Strategies to Overcome the Competition in the Ride-Hailing Business

The ride-hailing market around the world is growing again after lockdowns and pandemic bursts. The mobility industry is trying to lose money to make a name for itself in the market.

Taxi businesses often fail because they don't have a good plan or way to market themselves. A market that already has a lot of similar services won't accept another one, and direct competition with the most popular ride-hailing services requires a lot of money.

Can you beat your competitors and run a sustainable ride-hailing business?

In the ride-hailing market, there are many big players, such as Uber, Lyft, Ola, Indriver, Didi, Careem, Grab, and BlaBlaCar.

Do newbies still have a chance? Of course, they do! Before you begin, do some research and establish a clear direction.

If you're a mobility startup, you might need to work harder to come up with effective and powerful strategies to become the next unicorn on the market and beat out the competition in the ride-hailing business.

Before discussing the strategies, let’s understand how to run your business in different situations.

WHEN MARKET FOR RIDE-HAILING BECOMES COMPET

This would mean that the market is growing, that many people are buying similar services, that competition is fierce, and that one company controls between 40 and 75 percent of the market.

This means that one to three market leaders are sharing the market, have established service standards, and have reached sophisticated audiences that demand high-quality services from taxi companies. So rather than wait 15 minutes, they would choose to cancel a ride.

If this is the case, do you believe there is a market for your new ride-hailing company?

Let us assure you that every time you dig deep and conduct a study, there is always a hidden potential that needs to be investigated. There are always those market sectors and geographical areas that these major firms underserve. You need to identify them and work toward targeting them.

We’ll help you with two strategies that might help you beat the high competition and build a profitable ride-hailing business.

• Focus on specialized market sectors that larger businesses generally overlook.
• Focusing on certain regions or cities and lowering your advertising and incentive costs will help you compete less with bigger companies.

Find a niche or area where taxi businesses are not so competitive, and you can easily become number one. Attract a smaller number of customers who are searching for something the large players don't provide. As they tell their friends about their experiences, these customers will advocate for you.

Do you need any examples to help you comprehend this?

In Los Angeles, Hop Skip Drive has introduced "Uber for kids." Customers in a crowded city needed reliable transportation for their kids every day to and from school. Hop Skip Drive spotted an opportunity in this and started a company that let clients book rides in advance with drivers who had been thoroughly vetted and had met their parents.

Interested in the outcomes? Hop Skip Drive currently holds a sizable market share, has made investments of $10 million, and intends to grow by adding services for various social groups. Children are safe, which pleases the parents.

Let’s discuss Ola, the dominant ride-hailing startup in India. Even Uber’s innovative strategy couldn’t defeat them. The main factor in this success is that Ola offers a special service that is still highly popular in India: three-wheelers (autorickshaws).

Users can pay with cash was another savvy move by Ola. For two years after entering the Indian ride-hailing service industry, Uber’s platform did not offer this capability. Even though Uber is in the market, Ola is still the market leader because it focuses on narrow market segments (people who are willing to pay in cash and people who prefer the mobility of three-wheelers to a traditional cab).

SOME OTHER IDEAS TO OVERCOME THE COMPETITION

• You can offer a full woman-driver service.
• Focus on electric vehicles.
• Offer pet-friendly taxi services.
• Make partnerships with hotels, airports, restaurants, and shopping malls.

WHEN THE RIDE-HAILING SERVICE MARKET IS UNSTABLE

We are talking about an unstable market if there are no firms with at least a 26% market share. Customers are used to ride-hailing apps and know what to expect from them, but there may be many ride-hailing companies and no clear leader.

If you start something unique, customers will immediately notice. In contrast to a market for ride-hailing services that are highly competitive, beginning a taxi business is quite advantageous. Your success will depend on whether or not your differentiation relates to the needs of the customer.

Let us give you an example. InDriver is a global ride-hailing company that operates in 45 countries. This app has amazing features and offers the best fares to its customers. Unlike Ola, Uber provides the feature of fare negotiation. InDriver allows consumers to specify the amount they are ready to pay based on an average price that is less than the rate supplied by other firms, unlike big brands that have fixed pricing for every trip. Additional options include designating whether a child seat is required, adding more destinations, etc.

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How to expand Uber-like taxi-hailing app?

Uber right now is one of the most successful apps in the world. Uber started a new concept that saved billions of people time and money, many apps followed Uber’s lead but no one has been able to match up with the success that Uber has today.

Taxi-hailing apps have become a part of daily lives for some people and for good reason. Taxi-hailing apps have made it easier for everyone to commute, even providing their services in the most remote areas in the world. So, how to expand a taxi-hailing app in order to reach more and more potential customers?

1.    Features

Now, when you talk of a taxi-hailing app, the main focus isn’t just to call a cab and go; the main features are the extra ones, and customers are only inclined towards the services that benefit them. In order to do that, one needs to make sure that the app provides services like the SOS button, easy cancellation, and optimal customer service if a customer has any sort of problem in the cab. Customer needs to feel safe and that they were provided with the best of services, only then will they come back for more.

2.    Price Regulation

Now, Uber shows you the fare of your ride before you even get into or book the cab. They have surge pricing systems for busy days and regular discounts for their customers. All these things with respect to the cost being put in mind still are profitable because customers are being provided with the best service. For someone to expand their taxi app for sale, they also need to include these features to cater to the public.

3.    Extras

External features like tipping, cars made for disabled people, tipping, referral codes, multiple payment options, provide history; introduce features like pool, texting services, fast replacement, in-app wallets, being able to book for friends, regular destinations, pooling feature, and etc.

Conclusion

There is so much more that goes into building an uber clone script or a taxi-hailing app at all. It takes time to develop the app and fully optimize it. That being said, there is no questioning that it is one of the most successful industries in the world and provides immense profits. A key feature is to also background check your drivers and provide equal opportunities to lady drivers as well because many apps do not do that.

A tipping feature for the drivers is also an essential feature for the employees and also ensures their safety and bans users if necessary. There are multiple places all over the globe where apps like Uber are banned and starting at these places could kick start a career for buy taxi app. Also to analyze how many people use personal vehicles is vital. Basically, keep a check on the statistics of wherever the app is supposed to be started as can help one predict future profits and revenue and can ensure that the app is developed accordingly.