Navigating the Ride-Hailing Market: How to Build a Custom Taxi Booking App?
May 17, 2024
Customers today have hectic life schedules, and they want everything instantly. Thanks to the increasing number of taxi apps in the market that has made travelling and commuting quite easier with seamless transportation solutions. Rather than going out on the streets and searching for a transportation option, people can easily book their rides through apps in the comfort of their homes and step out only when the ride is waiting outside their doorsteps.
If you own a taxi business and don’t have an online presence, you will be behind the curve and may lose opportunities to connect with riders. Let’s find out how a reliable taxi booking app development company can help in creating a custom taxi booking system with amazing features like easy ride selection, flexible payment methods, ratings, location tracking and more.
Things to Keep in Mind While Building a Custom Taxi Booking App
With increasing demand for taxi booking apps, the industry has witnessed a higher number of users relying on such online ride-booking solutions. A report by Statista says that the number of customers for taxi booking apps is predicted to reach 1.45 billion users by the year 2027.
Let’s find out the key aspects that must be kept in mind while developing a dedicated taxi booking app for your business-
1. Know User Needs & Market
Several big brands like Uber, Ola, etc. are doing wonders in the market & have already captured the attention of the majority of customers. It is important to understand the market thoroughly and the user needs.
You must also keep in mind that users have already got solutions for many of their problems, which is why you must plan something that will make your app stand out from these competitors. Figure out if there are any market gaps that you wish to fill and recognize the exact user needs as this will help in creating a robust plan for your taxi booking app.
2. Discover Target Audience
After getting an idea of how the online taxi market works, it’s time to identify the target audience- whether you want to target local people or you want to reach out to people from other cities. Ensure that you identify the target market, which will help in building the app the right way.
Few things that must be considered while discovering the target audience are-
- Analysing the demographics like age, gender, location, occupation, etc. of your potential users. This is important for adding features to the app and creating customised marketing plans.
- Understanding the user behaviour like how often they travel, their means of transportation, main reasons for using taxis, preferred travel routes etc. will help in adjusting the app positioning to meet unique needs.
- Another important aspect is to figure out the pain points like the problems that you want to solve through your taxi booking app. The pain points can be long waits, difficulty in booking, unclear pricing, etc.
3. Features to Add
After you establish the target market, it’s time to list of features you wish to include in your app before building the app. The features you add to your app must help users satisfy their needs and enjoy a seamless user experience. Once you have identified your target market for the business, you must choose the features you wish to offer in your app.
Some of the basic features are user registration, real-time tracking, booking and scheduling, fare calculator, payment integration, in-app messaging, push notification, driver tracking, trip booking history, customer support and more. Additional advanced features that you can add to make your taxi booking app stand out from the crowd are split fares for people sharing a ride, in-app tipping to show appreciation for the driver’s good services, live tracking to track the location of the booked taxi, etc.
4. Choose Right Monetization Method
Another important aspect is to figure out how you will make money or generate profit from the services you are providing through your taxi booking app. There are many monetization methods that you can use for your app for higher ROI.
Some of the monetization methods are as follows-
- Commission based
By making use of a commission-based model you earn a percentage of the fear for every booking completed by the rider. This will help in earning revenue directly through each transaction that was completed through the app.
- Subscription-based
Another monetization method is to offer subscription plans to the users by offering exclusive features like discounted fares, priority booking, high-rated drivers and other benefits.
- Surge pricing model
The last monetization method is increasing the service rate during high-demand special occasions, raining seasons, peak hours, which help in capturing more revenue for a specific time.
Finding Cost to Create an App for Taxi Business
One thing that must be thinking is how much will it cost to create an app for your taxi business. The answer is not straightforward as it depends on several factors that can impact the total app development cost. However, the average cost can range from $15k to $60k.
Developing a taxi app that stands out in the competitive market can be difficult, which is why you need experts who can help in the development of apps using the latest tech stack, in-depth knowledge, and years of experience. Some of the main factors that can impact the cost are as follows-
- Features of App
- App UI Design
- Choice of App Platform
- Backend Development
- Payment Gateway Integration
- Support Geolocation Services
- Rigorous Testing & QA
- App Maintenance Support
- Multilingual Capability
- In-house or External Team
Closing Statement
Undoubtedly, the online taxi market is growing tremendously offering a great option for startups and entrepreneurs to build a taxi booking app. The market value is predicted to grow up to $150 billion by 2026 with a larger customer base. As competition is quite high, you need experts having in-depth knowledge of user demands and the latest market research.
If you are planning to build a dedicated taxi booking app for your business, connect with Clavax, a leading iOS and Android App Development Company that holds expertise in building successful taxi apps with robust features like real-time tracking, payment integration and more. Connect with our experienced team of developers to help us understand your needs better and build the app the way you want.