In recent years, African ride-sharing market has become a multi-wheeled and global affair. Apart from some big names, Uber and Bolt, many local taxi app providing companies are working to solve some deep-rooted problems of Africans. However, unlike Uber and Bolt, other local ride-sharing companies offer not only car taxis but rickshaw taxis, motorbike taxis, and even watercraft taxis. In other words, they are going one mile extra to satisfy the actual needs of African users in the best possible ways.

Thus, it is not advisable to treat the African market same as other markets as the African market owns a lot of disparity with American and European ride-sharing market.

In this blog, we are going to discuss the same. We will dive deep into African ride-sharing market and understand the factors you need to consider before going for taxi app development for the African market. We will also discuss top Africa-based ride-sharing companies and how much does it cost to develop a taxi app. But before all of this, let’s wrap our mind around the taxi app startup-ready African market. 

Why Africa’s ride-sharing markets are hot spots for startups?

 
Ride-sharing isn’t a new concept for the Africans. Taxi booking through mobile apps has been there around longer and it’s been more popular than the American market and European market. In fact, many international ridesharing companies such as Lyft which is previously known as Zimride was an homage to one of the best countries of Africa – Zimbabwe.

Following are the reasons why the African market can be considered as the gold mine for the ridesharing startups or why the probabilities to be successful in the African market is higher than the western market.

Underdeveloped Public Transportation

 
African countries have been called financially backward countries due to many obvious reasons and underdeveloped public transportation is one of them. In some African countries where public transportation is developed, the very high fare of it restricts Africans to use it often. Following graph clearly depicts that how much an African has to spend from its monthly budget for just 2 trips/day by public transportation.

Thus by offering an affordable and quick transportation solution, your ridesharing startup can easily be their only choice when it comes to the alternative of public transportation.

The low car ownership rate

 
Why they choose ridesharing when they own the car? is the question all entrepreneurs have in their mind while going for taxi app development. But what if, they don’t have cars and have costly public transportation? What comes to rescue them now? Of course, a ride-sharing or taxi app.

Fun fact: In 2014, there were only 35 cars per 1000 people across Africa.

An increasing number of mobile users in Africa

 
In contrast to the public transportation cost and car ownership rate, the number of users currently using smartphones in Africa is impressive and it is growing faster than any other continents. From the following image, you can clearly see the smartphone users in the year 2017 and where it is estimated to reach in 2025.

This many numbers of mobile users are the ray of hope if you are planning to develop a taxi app for the African markets. It shows that by proper marketing and by offering their preferred features, you can easily acquire users without fighting an uphill battle.

Top Africa-based taxi booking app providers and their funding report

 
Following are the few early players of African taxi booking app industry who get everything out of the startup-ready African market.

MAX Okada

• Founder: Adetayo Bamiduro and Chinedu Azodoh
• Year: 2015
• Based in: Lagos
• Funding: $7 million in its Series A
• Lead investor: Yamaha

Gokada

• Founder: Fahim Saleh who has also founded Pathao
• Year: 2017
• Based in: Lagos
• Funding: $5 million in its series A
• Lead investor: Rise Capital

Mondo

• Founder: Troels Andersen
• Year: 2016
• Based in: Nairobi, Kenya
• Funding: $2 million in its series B funding round, total funding amount $5 million
• Lead investor: Unknown

After reading so far, if you are thrilled to develop a taxi app for the African market, the following are the things which you shouldn’t neglect as the African market is very diverse. 

An ultimate guide to develop a taxi app for the African market

 
As we have discussed earlier in this blog, you have to study the market, users’ financial status and their vehicle choice to make your ride sharing startup moneymaking. So, we at Coruscate created a team to discover the hidden business challenges of the African ride sharing market.

And here is what our research team has learned after analyzing all these factors.

Customization is the key to taste success in the African market

 
The most surprising thing we found about all local ridesharing companies in Africa is their multi-service platform. They are offering many types of vehicle choices and many other services like food delivery, parcel delivery, grocery delivery from the single app.

For instance, Mondo allows riders to hail a motorbike, three-wheeled rickshaw or tuk-tuk, and a car. They even provide corporate solutions where companies can hail the ride for their employees.

Thus, looking at the market, we encourage you to think beyond the conventional taxi app and integrate multiple features and services in it. Because that is what Africans want.

» Allow them to pay cash

 
More than 50% of the Africans are unbanked. Which simply means that they are not going to pay through the debit or credit card. Their preferred payment method is always cash.

Thus you need to ask taxi app development company to add features to let users pay cash for the fare. You also need to ask the taxi app development company to add the feature in the driver app which shows them how much of cash drivers own to the ridesharing company.

However, in recent years, many Africans have opted for eWallets or branchless banks like M-Pesa. So, it is also a rational idea to integrate such eWallets in the payment channel.

