Zwings was founded in 2019 and in a very short span of time rapidly grew to emerge as the leader in British micro-mobility. We are happy to have completed an important phase in our journey and are eager to celebrate the many successes and milestones we have achieved over the past months.
EXPANSION
Zwings is currently operating in six trial locations all over the UK. As a micro-mobility provider, we want to share the joys of sustainable transport with as many communities as we can. Here are just some of our latest developments:
Supporting Chard and Crewkerne
Chard and Crewkerne were selected as trial locations at the end of March, with e-scooters introduced as a socially-distant and safe means of transportation. In these locations, alongside South Somerset District Council, we wanted to ensure that the benefits of e-scooters were extended beyond the major metropolitan areas for which such transport innovation is typically reserved, thereby testing the viability of e-scooters in smaller, more rural areas, as well as helping to meet the Council’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Surpassing targets in Gloucestershire
The fleet size in Gloucestershire is constantly increasing, helping us generate far more rides than even our most optimistic forecasts. Since the beginning of our launch, the fleet size has more than doubled and daily rides have almost quadrupled on average.
Rolling out our Long Term Lease model
Many riders want to leave their car behind and embrace a more sustainable mode of transport for their daily commute. In recognition of privately owned e-scooters being illegal, we launched a long-term lease model to support regular e-scooter users who rely on this mode of transport for their commute. Riders were offered the opportunity to lease their own authorised e-scooter where they can enjoy all the benefits of a “private” e-scooter, but legally!
NEW PRODUCTS
At Zwings, we aim to continuously improve our service with new and exciting features and products. We hope that by listening to our rider’s feedback, we can better support local communities. The following new products reflect our desire to always become better in everything we do:
Launching our new e-scooters
Some of the features we were most excited about include:
- Extended lifecycle
- Distinctive Zwings sky-blue colour for maximum visibility and ease of differentiation from private-use vehicles
- Enhanced suspension for added comfort and safety
- Dual drum brakes system to lower stopping distance and increase safety
- Hyper-accurate GPS to pinpoint our e-scooters
- Rapid, constant self-diagnosis e-scooters
- Improved anti-theft and vandalism measures including fully-integrated IoT
Updating our app
We have updated our app to provide our riders with an even more seamless rental. April saw a record number of downloads on the Zwings app, with lots of positive reviews to boot.
Launching ZWINGS RIDE PASS in Yeovil
We were excited to establish a new way of supporting local communities through Zwings Ride Pass, our way of offering riders the opportunity to scoot more for less. The success of the Yeovil launch prompted us to extend this service to all our locations in the following months.
RIDER BEHAVIOUR AND SAFETY
Addressing and solving the safety concerns of our local communities is one of our top priorities. Apart from our dedicated web page where residents can report any misuse, we have strengthened our policy to promote responsible riding. To improve Riders’ behaviour, we have implemented the following measures:
Launching our “Don’t drink and ride” campaign
- A targeted ‘Don’t Drink And Ride’ campaign disseminated through social media and targeted rider communications.
- Introducing Zwings Fleet Marshals to observe, report and deter potential misuse, as well as to remind riders of the illegality of drink riding.
Updating our T&C policy – stricter rules for misuse
We have introduced stricter sanctions for misuse, vandalism and irresponsible riding. According to our updated Terms and Conditions, riders who don’t comply with the safety regulations can be fined, have their account banned or in extreme cases, reported to the police. All of the revenue generated by fines is reinvested into the delivery of further rider education.
Introducing our Fleet Marshals
We were excited to welcome our local Fleet Marshals on board, to act as brand ambassadors in all our locations, and provide a touchpoint for both residents and visitors. They have also been observing rider behaviour and reporting any misuse, as well as making sure that vehicles are available where they are most needed.
OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES
As a community-centric business, we aim to be sensitive to residents’ needs. We strive to maintain good and constant communication and to be responsive whenever they require our support.
Receiving positive feedback from Newcastle-under-Lyme riders
In June, we sent out a survey to evaluate the effects of our Newcastle-under-Lyme trial, as well as better understand the opinion of residents. We’ll let the results speak for themselves:
Social media campaign: supporting England in Euro 2020
We are avid football fans so in support of England reaching the final of Euro 2020, we re-named and -designed 27 of our e-scooters after the 26 members of the England squad and Gareth Southgate!
Improving Client Satisfaction
We’ve put in place a number of ways for our riders to contact us whenever they need support. We strive to make it easy for them to reach us, as well as to ensure we’re answering their questions as fast and as clearly as possible. We are proud to announce that our client satisfaction score currently stands at 89%, and is steadily climbing.
EVENTS
Despite the clear difficulties in hosting events during the pandemic, we have managed to provide more ‘direct’ safety education through several avenues:
Presenting at the National Police Roundtable Event
Zwings strives to set an example for the industry when it comes to safety and responsible riding. We were selected to present our safety initiatives to representatives from each of the 43 police forces from across the UK for the National Police Roundtable Event on e-scooters.
Hosting our first #SAFETYFIRST Demo Workshop
As part of our drive to offer a safe and well-regulated service, we have organised safety workshops for our riders alongside our local council partners. These events provide the local community with the chance to test our e-scooters in a safe environment, learn basic riding skills from our instructors, and hear about our safety regulations and recommendations.
PARTNERSHIPS
Starting the Local Brand Partnership programme
We want to have strong bonds with the local businesses and support them in any way we can. We’ve been looking especially at generating value in an effort to support the local economy’s post-lockdown bounceback.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR US?
Replicating the successful initiatives, improving our services and continually innovating. In the following months, we will continue to work closely with local councils and move toward creating communities with sustainable transport options.
Our top goals for the next period include improving sustainability aspects, strengthening our partnerships with local businesses and maintaining communication with our riders.
We are constantly looking for ways of improving our services. You can send us an email with your suggestions at support@zwings.co.uk or call us at +44(0)20 3882 061. If you see any misuse of the Zwings e-scooter, don’t hesitate to report it by completing this form.
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