The word “Uber“ is no longer confined to its German etymological roots. It has become so common in its usage and has become a synonym or a placeholder for mobile app-based taxi booking. People do not any longer talk about booking a cab but only booking an Uber. It has become such a cultural phenomenon and has changed the landscape not only of transportation but of businesses in general.
Uber can be credited for introducing the on-demand revolution. This revolution has proliferated both vertically and horizontally. There are multiple cab companies that have sprung up in all corners of the world, but all of them, in essence, use the skeleton introduced by Uber. Laterally, the business model has propagated into all services like food delivery, grocery delivery, babysitting services, but working services, and even dating.
The COVID-19 interregnum
While the market for ride-hailing was growing steadily and it seemed like nothing could stop its juggernaut roll, The COVID-19 pandemic brought the industry to a screeching halt. The need for transportation was almost instantly obliterated because of the imposition of social distancing and restrictions on going out. The factors that fueled the taxi industry, like travel, tourism, and everyday commute, went completely missing.
The good news is that the pandemic won’t last forever. When the taxi industry bounces back… And they surely will, and there are a few pointers that you will need to keep in mind. This comes in especially useful for entrepreneurs who look forward to building a taxi booking app to start their own business.
Why will ride-hailing increase after the pandemic?
There has been an increase in the respect given for safety factors after the pandemic. In an endeavor to minimize human contact and keep up social distancing, it is quite possible that people might not extensively use public transport as they used to.
Although we can expect an intense introduction of bike taxis for last-mile connectivity, people who engage in daily commute might prefer to travel by cabs or office shuttle services.
The revenue avenues
There are different ways in which a ride-hailing app can fetch revenues.
- The most prominent source of revenue is the commission that is charged from the driver for every ride that they take. The ride-hailing on-demand app is, in essence, almost like an affiliate program that facilitates earning for drivers who might not have anything to do if not for that app. Therefore, the app charges a commission for every ride it facilitates.
- A lot like Uber, taxi booking businesses increase the cost of a ride based on dynamics like demand, time, weather, and availability. It is called surge pricing, and it can be a major source of revenue.Â
- For the computing power used by the taxi app booking ecosystem, there is a certain cancellation charge for every ride that gets canceled after the driver is allotted.
- Just like any other app, a taxi booking app can also earn its revenue from advertising banners.
The new normal for cabs
- There should be a restriction on the number of passengers who can board the cab, so the crowd is minimized and social distancing is maintained. There should also be a plexiglass divider between the driver and the passenger to ensure that one does not get affected because of the other.
- Face Masks should be made mandatory for both the driver and the riders. Artificial intelligence can be incorporated to find out if a person is wearing a face mask or not, and it is possible that face masks should be verified by uploading a picture.
- Both the driver and the passenger should have the right to cancel a ride if one of the parties is not wearing a face mask.
There should be a safety checklist in place, so the risks can be minimized.
The basic features
When entrepreneurs start to look at building their own taxi booking application, they can either choose to build the app from scratch or go for an Uber taxi clone app. Going for a Uber Clone taxi app has its own set of advantages.
It is available as a product and it can be purchased just like any other piece of software. Therefore, there is no time spent developing the app from scratch. All that you need to do is some customization, and you are all set to launch your own ride-hailing app.
Another advantage that the Uber clone brings is the perfection in the product. Since the product has already been developed, you can be assured that it will not have any bugs that will interfere with the basic functionality expected.
Even if you go for a white label solution, it is strongly suggested that you familiarize yourself with the basic features you have to expect.
The GPS: the GPS can be considered the epicenter of the on-demand revolution. It answered the million-dollar question of where exactly a customer was and who exactly it was, in combination with a profile.
The GPS helps in locating where exactly a user is. The same GPS also gives a user real-time updates on the movement of the cab that they had booked. The combination of GPS, mapping and navigation helps even new drivers who might not be familiar with the region easily navigate and reach the destination.
Digital payments: Another advantage brought about by these on-demand applications is the convenience of digital payments. For this purpose, your app should be integrated with a versatile payment gateway that can accept payments from multiple payment instruments like credit cards, debit cards, Internet banking, and wallets. This could be seen as a mandatory feature as transacting in cash mandates human contact.
On the other side, drivers look at this ride-hailing opportunity as an avenue for earning. Therefore, the earnings, after deducting the commission, should be quickly settled in their bank accounts.
Onboarding: The easier it is to onboard new users, the more profitable your business is. A passenger should be able to sign up for the taxi services using legacy login credentials like Google and Facebook. They should also be able to use their phone numbers as a method for logging in. The login should immediately create a profile that will keep a record of the history of the rights, the instruments for payment, and the usual locations for pick up and drop.
The drivers should also have a simple onboarding process, but they should also have an identity verification and authentication process in place. On one side, it helps establish credibility, and this “credibility“ also percolates into your business and your brand.
Review and rating: The review and rating system is the feature that makes the entire app ecosystem democratic. It is the presence of this system that encourages users to behave more courteously and drivers to behave more professionally. After the end of each rider, the user can’t rate the driver and the driver can read the user.
Conclusion
The profitability of the ride-hailing segment and the utility value of the white label solution for your taxi booking app have been addressed beyond question. If you would like to be a part of this bandwagon of aspiring and enterprising business people, all you need to do is get in touch with a company that specializes in the development and customization of Uber clone applications. They will take care to understand your precise business needs and address them with a properly customized Uber clone app.