» Rides should be affordable (No matter what it takes)

 
Africa is the financially backward continent where the primary needs like transportation are also costly. So to be Jim-dandy in the African market, the most fundamental requirement you have to satisfy is the cost of the ride.

After its initial launch in Kenya, Uber has recently started tweaking its services. And the prime objective of service tweaking is affordability.

They have launched uberCHAPCHAP in Kenya which enables riders to go on short trips by just paying $1. Many local ridesharing companies find other ways to make the rides cost-effective. A South-Africa -based Africa Ride offers a variety of payment options including weekly and monthly plans.

Thus, you are also advised to follow the path of these companies. Seat down and scratch your head to identify possible ways to offer affordable rides. 

How much does it cost to develop a taxi app? and to start taxi booking business in Africa?

 
Coruscate is the leading taxi app development company which entertains numerous taxi app development related queries. We accommodate a few highly skilled developers and designers who work parallel with the research team to develop one of the most prominent taxi apps.

We will not only develop your app, but we will assist you to solve the business problems we have discussed in this blog including the ways to offer an affordable ride and adding multiple services in the single taxi app.

With our rapid app development technology, we develop and design the taxi app within 45-55 business days and under $10k.

To know more about the features and ask for a free demo with consultation, contact our app scientist and business expert now.

The post African ridesharing market is diverse: An ultimate guide to develop a taxi app for the African market and be profitable easily appeared first on Coruscate Solutions.

Well, let’s discuss a new feature that Uber is introducing for its transportation and food delivery app to renew the interest of its audience.

Uber is actively experimenting with a monthly subscription pass that joins rides, Eats, bikes, and scooters. In this pilot phase, Uber is testing a few distinct iterations in San Francisco and Chicago. Each of these versions introduces a fixed discount on every ride. It also has a free Uber Eats delivery and free JUMP bikes and e-scooters rides. The cost of buying the subscription pass is $24.99 every month.

Uber is experimenting with lower-priced passes in many other cities. These passes grant discounted rides and free delivery on Uber Eats orders. They have kept these conditions apply only when the user orders food or has rides above a certain order amount.

Uber has always tried its best to keep the audience engaged and loyal to its services. They have offered everything right from transportation to food. They keep looking for ways to make Uber the go-to option for your everyday needs. These things are worth learning from Uber to be successful in your on-demand business.

Uber’s spokesperson came up with an interview when TechCrunch first reported the screenshots that were leaked from Uber’s Android app. These screenshots showed the Uber Eats pass in the month of March. There were also some talks about a scenario where Uber Ride combined with Uber Eats for its Ride Pass product.

Uber has launched a Ride Pass in the month of October last year. This is a way for people to consistently pay lower prices on unique rides for a monthly fee. It is notable that Lyft also offers a similar monthly subscription product called All-Access.

It is for the first time that Uber is joining all of its user gifts into one monthly subscription. The biggest difficulty in the micro-mobility space is product differentiation and brand loyalty. Offering monthly subscription is an intelligent move for Uber to get customers to fully bind to its multimodal platform.

The idea is people who have already bought Uber’s monthly combo pass shall look for and take up more Uber services than any other. For example, imagine a person who has purchased Uber’s monthly combo pass. He is looking for a bike or e-scooter. While searching, he might come across a Lyft e-scooter but then in the app, he can locate an Uber e-scooter nearby. So, he will walk a little distance to get the Uber e-scooter rather than taking the Lyft one as he has already paid for the services.

Another thing worth remarkable in San Francisco is the JUMP bike is experiencing competition in the dockless e-bike space for the first time. Lyft has recently deployed its e-bikes that can be both docked and dockless. So, it can prove a threat to Uber e-scooters. It is said to be Uber’s strategy to test its product in San Francisco to keep its users intact. Uber is also planning to sneak into the territory of the Postmate app. The combo plan that Uber has launched as a monthly subscription product for unlimited free deliveries. This is said to be a very lucrative move for Uber, as it locks customers into spending more money on Uber.

Benefits of providing Ride Pass like Uber to your users

As Uber is piloting its product in San Fransisco, here are some of the advantages that the Ride Pass provides its users:

• The user is in control

  By using Ride Pass, the user’s costs of service are protected on all eligible routes. There is no compromise about it even in the case of traffic or weather or time of day.

• A user gets more ways to ride

  The Ride Pass allows a user to unlock more benefits like free JUMP bikes and e-scooters for up to 30 minutes a day wherever available, even though for a limited period of time.

• Protected Prices

  The user gets to save every time when they ride a JUMP bike or e-scooter. These savings can be tracked in the app.

Here are the steps for buying a Ride Pass:

 
The Ride Pass is accessible in selected cities across the US. The users living in the cities where the Ride Pass is available in the menu of their Uber app, they can use it. The pass renews automatically every month, and the user is allowed to cancel it anytime. If the Ride Pass is not available in your Uber app, be assured you will find it very soon as Uber is planning to expand this product into more cities in the year 2019.

