CUSTOMER STORY
Padel players pick up rented racquets court-side with an innovative new delivery model from Ricoh Smart Lockers
Company introduction
Founded in 2020, Care Sport is an innovative startup that brings the sharing economy to the world of sports and fitness. Based in Turin, Italy, the company provides solutions for the distribution of padel and other sporting equipment.
Challenge
Padel, a ball-and-racquet game invented in 1969, has seen exponential growth in Italy in recent years, with many new players and venues. For first-time and casual players, buying a racquet typically involves heading to a store, trying different models, and either purchasing or hiring it and making the same trip again to retuning the racquet after use. Care Sport looked to make things easier for players, with an option to hire racquets at court-side.
Solution and Benefits
Care Sport developed an innovative solution that connects padel players, venues, and racquet producers, based on Ricoh Smart Lockers. Thanks to an integration with a court booking app, players can use their smartphone to browse and hire available racquets at their clubs. On arrival, users simply scan a QR code on the Smart Locker to pick up their chosen racquet, before returning it after the game. The new approach eliminates the hassle and costs of heading to a store to hire or buy equipment.
"Ricoh Italy carried out system integration work to link up the smart lockers with the apps used for booking courts, making the entire process fast and seamless. We have plans to expand our innovation to other countries, again in partnership with Ricoh.''
Paolo Capelli
Founder, Care Sport
