United reports revenue growth in digital platforms

United Rentals has reported “strong adoption” across its digital platforms, with more than 70% of revenues in Q1 coming from customers who use one or more digital tools.

The company said platforms like its United Rentals Mobile App and online marketplace has seen substantial growth from customers who use one or more digital tools to support their safety, productivity and sustainability objectives.  

It said its customers are using the platforms for a variety of tasks, including renting equipment, checking real-time status of deliveries, placing service calls and tracking status, taking equipment off rent and making payments.

Customers can also monitor usage remotely through telematics to right size the fleet on the project, ensuring that the rented fleet is utilized effectively, the company said. 

Telematics data is available through Total Control, a cloud-based worksite management solution that offers visibility and insights into boosting productivity, equipment utilisation, tracking GHG emissions and connecting Worksite Performance Solutions like equipment and site access management. 

Paul Maddison, director of digital innovation, United Rentals, said,“The industry is continuously evolving, and digital solutions have helped strengthen our partnership with customers. Our team is focused on simplifying the customer experience, as well as providing relevant alerts and notifications throughout the rental process.”

Within the last year, the company has launched a number of new capabilities and feature enhancements to the self-service digital experience that it said are designed to “help customers streamline the rental process and make more informed decisions for their worksites.”

These include the ability to manage payments, with users able to view, share and pay invoices through the United Rentals Mobile App, in addition to Total Control.

At the same time, users can customise email and text notifications for tasks across all project stages from quote through final invoice.

Meanwhile, the addition of availability and substitutions funtions are said to provide availability information and substitution options before checkout.

Elsewhere, the company has also added order history and access management features, which allows customers to view equipment access PIN codes within the United Rentals Mobile App to better ensure equipment productivity and safety.

Ty Campbell, director of customer success, said, “As the world’s largest rental provider, we can provide customers with benchmarks to help understand how their fleet management compares to other industry leaders. We partner with customers to identify opportunities and drive positive outcomes. These are all enabled by our digital tools.”