Swapfiets is pioneering the “bicycle as a service” model, providing urban residents with hassle-free access to high-quality bikes and e-bikes for a fixed monthly subscription fee. The service includes all-inclusive maintenance and repairs, with a promise to swap a faulty bike within 48 hours at no additional cost. This subscription-based model offers the flexibility of month-to-month contracts, making cycling easy, convenient, and worry-free. Designed for people who want the benefits of biking without the hassle of ownership, Swapfiets is reshaping urban mobility with its customer-centric approach.
Before adopting Solvice’s route optimization API, Swapfiets faced significant challenges with scheduling and route optimization. As the company expanded into more cities, the complexity of coordinating bike deliveries and swaps grew exponentially. Swapfiets was providing narrow appointment time slots without considering the sequencing of previous or upcoming appointments. This manual and inefficient process resulted in delayed or canceled appointments, longer driving times, and increased operational costs.
The limitations of traditional route-planning tools became apparent as Swapfiets continued to scale. These tools were too rigid, couldn’t handle last-minute changes, and failed to account for dynamic factors like traffic conditions. The company needed a scalable, flexible, and data-driven solution to optimize its operations, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.
Swapfiets chose Solvice’s APIs for their advanced algorithmic approach, scalability, and competitive pricing. The flexibility of Solvice’s APIs allowed seamless integration into Swapfiets’s existing platform.
“Solvice stood out because of its ability to adapt to real-time conditions and accommodate the unique aspects of our business model,”
says Georgios Chondrompilas, Engineering Lead at Swapfiets. The integration was smooth, thanks to the support from Solvice’s team, which enabled a faster-than-expected rollout.
To validate the effectiveness of Solvice’s solution, Swapfiets implemented a phased rollout, starting with smaller cities to track key metrics such as available time slots, service promise ratios, and daily appointment completions. This approach allowed Swapfiets to measure the impact of the new system against its existing processes, ensuring that there was no decline in service quality. The solution was then rolled out across all locations, with further customizations made along the way.
Since implementing Solvice’s route optimization API, Swapfiets has seen significant improvements in its scheduling and route optimization processes. The company has increased the number of appointments completed each day without raising labor costs, improving operational efficiency. The flexibility of Solvice’s APIs also allowed Swapfiets to offer a wider time window for appointments while maintaining punctuality, enhancing the overall customer experience.
“With Solvice’s solution, we can manage customer expectations more effectively and consistently meet our service promises,”
Georgios explains. This reliable and timely service has given Swapfiets a competitive edge, allowing them to deliver a superior customer experience compared to competitors.
Looking ahead, Swapfiets plans to continue leveraging Solvice’s APIs to support its growth. The company is currently integrating store appointments with Solvice and is exploring possibilities such as premium time slots and prioritizing certain appointments based on unique conditions.
“We see Solvice’s APIs playing an even more significant role as we continue to scale,”
Georgios notes, highlighting the ongoing collaboration between the two companies.
Georgios advises companies facing similar scheduling and route optimization challenges to seek solutions that combine flexibility with scalability. “Choose a tool that can adapt to your specific business model and integrate seamlessly with your existing systems,” he recommends.
Swapfiets’s partnership with Solvice has proven to be a successful collaboration, enabling the company to optimize its operations, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction. The customized support and tailored implementations provided by Solvice have made them a valuable partner in Swapfiets’s journey to becoming a more efficient and scalable business. As Swapfiets continues to grow, the role of Solvice’s APIs will be integral to supporting their expansion and delivering a seamless customer experience.