Lime continues to have the highest average user rating (4.86/5) among all scooter sharing companies in the world today! Lime also continues to be the most popular among all.
Neuron Mobility saw the highest increase in popularity (+17%), followed by Beam (+13%). In Europe, Dott saw an increase of 12%.
Hive, though being rated lowest, continues to improve the average user rating (+7%), while Grin Scooters saw a steep decline (-11%). Grin has been posting a month on month decline in the last months!
If, and only if activity in the app stores is any indicator of the market share, Lime (59%), Bird , Spin and Voi hold 88% of the global market share. –> Same as Dec.
Joe Kraus, President of Lime, in a recent Micromobility Industries podcast, mentioned that Lime accounts for more than 50% of all rides in the world today. This seems to correlate with the App Store data as well.
Among users in Germany, Lime is the most popular (61%), followed by Voi (18%). In France: Lime – 78%, Bird – 13%
User Reported Issues
Going through all user reported issues in January from the comment section, most of the issues can be grouped under the following:
- App Issue
- Scooter Issue
- Cannot Start Ride
- Cannot End Ride
- Unavailable Scooters
- Overcharging
- Customer Support
- Expensive
- Other
App Issue – 31%: Issues and Bugs related to the sharing app is the most reported in January. Users reported issues in payment method setup, login, frequent crashes, etc. Here are some of the comments:
this app unpredictable since i get new credit card with the same number as it has the prev. one i cant start a ride.. dont save a credit card show that expired then its shows that ok but still cant use it i recommend to never change credit card data,
It works fine but it's buggy. When you end the ride the scooter locks but no feedback by the app. You have to restart the app to receive confirmatio. A bit stressful…
Scooter Issue – 13%: Scooter issues are common, with reports on failing brakes, low battery, scooters shutting down mid way. One Lime user reported to have broken an arm, as the brakes failed. For the same company, there was one more report on failing brakes. Here are some of the comments:
They are unstable, often poorly maintained. I just had an accident were I broke my arm because the breaks weren't working properly. FINGER WEG!!! LEBENS GEFAHR Update: Lime Claims department is still ignoring me after I sent them all the documentation about the accident. So don't expect this company to care either when you get injured riding this things
I rented a scooter using this app. It wouldn't brake going downhill. Needless to say I'd be happier if the app itself hadn't worked. (Which, by the way, it didn't for the first 20 minutes I tried to use it. Could have saved myself a lot of trouble not puzzling through that ridiculous issue.)
Their scooters are the worst. I had to cancel the last 5 rides, because the scooter gets jammed during the ride, as if it somehow loses connectivity and goes into parking mode. I've also encountered problems locking the scooter and ending my ride. It would sometimes take me 4 to 5 tries before it finally worked, during which the meter was still running resulting in a higher fare.
There was a comment on the new Bolt Scooters as well. Functionality triumphs over looks
The worst scooters on the market. The stance you have to take on them is horrible and because they're wider it's making it harder to maneuver. The only good thing is that they have a place for your phone to go but other than that, couldn't recommend.
Cannot Start Ride – 12%: There were multiple reports where users had to scan through many scooters to have one unlocked. For some, the ride did start in the app, but the scooter did not unlock, resulting in users having to pay for a scooter that couldn’t be unlocked and a ride that they did not take.
Had one ride and cannot go back. Says Unlocking for few minutes and then fails. Tried on 4 scooters, no luck. Walking back on feet :(
Tried 3 scooters back to back…charged for all of them….none work….none will actually start. Can't find any instructions om how to make them go and being charged the entire time.
Map doesn't show scooters. scooters cannot be unlocked, no reason given. Tested ~10, no one worked.
Tried 8, only 1 worked but didnt run. Still got charged $.69.
There were also reports on unlocking a different scooter than intended – I’m not sure if this is a result of QR Code tampering.
I was standing near a scooter and clicked on unlock. It unlocked some other scooter which was not even visible. I had no other option than ending the ride and had to pay for no reason. Now there is no option in app for asking a refund or complaint.
Took a long time to unlock and it unlocked the wrong scooter. Not that difficult. Lime works just fine.
Overcharging – 9%: Users reported multiple instances where they were charged more than what it should be, or what they expected it to be. There were also reports on the passes issues by companies that did not work.
Well it was fun until I parked the devil's tool , it said get it for 5.99 € for 7 days and you be charged just 1€ when you scan the code , after I parked I saw I was charged 24€ and my friend was charged 13€ , WE CRIED :) .
Customer Support, Cannot End Ride, Unavailable Scooters – 13%: Interestingly, users reported less on lack of Customer support (5%) – One user reported on an issue with the low income program
Very difficult support to communicate with. Was supposed to give me the low income program yet it never happened even though they claimed it did. This is after wasting 60$ before getting into any low income program I had gypped they'd consider as credit towards the low income program once approved. Nope….
Similar to issues with starting a ride, users reported trouble with ending a ride (5%), resulting in being charged more. Some of these are related to geofence errors, where rides cannot be ended. Also, from a user perspective, as they don’t look at the phone during a ride, they knew that they are in a zone where ride cannot be stopped, only after reaching the destination
Wouldnt let me park where i found it spent $30 for a 20 minute walk distance
Massive inconvenience in Cologne. I've used Lime and Circ with NO ISSUES and I take a scooter to get to the train in time. But no, I parked the scooter where other Tier scooters were alrwady parked and where I usually park my lime scooter, but it didn't want to end my ride telling me I was not I a parking zone. I lost my train and had to wait an hour for the next one AND I end up paying for something I didnt use.
3% of the reports were related to unavailable scooters. This is when the app shows that there are scooters, but in reality there aren’t any. Some reported finding scooter much far away from the location on the map.
Just now the App showed 4 birds around my location (HaBarzel, tel aviv, in the park). Searched for them in vain. Chirp alarm says it chirped, no sound was heard. I wasted time, missed my last train home, you got 1 star and lost a client. Congrats!
There is a lot that scooter companies can do to improve the user experience. In micromobility, the time from app open to starting a ride is extremely important. Users would be ok waiting for 10+ minutes for uber or Lyft, given that the driving distance and trip duration are greater. But for micromobility, users should be able to start a ride in less than 4 minutes and in less than 15s if a scooter is next to them.
Though App issues are normal no matter how good the app is built, scooter sharing companies should focus on ensuring that all scooters are rentable, and that they don’t have serious issues like failing brakes.
In scooter sharing business, most of the key differentiators can be replicated, but good user experience is hard to replicate. The company with the best user experience will win this race!
Note: Data gathered from 150+ Apple and Google app stores across the globe. If interested in more insights on the data collected, do send me a message!
If you are in scooter sharing business, spend some time in analysing user comments of all players. –> A treasure trove that would help you serve better!
