Kurts: Mobile Platform for DIY Tool Rent

The case

Kurts is a spin-off of a German family business, Kurt Köning, with more then 500 employees, operating in the construction industry since 1932. Kurt Köning approached the Helmes Group Company, TeleSoftas, with an idea to expand their business with an entirely new business model: 365, 24/7 access to DIY construction tools and equipment, powered by a Mobile App.

Together with Kurt Köning we created the first tool sharing service worldwide, operated fully by a Mobile App, with very simple and easy processes, already functioning throughout Europe.

TECH

AWS
Symfony
API platform
Terraform
Docker
ElasticSearch
Cypress
React
Firebase

LANGUAGES

Kotlin
Swift
PHP
JavaScript

INTEGRATIONS

Stripe payment gateway integration
Datatrans payment gateway integration
IDnow identity verification platform

The solution

Product Ownership

The greatest sign of the Client’s trust of our expertise for us was handing the product ownership over to TeleSoftas. Given this role, our team focuses on maximising the product value and creating a product roadmap in close collaboration with the stakeholders.

iOS & Android Apps

We began building the kurts© platform with a requirements workshop together with the client. The adoption of a new product tightly depends on the user experience, hence our first step was creating an effortless user experience app on iOS and Android, tightly integrated with the real-life tool lockboxes.

UI & UX

Wireframes and clickable design mockups were built during the preparation stage to validate the user flows. This way the functionalities could be tested before the development had begun, saving expenses on development.

AWS Infrastructure

We moved the product to the Amazon Web Services cloud system.

Backend API

The integration with the real-life lockboxes requires tight integration with the platform’s backend system. Hence, along the process, we took over the backend development, continuously creating new functionalities.

Integrations for Secure Payment and Identity Verification

An integration with Ondato identity verification platform ensured Highest security standard & legal compliance, while Stripe payment gateway integrations made it accessible for most of the popular payment methods.

Admin Dashboard

We have built an entirely new admin dashboard, improving usability, adding multiple functionality is to help the client’s team administrate the tools and orders.

Consumer-centric product development

Conducting customer journey analysis helps us identify positive/negative experiences which we then reinforce with new users are correct based on the data. Our team is continuously monitoring user feedback and app analytics, which then are implemented into functionality changes. Each new feature has been introduced performing user tests, testing several different prototypes. The overall app development is toe-to-toe with changing user behavior.

App localization

The app is tailored to meet specific requirements in various geographic markets. Including supporting market-specific payment providers, translations and other adaptation to legal regulations.

Innovative tariff system

Tariff system for short term leases applies the best rate depending on the time used. This way the customers only pay for what they actually use.

A third-party API integration

The app uses several third-party API’s (payment methods, ID verification) to ensure a seamless customer experience.

The outcome

In 2022, together with the client, we took the idea of tool sharing and made it bigger. The kurts app became a marketplace that helped local rental companies and DIY stores appear on kurts and use the solution for easier rental processes. The app users can now easily book tools in advance and rent them from lockboxes stations. They can also rent mini-excavators and bigger professional tools digitally. This improvement expanded the variety of tools and pickup locations to include selected partners across the country. And made tool sharing accessible to even more people. Behind this app is a powerful backend for all partners that includes access to exciting data insights.

The innovation was introduced to the public at the Mobile World Congress Expo in 2018. It received Germany’s Digital Champions Award’19 for digitising the regional economy.

The product is fully operating in Germany, and further expansion is planned across Europe. Franchising allows an efficient Kurt’s tool-renting service adoption throughout many locations.

Digital Champions Award. Photo © 2020 Kurt König.

”We are extremely satisfied with TeleSoftas performance and very happy about the result. TeleSoftas has been an essential part of creating an outstanding start for the kurts© product.”

Fabian Schuster

Head of Corporate Development, Kurt König

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