature, you can send notifications about app updates, deals, and other things, making it one of the most crucial for keeping users interested. Additionally, giving users 15 minutes' notice before the parking lot closes is a good idea. Users can stay longer or leave right away for their car.

Heatmap- The app's feature can show the busiest routes in real-time mode. The users' decision regarding their booking will depend on this information.

Waiting List- Every driver has a preferred parking location. As a result, users will receive notifications when a parking space opens.

Tag Location- You can save the parking space where you park your car using the Tag Location feature. Users can also post the parking location on social media or messengers.

Tech Stack Required To Build A Car Parking App Like SpotHero

Mobile

• Android
• iOS
• Flutter
• React Native

Frontend

• React
  
• HTML
• Angular
• Vue JS
• Next JS
• Node JS

Backend

• Core PHP
• Laravel
• Node JS
• Python

CMS

• WordPress
• Shopify
• BigCommerce
• Magento
• Laravel
• Headless CMS

Steps To Develop A Parking App Like SpotHero

Let's go over the primary development phases.

Research- We estimate and create a comprehensive parking app development plan after conducting extensive market and competitor research and consulting with the client. A team of project managers, business analysts, UI/UX designers, developers, and other professionals will be assembled based on the developed business requirements and specifications.

Designing UI/UX- The UI/UX design is crucial to creating any digital product because it guarantees effective and seamless use. Because of this, our designers deliver a low-fidelity prototype for early testing and understanding of the app's functionality.

Database Development- With all essential features, including recognition of license plates, we released an MVP. After testing the minimum viable product and its elements, we enhanced each feature and added lower-priority functionality. Even if the images of the license plates are of poor quality, the program can still recognize them.

Results- A quick and effective parking application with high-quality notifications, statistics, and a system for financial reporting was provided to our client. It is a flexible solution with a user-friendly, intuitive interface and broad functionality.

Factors Affecting The Development Cost Of Your App Like SpotHero

Geographic Location- The car parking app development cost rises as the geographic scope is expanded.

Application Excellence-The price increases with the quality of the parking app design.

Features Quantity-The price will eventually increase as the car parking app design features expand.

Device Platform- Devices and platforms typically determine the additional costs of developing an application.

System Difficulty-The cost is determined based on the car parking app's features and other modules.

Personalized Components-The cost of developing an application for car parking depends on its level of customization.

Why Choose Hyperlocal Cloud As Your Parking App Development Partner?

Hyperlocal Cloud is a competent mobile app development company. Since 2013, we've assisted startups and organizations in acquiring cutting-edge technology specializing in various IT services and bespoke app solutions. These solutions improve workflow efficiency, address business issues, and aid in acquiring competitive advantages.

We Offer

• A car parking app development experience and building technologies.
• An initial project estimate from our Sales Managers.
• A complimentary consultation with one of our BAs or PMs.
• Signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) on request.
• A team that can easily adapt to the existing workflow conditions.
• Profound app development expertise in various domains.
• A cutting-edge tech stack to build a modern, competitive app.

Conclusion

Remember what we discussed above to shine in this market while going for car parking app development. If you have a plan for a car parking application and are searching for a technical partner, contact us.

Our expert developers have helped many businesses develop applications from the ground level, and we can also help you. With our years of technical expertise and hundreds of clients worldwide, Hyperlocal Cloud has created a big space. We can help you with the car parking app development project and build an application you like.