We have come a long way from our perception of booking a cab by randomly waving a hand at some taxi that passes along the way. Today, we cannot imagine the process of booking a taxi without taking out our smartphones, opening an app, and getting a cab standing right at where we are within a few minutes, if not seconds.
The credit for this transformation has to be given to the start-up from San Francisco called Uber. Well… It was a start-up when it started its operations in 2009. Today, Uber operates in over 600 cities straight across more than 78 different countries.
Uber might be considered the supreme brand when it comes to location-based on-demand cab booking through mobile apps. However, a lot of players have risen parallel to Uber and have also found immeasurable success. Some of them have even been so successful that they ended up removing Uber from the market, and Uber had to settle for shares or a settlement amount.
Given these factors and the fact that there are more than 50,000 cities on this planet, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the market is still open to accommodate new players. The business aspect of starting a taxi booking service might vary from place to place. However, the technology that goes behind the process remains the same.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel. If a technology like Uber has been so solidified in its stance and relevance, instead of building an app from scratch, you can consider going for a white label clone of Uber.
What is a white-label Uber Clone?
A white label product is essentially a product that has all the basic functionality but without any branding and a lavish space and modularity to garnish it with the features that you want. In the context of Uber, an Uber clone app is a white label taxi booking application that can be purchased like a product and can be customized according to your requirements.
Why go for a white-label Uber clone?
In general, white labeling presents a lot of advantages.
Timing
The first and foremost advantage of using a white label Uber clone is that it can be launched in a matter of days. Since all the basic functionalities or the skeleton of the app is already intact, it means that you do not have to put in humongous time and effort in developing the monotonous features of the app.
Money
Another important factor when it comes to handling technology and its manifestations is money. It should be remembered that when you go for a white label taxi booking app development, you are purchasing a product and not paying for a service. This means that you do not have to be developers by the hour. Therefore, the initial investment to launch your taxi booking app like Uber becomes quite minimal.
Reliability
Even if you were to hire your own team or partner with an app development company, there are possible lapses that might result in your app having bugs on it’s called, especially with a few affecting the core features of the product. With a white label cologne, you can be assured that the product does not have any bugs that will interfere with the basic functionality. This means that you save a considerable cost in terms of testing the product.
Support
Most white label taxi app solution providers help you launch your product on the app stores of Google and Apple. This step is considered to be one of the most challenging and cumbersome. In addition, you can also avail of the team’s support in case you find any challenges with customizing and launching your white label taxi booking app.
Lower risk
All the points talked above culminate at lowering the risk of launching your business. With the cost lowered and the time made swifter, and your app having an increased degree of reliability, the possibility of making a profit and achieving customer satisfaction increases considerably. After all, better profit is what every business strives for.
The different avenues of profit
Now that we have been talking about profitability, let us look at the different avenues using which a taxi booking app like Uber can make its profit.
Commissions
Needless to say, the first and foremost channel of profit is the commission that they take from drivers. An app like Uber is, in essence, facilitating extra rides for drivers who might not be able to find one by themselves. Therefore, acting as an affiliate, the app charges a commission on every ride that a driver takes based on a booking facilitated by the app.
Generally, the commission is charged as a percentage of the total ride cost. This contributes to the biggest chunk of revenue not only for Uber but also for any other app that uses the same business model.
Cancellation charges
If your user books a cab and cancels out on the ride after the driver has started moving towards the pick-up point, the app charges the customer with a cancellation fee. Although they might not contribute to a major chunk of the revenue, they still act as deterrence for customers when it comes to canceling their cabs.
Advertisements And promotions
Although Uber does not use this feature, a lot of taxi booking applications make the revenue by posting ads facilitated by both Android and iOS. In addition, even outside the scope defined by Google and Apple, the app can partner with third-party services and brands to run their promotions within the taxi booking app. A good example of this would be to partner with sporting events like the Super Bowl to give discounted rates or merchandise redemption coupons when people board a cab to reach the arena.
The core features
Although the white label solution can make the entire process of taxi app development easy with very minimal intervention, it is, as an entrepreneur, important for you to know the features that make up your taxi book an ecosystem.
The ecosystem is made up of three distinct entities, and each of them is given a specific app to make their job easier. They are the passenger, the driver, and the administrator.
The passenger app.
- The passenger should be able to easily sign up for the app, and if possible, they should be able to do so using legacy credentials like Google and Facebook.
- They should be able to book a cab in a simple manner, and if possible, should be able to complete the process in three steps or less.
- They should be given a real-time update on the status of the driver through the combination of a GPS and a mapping interface. They should also be notified of every important step through push notifications.
- They should be able to make payments without any hassle, and for this purpose, your app should be integrated with a versatile payment services provider like PayPal. They should be able to make payments using multiple payment methods like credit cards, debit cards, and Internet banking.
- Upon the completion of the trip, they should be able to rate their experience with the driver. This will ensure that the entire ecosystem is made democratic.
The driver app.
- Just like the passenger, the driver should also be able to onboard themselves easily. However, in addition to the registration, there should also be an identity verification process in place, so the brand image does not get tarnished because of the drivers.
- Most of the drivers look at their engagement with your business as an additional learning opportunity as gig workers. Therefore, the drivers should be periodically credited with their savings to the bank account.
- Drivers should be incentivized for completing a certain number of trips or a certain number of days with your business. They should also be a referral program in place, so the drivers can refer the app to other drivers and earn for themselves as well.
- Just like the passengers can rate the drivers, the drivers should also be given a facility to rate the passengers, so the entire ecosystem is maintained in a balanced fashion while prompting courteous behavior from both parties.
The administrator dashboard.
- The administrator is responsible for the upkeep of the sanity and sanctity of the app. They should be provided with a dashboard that gives them a snapshot of all the vital bits of information.
- The dashboard should contain information on the total earnings, the total number of active drivers, the number of write requests, and every other information that highlights the performance of the app.
- The administrator should have the power to enable, disable, and suspend users and drivers based on their behavior.
- The administrator is responsible for maintaining the content on the app, including but not limited to the promotions, offers, and discounts.
- The administrator should also handle belts, commission rates, and customer support. If need be, they can delegate customer support to a different team.
Conclusion
Know that you are aware of the benefits, the possibilities of profit, and the core features of the taxi booking app, all you need to do is get in touch with a company that specializes in the white-labeling and customization of ready-made taxi booking applications.
They will take care to understand your requirement, your business philosophies, and every other need that you might have, so they can garnish the white-label Uber clone app with the features that your business needs.
Greetings of the Day.
Hi, William Mark.
Your article is so informative. really i appreciate about your content. Keep on working on it.