Uber’s success is synonymous with on-demand apps. Not too far behind were companies that are looking to develop a taxi dispatch app that draws from the fundamentals of the on-demand app ecosystem.
At the last count, there were over 200 taxi dispatch apps across app stores. Do you think yours stands a chance getting discovered among your audience?
It’s a tough call whether or not to build one for your business, go with a taxi dispatch software supplier or whether to base your entire business on the technology play. Whatever you choose, be mindful of the following traits that some of the most successful taxi dispatch apps have in common.
1. They understand technology is only an enabler
The real business is not the app, but it’s about providing service to your customer outside of the taxi dispatch system. Did you think the founders of Uber simply built an app and the various stakeholders flowed to the app?
Absolutely not. You have to manually onboard your suppliers and at the same time the end users and ensure both stakeholders continue to have a great user experience.
The app part is the easiest to build. But creating and managing the logistics, managing the suppliers (could be drivers in your case), managing financial transactions between all stakeholders – that’s what the taxi dispatch app business is all about operationally.
2. They cater to specific niches
The first golden rule of starting any business is to identify a niche or a specific customer segment for which your product will provide the go-to solution for their problems.
Don’t cast a wide net because that would mean a nightmare managing different segments. Also, you’d encounter tremendous competition in the marketplace. You must have some ways to differentiate from your competition – either feature-wise or service offering.
On the other hand, if your model proves to be successful, be prepared to battle numerous competitors vying for the same pie. For the customer, if they’ve had a bad experience with your company, they can quickly shift to another provider. Loyalties take a much longer time to build.
3. The greater the need, the better
If you really want to get a high Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), it should be a service that your customers want to come back for.
Do you already have a customer segment defined that will request your service using the mobile app on a frequent basis? That will help determine whether there’s enough Return on Investment (RoI) to go ahead and build your own taxi dispatch app. If the app will help you acquire new customers or increase the lifetime value of your existing ones, it’s a win-win and you must go for it.
4. Customers connect directly to the supplier
Uber does one thing in comparison with most other taxi companies is removing the company from any customer interaction with the service. Customers directly interact and avail the service without having a middleman directing or moderating.
With a regular taxi company, you’d have to call dispatch, and the dispatch would call the driver, which would only put a delay on getting the information to the customer.
The app workflow is designed in such a manner that it eliminates the need for the middleman even though the service would be provided by your in-house team of drivers.
Direct communication is key for a number of reasons. Customers get to speak to the person that actually has the information they need, and no longer do they have to be in the dark about when the service will be honored.