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The return to normalcy is on, and people’s movements have begun to resume. With governments relaxing lockdowns, the on-demand taxi market is experiencing a breath of fresh air after nearly six months of disrupted proceedings. The safety concern makes people lean towards secure private modes of transport rather than congested public utilities. As a result, there’s a vast market for taxi apps that an entrepreneur can capitalize on with the right approach.
While developing an app like Uber is made easy with the arrival of clone app solutions, sustaining in a highly competitive market space becomes a highly challenging task. Garnering the attention of customers is, by itself, a strenuous activity. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to come up with strategies and gain the trust of consumers in no time.
Are you an entrepreneur who aims to make an everlasting presence in the taxi sector by launching a ride-hailing app? If so, this blog provides a simplified overview of different development aspects and COVID-19 safety features to consider in your taxi app.
Sync with your customers and market
Even if your ideas are out-of-the-box, ensure that your platform is easy-to-use and attracts the audience effortlessly. To do so, you need to conduct an extensive market analysis. Now, market analysis is a broad term that encompasses two different aspects – Customer expectations and competitor analysis.
Both these aspects can go a long way in helping you roll out a customer-centric product. Conducting surveys and gathering feedback can play a crucial role in understanding what people expect from a taxi app. Similarly, by competitor analysis, you can identify areas where your rivals are lagging, paving the way for sure-shot success in the field.
Choosing the right app development style
You can either opt for app development from the ground up or customize readymade clone apps. While both methods have their pros & cons, it is better to opt for clone apps due to a variety of reasons. Here’s why,
- Incredibly economical: Even emerging entrepreneurs can afford to launch clone apps. This way, a businessperson needn’t invest a bulk-load of sum for app development.
- Time-conserving: The conventional app development method of building a taxi app from scratch requires a minimum of 4-6 months. An entrepreneur aiming to venture into the market right away cannot do so. However, an Uber clone app can be readily customized and launched within a matter of a few days.
- Highly scalable: An entrepreneur needn’t take up the responsibility of developing the app after conducting market research. A trained team of technical experts takes care of app development, rolling out a highly scalable product.
Attractive features can lure the audience
Loading the ride-hailing app with cutting-edge attributes is crucial to experience massive success in the market. Here’s a list of stand-apart features to consider in your taxi app.
- In-app wallet
- Multilingual support
- Multi-currency support
- In-app chat/call
- Real-time analytics
- In-app alerts
- Geofencing
- VoIP based call masking
- Favorite drivers
Safety strategies to address COVID-19
And now comes the big picture. The focal point when it comes to the current scenario is tackling the COVID-19 situation wisely. Taxi platforms that manage to do that embark on their arrival and gain an irreplaceable place among the audience. Here’s a list of safety add-ons to consider in your on-demand taxi app,
- Restricted passenger count: Although simple, this safety strategy is fundamental to curb disease spread throughout the community. Based on the severity of virus transmission in a locality, you can limit passenger count to two or three.
- Encouraging digital modes of payment: Transacting via cash can lead to external physical contact between drivers and passengers. Hence, disabling cash for transactions can be an ideal way to prevent disease spread. Similarly, encourage customers to adopt digital modes of payments like credit/debit cards, digital wallets, net banking, etc.
- Face mask recognition software: In addition to providing safety gear, it is wise to automate the entire face mask verification process via an in-built software. This way, the software recognizes if drivers are adhering to safety standards effortlessly.
- Safety ratings and reviews: Enable customers to rate and review the safety standards after each ride. This way, you can keep service quality and safety in check.
- Ride cancellation: Both drivers and passengers can cancel rides without cancellation fees if they find the situation unsafe. This way, those stakeholders who aren’t adhering to safety protocols can be removed from the community, if need be.
Conclusion
It is expected that the market for ride-hailing will steer towards a positive trajectory by the beginning of 2021. There cannot be an ideal time to put your ideas and efforts into action. All you need is an efficient taxi app that can seamlessly bridge the gap between drivers and users. Have an eye on COVID-19 safety strategies to safeguard your entire community and grow your business in no time.