The youth these days would rather use an app to hail a taxi than go via the traditional way of standing by the roadside and hailing one or looking up a cab firm in the yellow pages. It’s not only the youth that is changing the way they want to travel. More and more people across the world are doing away with cars and looking for greener and cost-effective ways of traveling. Instead of spending large amounts of money on car maintenance, fuel costs, and other costs like parking and toll charges, they are opting to use taxi services like uber for their commuting needs.
While smartphones have become an indispensable part of our lives these days, it is only fair to presume that more and more people are becoming dependent on it for all their daily requirements.
Taxi management apps have been in existence since 2009 when Uber was first launched. The success of Uber and other similar apps means that masses are looking for the same flavor of success. Uber-like apps have been replicated just for these businessmen who want to be as successful as Uber. However, have you thought of what should be taken into account when planning to develop a taxi booking app?
Key Points to note before Launching App for Taxi Services like Uber
Check Out the Competition
The first step to take before launching your app is to check out the competition in the area. Is anyone providing similar services? Do some market research and find out what people want and are not getting from your competitors. Try and add the services that people are desperate for so that you get ready clientele when you kick-start your business. Check out the local area where you are launching your app. Do a feasibility study to check if there is a need for the services of your taxi app.
Introduce a Unique and Original Element in your App
The market today is flooded with taxi apps like yours. What is so different about the app that will attract customers to you rather than the others?
Introduce unique features that no other app has, whether it is by way of an attractive look or new design. The uniqueness does not only have to be about the app –it could even be that you have smartly uniformed lady drivers driving the taxis, or good marketing and professionalism.
Google Maps and GPS
These are the essential features of any taxi app today. The two features work hand in hand to get drivers to their pick up and drop off points faster, ensuring a fast and efficient driving experience for the passenger.
Availability of Drivers 24/7
Drivers should be available at all times of the day and night for maximum customer satisfaction. Customers need to know that they can rely on you whenever they need a driver. Travel doesn’t depend on the clock. The application must be a solution to find taxis even at off hours. So, if your customers need a driver at midnight, your app should be able to help them then too.
The Right Interface
No one likes an app that is hard to figure out and use or spend hours trying to work out a feature. Keep it simple and visually attractive and easy to figure out. The design has to be complementary to the app. It should not be overly complex and difficult to comprehend. If you can achieve that there is no way your app can go wrong.
Payment Integration
One of the main reasons why users are attracted to this app is that the need to carry cash all the time has been done away with. The payment integration feature is not only used for direct automated payment but also calculating the tentative mileage and fare before the passenger even embarks on the ride.
Tracking Facility
One of the reasons for Uber’s success is its unique tracking facility. This is a great feature to have not only for tracking the position of your taxi services like uber in real-time but also for safety reasons and when you have booked a cab on behalf of somebody else. The tracking facility is also a very interactive way of attracting customers. It’s like playing a mobile game where you input your pick and destination points and watch the taxi as it makes its way to you. People also like to follow the route that they are traveling on and this facility gives them just that.
Documentation
You need to ensure that the licenses and insurances and other relevant paperwork of all your drivers and their cars are in order. It is also important to ensure that all your paperwork is in order before you launch the app.
Notification Features
Customers like the idea of push notifications, whether it is welcome notes, information about their trips and payments, special offers and schemes thank you notes or just information about the trip and pick up point.
Driver’s Needs First
It is important to note that drivers are your customers too and they need clean, easy to use interface too. They need facilities whereby they can decide on taking the ride or not and be able to communicate with the passenger in real time. These points are very important when developing a taxi service like Uber. You also need to take care that not all drivers are tech savvy. Please remember that unless you have enough drivers you won’t have enough business either.
Do not let the above points out you off – in fact, they should be the reason that you should be keen to start your own Taxi services like Uber. It’s not as formidable as it looks and with the right development partner you really can’t go wrong.