» Open the app:

Click the menu icon in the top left corner of the Uber app. Select Ride Pass from the list of options available.

» Buy a Ride Pass

The purchase screen with program benefits will be visible. Click on Get a pass when you are ready to buy. Then confirm your payment method and click Buy.

» Track your savings

Keep a watch on your savings, update your payment method, or cancel Ride Pass anytime inside the Uber app.
If the Ride Pass product has caught your interest and you wish to build a similar subscription module for your e-scooter app, taxi-booking app, food delivery app or any other on-demand Uber-like app, do not hesitate to connect with us and allow us to be your dependable technology partner to provide you unique solutions.

The post What can be the next exciting feature for your Uber-like app – A monthly subscription model? appeared first on Coruscate Solutions.

Even though the founders and early investors have earned well, those who are late and some of the retail investors may not be earning much of profits. The company needs to solve the difficulty of serving a two-sided market profitably. Uber’s unexpected loss is not only disappointing for the investors but it can also prove to be a turning point in the history of Silicon Valley. The Uber IPO has capped an era distinguished by big investments in small ideas. They have had a lesson that a stubborn unwillingness to grapple with larger challenges facing society and the world is not going to work anymore.

Uber started as a business idea in the year 2010 in the wake of the great recession. Since then, there has been no looking back as it has been fueled by a decade of low interest rates. The investors have always searched for ways to stay ahead of inflation. They have even put in money in the high-risk model which was promising enough to provide high-reward venture capital sector. Whenever the industry seemed like it was about to slow down the late investors gave it the motion. The recent investment was by Masayoshi Son who invested $100 billion Softbank vision fund.

But these highly funded startups solved the problems only for wealthy young people in major cities. The startup ideas were related to taxi booking apps, food delivery apps, dating apps, hotel booking apps, etc. Some ideas were much worse than others. But there were some ideas that were truly innovative. These ideas actually fulfilled the customers demand by solving some crucial problems for the customers. A lot of companies took increasing mobile technology as a staircase to climb for success. But they were not easily accepted easily in Silicon Valley.

Some of the reasons for the failure of the giant Uber and other big companies are as follows:

Delayed Maturity:

The startup companies with great ideas created a real business and had real and growing revenues. These revenues were not earned by the dot com companies from the era of 1990. The consumer startups too were not generating any consistent profits. The venture capital was plentiful in the past years and the companies could stay private for a longer period of time. Uber also remained as a private company and did not go for IPO instantly.

Lack of diversity:

Most of the highly-funded startups in the era when Uber was formed were founded and led by the people of a certain background who looked for similar traits while hiring employees also. This way of hiring led to a lack of diversity and closed opportunities for deserving workers from other backgrounds. Uber also faced many complaints regarding the same fact. The number of complaints was so many that they had to hire an independent investigator.

Asking for forgiveness instead of permission:

Starting with Uber, most of the companies have followed a trend of not waiting for government approval. The companies like Airbnb and scooter startups Bird and Lime believed that waiting for the government approval to operate might have stunted their growth. However, in their rush, they ignored regulators and did not even consider the idea that they might cause border problems. Uber and Lyft, in their competition, have forgotten that they have made the traffic worse in San Francisco. Not only the taxi booking companies but also the e-scooter sharing companies have their scooters littered on the streets in San Francisco and Santa Monica before the cities banned them.

Visible depiction of income inequality:

Income inequality has been always an issue of concern. Silicon Valley is also not left untouched by the income inequality scenario. The rich are getting no doubt richer but the ride-sharing drivers are not getting enough wages. The benefits are minimal for the drivers whereas the tech workers enjoy all the employee benefits.

What lies in the future?

Well, the last few years have shown hope. The tech industry is going through a phase of serious introspection. Most giant companies have been questioned for their business models. People are talking about machine learning and artificial intelligence and its effects on society as it is still in its early stage.

Being a brand is not enough. You need a business model that can provide equal opportunities to the employees, adhere to the rules and regulations of the government and also have some fresh ideas to provide the solutions for the problems currently faced by humans.

If you are looking to enter the on-demand economy as a startup, make sure you go through these points and keep a track of how your business model is going. Building something useful for society in the need of time. Be it on-demand taxi booking app, e-scooter sharing app, food delivery app, grocery shopping app or any other on-demand apps, you need to make sure that the apps are designed for the benefit of users instead of just earning profits. The ‘I can conquer all’ mindset will not let you run in the long race.

Coruscate Solutions can help you with the taxi booking mobile app development solutions for your on-demand business. We have an excellent team of developers who can design and develop an amazing app with a smooth user interface. Our dedicated team of developers is working every day to learn about more and more features to be added in the apps. They also dive deep to find out the scope of each app which can prove helpful to you. If you have an idea for an on-demand business, feel free to contact us through the contact us form for a free consultation. We can help you to validate your ideas and suggest you the most reliable and robust solution for your business.

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