Introduction
Dynamic pricing moves the daily rate of a vehicle class up or down depending on how many cars of that class are still free for the dates a customer asks for. When the class is nearly fully booked, online customers pay a little more; when most of the class is standing idle, they pay a little less. In between, the normal rate applies.
It is switched on per vehicle class, on the screen headed Asset group — the same screen where you set the class's name, code and deposit. The switch and its two numbers sit in the right-hand column of the grey panel at the top, below Price calculation: a Dynamic pricing? choice, and — only once that is set to Yes — the boxes DP Threshold (up) and DP Threshold (down).
It only works on bookings and prices that come in online: your website, the booking form on your site, and the customer self-service app. Bookings and quotes made at the desk always use the normal rate.
You come here when:
- Your vans are nearly all booked for the summer holidays and you want late online bookers to pay a bit more for the last ones.
- A class sits half empty most weeks and a small online discount could fill it.
- Online prices for one class look higher than your rate table, and you want to know why.
Terms used on this screen
| The screen says | It means |
|---|---|
| Asset group | The vehicle class |
| DP | Dynamic pricing |
| DP Threshold (up) | The factor the rate is multiplied by when the class is nearly full |
| DP Threshold (down) | The factor the rate is multiplied by when the class is mostly free |
Despite the word "threshold", both boxes hold a multiplier such as 1.10, not a number of cars. When each one applies is fixed — see Key details.
Use this page when you want online prices for a class to follow demand automatically. For a discount on bookings made close to the pickup time, use a last-minute deal instead.
How to use
Configuration
Everything is set on the vehicle class itself. There is no company-wide switch that has to be turned on first.
Before you start: the Asset groups screen and the Asset group screen behind it can only be opened with the Company admin role. With an ordinary Employee account the tile does not open these screens for you — ask your administrator.
The class must also be offered online: Display on Web? on the same screen has to be Yes, and its rates must be filled in on the price list, because dynamic pricing only multiplies a rate that already exists. See Set rates and mileage prices for a vehicle class.
Using dynamic pricing on a vehicle class
From the main menu, open Admin, then Product design. On the tile page headed Product design, click the Asset groups tile. The screen headed Asset groups lists your vehicle classes.
1. Open the class. Click the pencil icon at the end of the class's row. The screen headed Asset group opens, with the class number in small grey text at the top of the grey panel.
2. Switch dynamic pricing on. In the right-hand column of the grey panel, set Dynamic pricing? to Yes. It starts on No for every class. The two boxes below it appear only once you pick Yes.
3. Set the two factors.
| Field | Starts as | What it does | What it accepts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic pricing? | No | Turns dynamic pricing on or off for this class | Yes or No |
| DP Threshold (up) | 1.10 | Multiplies the daily rate when a quarter or less of the class is free | A decimal number, such as 1.15 for 15% more |
| DP Threshold (down) | 0.90 | Multiplies the daily rate when more than 60% of the class is free | A decimal number, such as 0.95 for 5% less |
Type a factor, not a percentage: 1.10 means 10% more, 0.90 means 10% less, and 1 means no change. The app does not check what you type, so a 10 in either box multiplies the online rate by ten.
4. Save. Click Save at the bottom of the screen. The screen closes and you are back on Asset groups. Cancel discards your changes.
Turning it off again. Open the class the same way, set Dynamic pricing? to No and click Save. The two boxes disappear, but the factors you typed are kept, so they come back as they were if you switch it on again.
When the change takes effect. From the next time the website or self-service app asks for a price for this class. Bookings that already exist keep the price they were made with — nothing is re-priced backwards, whether you switch it on or off.
Checking which classes have it on. The Asset groups list has a hidden column is dynamic pricing. Use the column selector on the list to show it; it has its own filter underneath, so you can list only the classes that have it switched on.
Key details
How the app decides which factor to use
Each time an online customer asks for a price, the app counts how many cars of the class are free for the dates they asked for, and compares that with how many active cars the class has. A car counts as taken when it is on a booking for those dates that is draft, confirmed or picked up.
| Share of the class still free | Called here | What happens to the daily rate |
|---|---|---|
| More than 60% | Plentiful | Multiplied by DP Threshold (down) |
| More than 25%, up to and including 60% | Neutral band | Unchanged |
| 25% or less, including fully booked | Scarce | Multiplied by DP Threshold (up) |
The 25% and 60% points are the same for every class and cannot be changed on any screen. Only the two factors can.
