Access>ownership is an essential business model in the CE transition. Although many stores express their interest in transitioning to such a business model, renting also requires a thorough overview of inventory, customers, payments, a calendar system, and more. A digital solution is often the best way to go. However, not all businesses have the know-how or time to develop such a system.

The startup Sharefox offers e-commerce solutions for rental-based services. They sell and customize their digital system different industries – from large machinery, to retail. Sharebox offers a rental system for digital order, payment, calendar that shows availability, sale of accessories, or marketing with activity guides for customers and blog features.

The company has set up over 80 different rental concepts in Norway, and in addition to Jernia, they have customers such as DNT, Felleskjøpet and Anton Sport. Sharefox's technology platform is used in a number of industries - everything from sports, tourism, machines, tools, store networks, self-service car rentals and subscription solutions. Their collaboration with Jernia is one of the more famous ones, and has allowed the store to rent out tools to their customers, instead of selling them. Initially, the service was tested in selected pilot stores in Oslo. But now, Jernia offers a nationwide offer in 130 of their stores (all using the Sharebox digital system).

A group of students at the norwegian university NMBU has made a LCA of the Jernia x Sharebox tool rental solution, and have found that the largest emissions that emerge are related to the production of the tools. These consist of a large proportion of plastic and steel, which are materials that give large emissions in the production phase. The rental platform is hence a success, as it reduces the production of new products and focuses on refurbishing and repair.

So, how did the Sharebox founders optimize the needs of the customer? When they started in 2016, they conducted over a hundred personal interviews outside stores and shopping centers. The question they asked were: What does it take to rent a product instead of buying it? The answers they received formed the basis for how the digital customer journey was designed.