How to Add Equipment Rentals to Your WooCommerce Store: The Complete Guide

Have you considered expanding your WooCommerce store into equipment rentals?

As an experienced webmaster, I‘ve seen the rental industry grow rapidly over the past 15 years. It‘s a great way to generate ongoing revenue from your existing inventory while serving customer demand.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through everything you need to know to successfully add online equipment rentals to your WooCommerce store.

Why the Equipment Rental Market is Booming

The equipment rental industry generated over $50 billion in revenue in 2021 in the US alone, according to IBISWorld data. The market size has grown at a 3.5% CAGR over the past five years.

Several factors are driving this growth:

• Cost savings: Consumers and businesses save money by renting equipment for short-term needs rather than buying.

• Access to specialty gear: Rentals allow access to expensive, niche equipment like party rentals, cameras, or woodworking tools.

• Flexibility: Users can rent equipment only when needed, like for a single home project or event.

• Convenience: Online rentals offer 24/7 self-service booking without having to visit a physical store.

As you can see, millions of customers are turning to rentals for the cost and convenience. This presents a huge opportunity for WooCommerce store owners to capitalize on the trend.

Leveraging WooCommerce for Rentals vs a Standalone Site

For existing WooCommerce stores, adding rentals is a no-brainer way to expand your offerings. The powerful features and flexibility of WooCommerce make it perfectly suited for rentals.

The benefits over building a standalone rental website include:

• Faster startup: Skip developer costs by leveraging your existing store.

• Built-in features: WooCommerce has everything you need for rentals – bookings, payments, reporting, taxes.

• Centralized management: Manage products, orders, and customers from a single dashboard.

• Marketing integration: Promote rentals to your existing customer base.

• SEO boost: Adding rentals can grow your site traffic and revenue.

• Cost savings: Avoid paying for and managing multiple platforms.

For non-WooCommerce sites, you can still use WooCommerce solely for rentals and integrate it into your existing website. But if you already have a WooCommerce store, adding rentals to it is the best approach.

How to Configure Bookable Rental Products

The Bookings and Appointments plugin for WooCommerce makes setting up rental products a breeze.

Once installed, open any product and change the type to "Booking Product" in the Product Data section:

Head to the Availability tab to set rental increments, duration, etc:

Things like minimum/maximum rental period, lead time, and availability help prevent overbooking.

Over on the Costs tab, set your base pricing and any additional fees:

You can add fees like insurance, delivery, or cleaning. Recurring costs apply the fees across extended rentals.

Under Booking Options, choose whether bookings require approval or instant confirmation:

Instant booking provides the best customer experience. Collect any details like name, pickup/dropoff time, etc.

That covers the key settings for each rental product. You can fine-tune as needed but this gets your rentals up and running quickly.

Configuring Rental Inventory and Limits

Since equipment rentals deal with physical products, inventory management is crucial.

The Availability tab contains several important settings to prevent overbooking:

• Total quantity – Limits how many units customers can book across all orders.
• Per customer limit – Caps how many units one customer can reserve.
• Buffer – Leave some units unavailable to account for delays, damage,etc.

I recommend a 10-20% buffer. So if you have 10 units, set the available quantity to 8.

You can also use buffer inventory for last minute bookings since reserved units often cancel.

Requiring Prepayment for Rental Bookings

Whether to require prepayment is an important business decision for rentals. Here are some benefits of prepayment:

• Reduces no-shows since customers already paid
• Generates upfront revenue
• Gives you time to process payments and paperwork

The downsides are:

• Adds friction to the booking process
• Could reduce bookings from more casual customers

Larger security deposits, strict cancelation policies, and penalties for late returns can help mitigate the risks of not prepaying.

I recommend requiring prepayment for the first few bookings from new customers. This ensures they are serious while building loyalty for future bookings without prepayment.

Using Damage Waivers to Limit Liability

Damage waivers, similar to insurance, protect equipment owners from liability for damage during a rental.

In exchange for a non-refundable fee upfront, you agree to waive claims for certain types of damage. Common exclusions include theft, missing items, or gross negligence.

Without damage waivers, you may spend lots of time and legal fees attempting to recover repair or replacement costs from renters.

The tradeoff is damage waiver fees reduce rental revenue. You can offer tiers – a basic policy for small scratch/dent protection and a premium policy covering more types of damage.