A worked example
A class of ten active compact cars. The normal rate from your price list for a four-day rental is €60.00 a day, so €240.00. The class uses the starting factors, 1.10 and 0.90.
| Cars free for the requested dates | Share free | Factor | Daily rate | Four days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 80% | 0.90 | €54.00 | €216.00 |
| 6 | 60% | 1 (neutral band) | €60.00 | €240.00 |
| 4 | 40% | 1 (neutral band) | €60.00 | €240.00 |
| 2 | 20% | 1.10 | €66.00 | €264.00 |
Six free out of ten is exactly 60%, which still counts as the neutral band; a seventh free car would tip it into the lower price. The factor only touches the daily rate of the car itself — insurance, extras, mileage packages and fuel are charged at their normal prices.
Where it applies and where it does not
| Where the price is made | Dynamic pricing applied? |
|---|---|
| Prices shown on your website and the booking form on your site | Yes |
| Bookings made through your website or booking form | Yes |
| Prices and bookings in the customer self-service app | Yes |
| New bookings and quotes made by staff in the app | No — normal rate |
| Recalculate rates on an existing booking, for example after changing dates | No — normal rate |
The factor is worked out at the moment the online booking is made and then stays on the booking. It is not updated later as other cars in the class are booked or cancelled.
It works on top of everything else in the price: the rate the app would otherwise have used — including any season, weekday factor and last-minute discount — is multiplied by the factor at the end. See Find out how a price was worked out for the steps before it.
What to do next
Watch the class's online bookings for a week or two and adjust the factors. To see how full a class is over time, use Check how much your fleet is being used.
Q&A
Why did an online booking get a lower price after a colleague changed its dates? Changing the dates with Recalculate rates switched on looks the rate up again in the price list, and that lookup never applies dynamic pricing. A booking made online at the higher, scarce-time rate drops back to the normal rate. Leave Recalculate rates off if the online price should be kept — see Change a booking's dates — or correct the rate afterwards as described in Adjust the price on a booking.
Why is a customer on the phone quoted less than the website showed them? Dynamic pricing only works online. A booking or quote you make at the desk uses the normal rate from the price list, so when a class is nearly full the desk price is lower than the web price, and when it is mostly free it is higher.
Why is the online price for a class always at the higher rate, even when nothing is booked? Check the Assets tab on the class's Asset group screen. If the class has no active cars linked to it, the app counts it as 0% free and always uses DP Threshold (up). The same happens for a class set to Always available (web)? once it is fully booked: it stays bookable online, at the higher rate.
Why did the online price go up ten times after I changed a factor? The boxes take a multiplier, not a percentage. Typing 10 for "10% more" multiplies the rate by ten. Open the class again, type 1.10 in DP Threshold (up) and click Save. Bookings made in the meantime keep the wrong price; correct them with Adjust the price on a booking.
Why can't I see the DP Threshold boxes? They only show while Dynamic pricing? is set to Yes. Set it to Yes and they appear straight away, holding the factors saved last time.
Why does the Dynamic pricing switch on the price list's Settings window not do anything? That switch, on the Edit Custom Price window of a price list, has no effect on any price. Dynamic pricing is set per vehicle class, as described on this page. See Set up a price list.
Can I change the 25% and 60% points for one class? No. They are the same for every class and are not on any screen. You can only change how strongly the price moves, with the two factors. If you need different points, ask your administrator or RentVisie support.
Where can I see that a booking got a dynamic price? Nowhere on the booking is it marked. The booking simply shows the higher or lower daily rate. Compare it with the rate for the same class, period and rental length on the Asset gr. pricing tile of the price list — see Set rates and mileage prices for a vehicle class.
Related pages:
- Find out how a price was worked out — the steps that produce the rate before the dynamic factor is applied
- Set up a last-minute deal — a discount by how close the pickup is, rather than by how full the class is
- Set up a seasonal price change — a fixed uplift over dates you choose
- Change the rate by day of the week — weekday factors on the rate
- Set up pricing periods and duration bands — the dated windows and rental lengths the base rate comes from
- Set up a price list — where every rate lives