How to Start with a perfect Taxi Booking App Like Uber & Ola?

With the rise in the number of cars on the road, increasing traffic, parking problems, and pollution issues, it has become frustrating for car owners to drive around the city every day. In light of this situation, Uber was a pioneer to have offered a convenient solution to the population of different countries. Now, nearly every person with a smartphone has a taxi booking app downloaded on their phones.

The global ride-sharing market is expected to grow rapidly at a CAGR of 19.87% from 2018-2025 reaching a market volume of US$218 billion by 2025.

While the competition in the ridesharing market is rising rapidly with key players such as Uber, Lyft, Ola, etc dominating the market, there is still immense potential for new entrants.

Ride-sharing startups can tap into the less explored area and implement new ideas to solve customer problems to set a strong foot in the market. This post guides the aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start a taxi booking app like Uber, including the revenue models and development process. Many businesses are hiring taxi booking app development companies to develop such apps.

Steps involved in starting a taxi-booking app like Uber

While you may find uber clones to build your app, it is always best to build your unique identity with a custom app utilizing the best features of all successful taxi booking apps. If you are looking to build your own taxi booking app, here are the steps you need to follow:

Research and Analysis – Before starting any business, you need to research and analyze your market and competitors to be able to achieve success and sustain in the long-term. If you are just starting out, you will have to make a complete business plan detailing all the requirements for developing a taxi booking mobile app.

However, if you are already operating a taxi booking business and want to take it online, the process is quite simple. However, in both cases, it is important to research and find unique ideas that haven’t been implemented yet.

Select the type of app – Small companies with limited budgets can also afford to take their business online. You need to decide if you want to build your taxi booking mobile app from scratch or use a readymade white label solution. White label solutions are a lot cheaper than customizing an app, however, customizing an app with the features you require can have a lot more benefits.

Hiring a taxi booking app development company – An important step in starting a taxi booking app like Uber is hiring the right app development company. Perhaps the most important factor that can make or break your business is the kind of app you develop. Therefore, it is essential that you hire the right software technology partner. You can find the best companies on platforms like Clutch and GoodFirms.

These platforms are the leading platforms that provide genuine reviews and ratings of the best companies. Ensure that you check the background of the shortlisted companies and have a discussion with them to understand them better. Only then will you be able to find the best taxi booking app development company for your business.

Select the required features – To build a successful taxi booking app, your app should offer unique features to your customers that provide them extra convenience, safety, and satisfaction. Your research would reveal the most advanced features and basic features that you must have on your app.

Therefore, you can select the features you need on your app as per your budget and with the help of the taxi booking app development company.

Deployment and Launch – Once the app has been built, it is then deployed to live environments to test and fix errors or bugs and to check its functionality and performance.

The app is then launched on the pre-decided platforms after which you will have to promote the app to create brand awareness.

What are the best features of the Uber app?

Some of the best features that Uber can attribute its success to are:

Fare splitting – Uber provides the riders with a convenient and appealing option to split fares amongst themselves.

Advance scheduling – Riders can easily schedule their rides in advance between 15 minutes to 30 days. It proves to be a convenient feature for riders who prefer planning ahead of time.

Fare estimates – A very attractive basic feature for the riders is the fare estimate that riders get when they enter the pick-up and drop-off locations. The riders can view the fares for different rides and select accordingly.

Different ride options – Uber gained a lot of popularity due to the different ride options it provided to riders. Riders can choose between UberX, Uber Black, UberSUV, and UberLUX for different experiences. In India, Uber provides Uber auto, Uber bikes, UberGo, UberPool, UberXL, and Uber Premiere.

Heat maps – An amazing feature for Uber Drivers, the heat maps show the areas that have the maximum ride request. This feature enables drivers to utilize their time efficiently.

What are the Revenue Models for a Taxi Booking App?

Different ridesharing apps use a mix of revenue models to generate their income. The revenue model used by Uber seems to be the most effective one. Uber earns revenue using two different revenue models which are a commission from drivers and affiliated marketing and ads from other businesses.

Here are the different types of revenue models you can choose from:

Advertising – You can charge different businesses to place their advertisements on your app. Such advertisements can be charged on a cost-per-mile CPM or cost-per-click CPC basis.

Fees and commissions – You charge drivers a commission on every ride request they accept. This revenue model is one of the main sources of revenue for Uber. It charges a rate of 20% – 25% of the total ride cost from drivers, as well as a flat booking fee from riders. Additionally, Uber even raises the fare during peak hours and charges cancellation fees from riders if a ride is canceled.

Promotional partnerships – Uber also utilizes promotional partnerships to earn revenue while its customers benefit in the form of coupons, promotional gifts, and discounts.

Uber collaborates with brands such as Pepsi, Spotify, and Hilton to promote the content of these brands. Through this promotional collaboration, the brands are able to interact with their target customers.

I hope the above article will help you.