This blog aims to help entrepreneurs start a taxi business by telling them all the basics on how to build a taxi booking app like Uber. Let’s first start with understanding how a user books an Uber.
When Uber released an app that made it easy for drivers and riders to find each other at the beginning of the 2010s, it accelerated the change in the taxi market. Uber has been an incredible success. In 2021, Uber made $17.4 billion in sales, a 56% increase from the previous year. Uber’s success has attracted many entrepreneurs to the idea of building an Uber-like app.
Steps to Book an Uber
- Step 1: Request: A customer uses the Uber app to request a car. The app shows the price of the ride.
- Step 2: Matching: The driver can either take the ride or say no. If they say no, the request is sent to another driver.
- Step 3: Ride: Uber puts the request in touch with the closest driver. The client knows when the taxi is supposed to arrive.
- Step 4: Pay for the ride. Once the ride is over, the payment is charged to the user’s already-added payment account or credit card. Uber takes many forms of payment, such as PayPal, Android Pay, and Apple Pay.
- Step 5: Score: Rating is an important part of the Uber app. Both drivers and riders give each other ratings. In this way, Uber gives the best possible experience to both types of users.
How To Build a Taxi Booking App Like Uber
Now that you understand how a taxi booking app works, let us walk the steps on how to build a taxi booking app like Uber.
Step 1: Requirement Analysis
The first thing you should do in your taxi booking app development journey is to evaluate what is required. To accomplish this goal, you must devote significant time to studying the market.
In this section, you will respond to questions about your organisation’s objective, what sets your platform apart from others, how the market currently functions, and what the end users want.
When you’ve finished with the requirement analysis, you’ll have a good idea of your target demographic and how your company needs to operate.
Step 2: Documentation
At this point, everything discussed in the previous step on how to build a taxi booking app like Uber is written, including the requirements, the business strategy, the app features, and the app platforms.
The documentation guides you through building a plan for your app and provides a resource for when you hit a roadblock while developing it. At this point in the process, it is beneficial to establish the scope, timetable, milestones, and other aspects of the project.
Step 3: App Development
At this stage, you will witness your ideas’ materialisation. You can begin work on the app’s development now that the documentation has been completed.
You can construct an in-house app development team or outsource the work to an outside taxi app development business. In the third step, you will be responsible for developing the application, testing it, and preparing it to go online.
Step 4: App Deployment
You are done building a taxi booking app like Uber; your application is ready to be deployed now that the performance tests and functionality checks have been performed. Simply publish it to the appropriate app store, and it will immediately become available to the intended demographic.
One thing you can do is build an MVP (minimum viable product). An MVP contains only the most basic features required for the app to function. Going live with an MVP is always a good idea because it enables you to understand the requirements of your users better and develop successful software without breaking the bank.
Step 5: Marketing
Many individuals are under the impression that step 4 is the final stage of creating an application. However, that is not the case. It is up to you to encourage users to utilise your application. You will need a detailed marketing strategy to accomplish this goal.
Did you know that when Uber was just starting, the company sponsored and organised tech events to attract users and drivers? They also gave individuals the opportunity to test them out. You will need to think of creative ways to market your company if you want to pique the interest of potential customers.
Features
An app like Uber Taxi combines three different user interfaces or apps: the Driver app, the Rider app, and the Admin panel, which oversees and runs the service.
Let’s look at the features one needs to include in each of these interfaces.
Rider interface features
- Registration
- Taxi Booking
- Fare Calculator
- Ride Tracking
- Payment
- Notifications
Driver interface features
- Driver Profile & Status
- Trip Alert
- Push Notifications
- Navigation & Route Optimization
- Reports
Admin interface features
- Keeping track of information about customers and drivers (CRM)
- Booking Control
- Vehicle Detail Management (if self-owned cars)
- Review and Rating Management
- Communication with drivers and riders
- Sale prices and special offers
Revenue Model of Taxi Booking Apps like Uber
Every app is made with the end goal of making money from it. To get a steady income stream, it is important to figure out the best revenue model. We can learn from Uber in this matter.
Rides are a big part of how Uber makes money. Their ride calculator uses the following things to determine how much each ride will cost.
- Base fee: Uber charges a flat fee for their service. It’s based on the type of car and where the ride is.
- Cost per mile
- Cost per minute
- Booking fee: A small fee to cover the business’s costs.
Uber’s pricing model is dynamic, so the fare can change based on traffic, the number of drivers available, the time of year, etc.
Aside from this, Uber charges passengers a fee if they cancel a ride reservation after a certain amount of time. This gives Uber an extra way to make money and helps them track how many cancellations they get.
Uber also makes a lot of money from ads and partnerships with brands. Uber promotes other businesses on its platform and makes it easier for them to reach more people. In exchange, they charge a fee for advertising.
You can make the necessary tweaks in Uber’s revenue model according to your requirements.
The cost to build a taxi booking app like Uber?
The cost to develop a taxi booking app depends on a number of factors, such as the platform on which it will be released, the number of features used, the target market, the location of the team, and their level of experience. If you outsource your taxi booking app development to an expert company, you could save up to 50% on development costs. Depending on the team and features, building a taxi booking app like Uber can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $75,000.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you can start a taxi business like Uber by building a taxi booking app like Uber. Your ideal taxi booking app should have a simple and beautiful user interface. Good UI/UX design is a big part of attracting an audience.
This article talked about how to build a taxi booking app like Uber, its features, the market share of ride-hailing apps, and how much the Uber app might cost. Even if you have an existing taxi booking business, a taxi booking app can help you boost your revenue by expanding your reach. To build a taxi booking app like Uber, you will need precise app requirements and a good taxi booking app development partner who can guide you in this journey.