As your user base continues to grow, you can safely take this as a sign that what you offer is badly needed.
Since its launch in 2015, JomParking has seen over 500,000 user downloads, a steadily growing number of 1,790 users in the first year.
Nasir, CEO and Founder of JomParking, reflecting this growth, told Vulcan Post, "There is a significant change in digital users. We have seen a rapid and significant increase in users every year."
Nowadays, people are also more likely to turn to technology for solving problems, including the cost of parking.
"Additionally, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, our numbers are increasing as people are more inclined to opt for contactless payment options to make their parking experience stress-free," he said.
Steadfastly parked in the hearts of its users
Even in the early years it seemed as if JomParking had thought of everything. They gave users as much information as possible: area, zone name, parking fees and hours of operation.
What if your mom couldn't find a parking meter and didn't have a phone or wasn't smart enough to use the app? They already had an add another vehicle feature that you can use to pay for them anytime, anywhere.
Now they have added the option to notify users when they are asked to park, although this was only introduced in the Tanah Merah, Kelantan County Council for now. You are in the process of implementing it in other areas as well.
Some other features they added to the app are:
- Transaction history for users who want to claim their parking fees,
- Tokens that do not expire (RM1 = 100 tokens, the currency of the app for parking),
- Token sharing so users have more options to manage tokens.
Recently, DBKL's announcement that it would be using several cashless parking payment apps caused a stir when JomParking was initially not known as one of them.
Users found it strange as they had been used to using JomParking in DBKL areas since 2015 when it was the only cashless payment in that area.
This was later fixed and JomParking was again active in DBKL areas, much to the convenience of its users.
Transition to corporate partnerships
As a startup, JomParking recognized early on how important visibility is. They joined MaGIC's first cohort of their Global Accelerator Program (GAP) and were able to present their solutions to industry experts and potential investors.
Today, they can stay connected with the community through exhibitions, events, and lectures. All of this has opened up new opportunities for the team.
The JomParking team at an event / Photo credit: JomParking
They were even able to present their products and services abroad at the InnoVEX in Taipei, Taiwan.
JomParking has ventured into corporate partnerships as well, and one of the most recent is with a VC from South Korea, TheVentures.
"Our strategic partnership with TheVentures will enable us to improve our systems and technologies to drive the digitization of the parking industry in Southeast Asia," said Nasir.
"This is in line with our goal of establishing the first vehicle data exchange in Southeast Asia and at the same time promoting the transition of the parking industry to the introduction of the Smart City concept."
To make this a reality, they work closely with other agencies such as MaGIC, MARii, MDEC, SITEC, Cradle and Cyberview.
Driving growth locally and globally
"Ultimately, the goal is to cover all of Malaysia as the potential for digitizing parking is huge and nationwide," Nasir replied when the Vulcan Post asked about some of the next areas JomParking wanted to move into.
Currently JomParking has more than 20 locations across the country and 2 locations worldwide in Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
Even during the CMCO they were able to open two new local locations, one of which was Tanah Merah, Kelantan, and Taman Mutiara Raya, Cheras, mentioned above.
There are 17 new locations in the pipeline – 10 in Germany and 7 abroad.
Each time the website is launched, they conduct on-site marketing activities for two weeks to spread the news.
In addition, they run various online campaigns and have worked with well-known brands such as Grab, Huawei, AirAsia and iflix.
It's true that there are other players in the cashless parking payment scene, but Nasir doesn't see the competition as something to worry about.
For him, competition is just a means to keep pushing for innovation, and every company has its own advantages and disadvantages.
He even added more diplomatically: "JomParking is pleased to not only share the trick of the trade with other countries that are interested in digitizing their parking payment systems, but also to co-exist with other applications."
- You can find out more about JomParking here.
- More information about JomParking can be found here.
Selected image source: Muhamad Nasir Habizar, CEO of JomParking
