The global taxi market witnessed a sudden surge with the advent of taxi booking software. Booking rides through phone calls is quite old-fashioned, and people are no more interested in waiting for long hours to book their rides. Almost all people are used to smartphones, and booking a taxi is no longer a big deal for them. Uber, which has been pioneering the taxi market for a while, faced huge competition from this 2013 launched taxi app called Bolt. You can also learn valuable taxi app development lessons from Bolt.
Bolt made a strong entry into the taxi industry and gave cut-throat competition to the existing key players. It took a massive step to face the competition with Uber, and now it has spread its services to various countries. As an entrepreneur, learning the strategies and nuances about how Bolt emerged will leave you speechless. This blog lists down the top lessons you have to learn from Bolt to start your own taxi booking business.
The inspiring story behind Bolt’s venture into the taxi market
Bolt initially started off their taxi services under the name of “Taxify” in 2013. Currently, the company offers services in around 300 cities across 45 countries. The app service has been used by nearly 75 million customers, and over 1.5 million drivers have registered with the platform.
In 2018, the company came up with the proposal to expand its services to dockless electric vehicles for users. Bolt is known for trying out new experiments in every possible way. The success gained from taxi and electric scooters made them venture into the food delivery industry. They started their full-pledged online food delivery services in 2019. Their latest venture, “Bolt market,” a grocery delivery service app, is ready to go on floors this year. The milestones reached by Bolt created a huge spur among the competitors as the company has reached this level in a short span of time.
The drivers will undergo background verification before getting hired under their banner. However, safety is their first priority when it comes to hiring drivers. In certain cities, the app has linked the SoS button that connects the drivers to emergency services. This has garnered huge appreciation from the public.
Things to learn from the success of Bolt – Taxi Booking App Development Lessons
The on-demand market is extremely broad and has several branches inscribed in it. Transportation services are just one of those many services that are listed under the on-demand services. Let us see what Bolt did extra to garner this position in the market,
Opted to rebrand its services
In the previous passage, we discussed how they entered the market. They changed their name to Hopp in London, and in other cities, they changed their name to Bolt. This is because they wanted to expand their services to various segments as Taxify will be more related to transportation services. After rebranding their company, they made their mark in various industries like food delivery and grocery delivery.
They understood the scope of extending services to several avenues, and this was the roadmap that led to the development of various avenues. One major lesson you have to learn from this major step is that it is better to start with one service at the beginning. After analyzing the market and the business standards, it’s better to step into the expansion of the business.
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Connect on WhatsApp They understood that planning is the best foundation you can lay for a business.
Bolt’s debut into the taxi market was in 2013, four years after Uber’s launch. In this span of time, they learned the nuances of the market. They considered this as an opportunity to know the gap their competitors have created. This gave them a gist to understanding the market needs and customer demands. Even though they were a little late to enter the market, yet the valuable insights they gained were worth it.
More than going with the trends, it is always important to be productive in the market. By the time they debuted in the market, they had a pile of lessons learned from the apps. The CEO of Bolt has also made a remarkable point during his interview that they ventured into the taxi market to fix the problems created by the competitors. They wanted to create an alternative that can resolve the issues like poor services and high prices as charged by the other key players.
When you plan to launch a similar app, it is very crucial to know the challenges and gaps in your competitors’ models. Through proper research and analysis, you can develop a highly effective application for the users.
Adopting powerful strategies
The major success of a business lies in the effectiveness of its strategies. Even though you have an amazing plan for the future, if you do not find the right junction to streamline them, your ideas will go in vain. One of the major reasons for the success of Bolt was the strategies it had.
When the other competitors were charging nearly 30 percent of commissions from the drivers, Bolt revised their commissions to 15-20 percent. In this way, the drivers really felt profitable as they could earn more revenue. On the other hand, for users, they provided upto 50 percent discount for their rides. Apart from the pricing strategies, they ensured safety in their rides. They introduced panic buttons in their rides for the drivers and users to use during an emergency. This will notify the app.
What are the best ways to launch a taxi booking app incorporating all these lessons of Bolt?
Always the best lessons come through learning. By taking up the lessons learned from Bolt, you can step into the market with a stupendous app. Appdupe is a leading app development firm known for its venture in developing taxi-hailing apps. Our Uber clone app will be a perfect combination of both adaptability and customization. The white-label solution will create your way to launch your ride-sharing app in the market. The Uber clone app development service comes with personalization letting you customize the app according to your requirements.
Wrapping up,
The on-demand app market is giving out a sweeping performance that has triggered entrepreneurs to try their luck in the market. If starting a taxi booking app is your long-term goal, with no further delay, contact us right away! Appdupe will assist you at every level to launch a competitive ride-sharing app in the market.
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Marketing is my soul mate and writing is my side kick. Using my writing skills to share the knowledge of app development and upcoming technologies.
