World, get ready for Sharelock

#9 2021 | Sparkmate

8 weeks ago I told you about Sharelock and the start of their beta-testing phasis in the City of Rouen! Its smart bike lock system hit the streets for almost 2 months already it’s the perfect time for a quick debriefing, we now have valuable data to use to make additional iterations on the product to have it even better and tailored to users.

Since the first week of January, more than 450 bikes locked in the 80 beta Sharelocks distributed through Rouen, week after week, Sharelock increased its completion rate for each bike locked, reaching an astounding 99% of completed locking sessions by mid-February!

Sharelock was also able to measure for how long were people locking their bikes and have a better idea of whom their customer is: people exercising, those who bike to work, overnight locks, etc. We also know how the devices respond regarding their environment (humidity, temperature…) and how it affects the overall performance.

An actual version of what a Sharelock in use looks like under the rainy weather of Rouen

This beta-test allowed us to verify our theory and validate our design choices! At Sparkmate we often say that we are super pragmatic girls and boys and that we only believe what happen on the field! This beta test is the perfect materialization of this, it’s too easy to test your product yourself and saying it works… Sorry to tell you this but this means nothing, that’s not reality! You can say a product works when you have users using it (and mistreating it) without you being behind them to see what they are doing!

We also verified that the first installation and initialization of a Sharelock takes just a few minutes to an operator (hint: less than 5!) and what components to target for maintenance so that inspections can be done quickly and efficiently.

Alexandre, CEO of Sharelock, trying to steal a bike from a Sharelock during the Alpha test that took place at our office before the beta-test

Since Sharelock hit the streets, no one has rested, 6 additional versions of its mobile app have been released to solve bugs and add functionalities, hundreds of inspections and control of the Sharelocks have been done to ensure that everything was going well. Sharelock’s brand exposure has also exploded, both with customers and the media (go check what Les Echos and Le Parisien said about them!). 82% of the people who tested Sharelock in Rouen have said they would recommend it, and 80% are ready to pay €10/month for a subscription!

“I think the system is great, it’s super simple. The application is intuitive. I have a lot of friends who do cycling, I think it will interest them. ”

- Ludivine, a Sharelock Beta-tester

See how the Sharelocks fit super well into the environment. (by the way, Thanks to our good friend Serge who send us this picture)

After these last 2 months of field testing, Sharelock now has a better product vision and a better understanding of its business and client profile. We will be using this information together to keep iterating and building alongside them. It’s still day one and there is a lot of work to be done so let’s do It ⚡

And by the way, 0 bikes were stolen, and countless lessons were learned.

If you are as excited as we are about Sharelock’s results with its lock, app, and customer pilot experience in Rouen, you will love to know that they are opening a funding round right now! Let us know if you want to be part of their lucky investors! Now there are 80 Sharelocks in Rouen; soon you will be seeing them on every street in Europe and the rest of the World!

Long live Sharelock! We love you guys ❤️

Stay tuned and give the Spark ⚡

The Sparkmate Team!