Make damage waivers mandatory for riskier rentals and optional for other equipment to maximize revenue.

Building Maintenance Into Rental Pricing

Rental equipment takes a beating, so build the cost of cleaning, repairs, and maintenance into your pricing.

Here are some best practices for estimating maintenance costs:

• Review historical data on repair frequency for each rental item
• Factor in regular preventative maintenance like oil changes or blade sharpening
• Include cleaning time and supplies after each rental
• Account for quicker wear and tear compared to selling goods
• Assume a 2-3 year useful lifespan per rental item
• Plan for periodic complete refurbishing or replacement

Aim for rental prices that allow you to "recover" the full equipment cost within those 2-3 years of useful life.

Marketing Your Rentals to Boost Revenue

Marketing is just as important for rentals as for your other products. Start by promoting rentals to your existing customers since you already have a proven demand.

Create targeted email campaigns, promote on your social media, and create special cross-sell offers for buyers to also rent.

For example, someone buying a power washer could get $50 off renting a pressure cleaner. Or offer a discounted rental as a birthday gift to existing customers.

Beyond current customers, tailor your messaging to the convenience, flexibility, and cost savings of renting over buying.

Run local ads highlighting needs your rentals can fulfill like parties and events, home projects, and hobbies. Promote across the customer journey from awareness to conversion.

Meeting Peak Seasonal Rental Demands

Seasons like summer and holidays see much higher equipment rental demand. Here are tips for handling peak booking rushes:

• Analyze historical rental data to forecast demand across seasons. Plan purchasing accordingly.

• Temporarily limit rentals to shorter durations during peak times so more customers can book.

• Create seasonal bundles and packages to incentivize early booking.

• Partner with gig workers to help with delivery, pickup, cleaning, and basic maintenance.

• Utilize buffer inventory to open last minute slots as existing bookings cancel.

• Turn on automated waitlists once inventory is booked so customers can reserve cancellations.

• Offer discounts on non-peak days to help fill slower seasons.

With smart planning, you can handle hectic rental seasons while keeping your customers happy!

Tax Requirements and Implications

If you are renting physical goods, local taxes will likely apply. Requirements vary widely across states and municipalities.

Some common examples:

• Sales tax charged on rental fees
• Personal property taxes on equipment over certain value thresholds
• Special rental-specific taxes
• Zoning or permit requirements

I strongly advise consulting a tax professional to determine your specific obligations. Factor all applicable taxes into your rental pricing.

Automating sales tax collection in WooCommerce also helps streamline compliance. Just make sure to accommodate rental tax specifics in your configuration.

Helpful WooCommerce Plugins for Rentals

In addition to the WooCommerce Bookings plugin, several other plugins can enhance managing your rentals:

• WooCommerce Deposits – Collect security deposits during checkout
• WooCommerce Waitlist – Automatically waitlist customers when inventory is booked
• WooCommerce Reservations – Allow pre-orders or reservations for out-of-stock items
• WooCommerce Catalog Mode – Temporarily stop bookings by disabling purchases

There are also industry-specific plugins like for cars, venues, accommodation, and equipment. Look for relevant add-ons to streamline workflows for your specific rental business.

High-Demand Equipment Rentals to Offer

Nearly any equipment can be rented, but some types see especially high demand. If you‘re starting a rental business, popular options include:

• Party equipment – tables, chairs, tents, linens, games, inflatables
• Tools – pressure washers, sanders, lawn equipment, generators, ladders
• Moving equipment – dollies, truck rentals, portable storage
• Cameras and photography gear
• Camping equipment – RVs, trailers, tents
• Electronics – speakers, projectors, computers
• Construction equipment – mixers, compressors, cement trucks

Research the rental niche you want to focus on to identify must-have inventory. Avoid really fragile or dangerous items as a beginner.

Get Started Adding Rentals to WooCommerce!

Adding online equipment rentals can take your WooCommerce store to the next level. Implementing rentals not only grows revenue but expands your customer base.

With this guide, you have everything you need to successfully configure bookable rental products, manage dynamic inventory, price competitively, and market your new offering.

The rental industry is booming. Now is the perfect time to capitalize by branching into this high-demand equipment rental market!