It is during the recent decades that taxi booking apps started becoming more popular among people. Followed by the success of Uber, many taxi booking apps entered the market. Uber clone is one of the popular business models widely preferred by entrepreneurs to start their venture in this lucrative industry. So, adopting a Uber clone script with unique, distinctive features will be a perfect option for starting your taxi-hailing business in 2021.
How Uber works, and how is it successful?
Uber is a leading taxi booking application that started in 2009. Uber remains a pioneer for all on-demand applications. Since its launch in 2009, many companies began investing in developing mobile applications for on-demand services like taxi booking, food delivery, e-commerce platform, etc. The success of Uber is a milestone in the history of mobile applications as it has paved the way for many small and large companies to set their foot in app development. Uber has made it easy for users to book their rides through their mobile phones hassle-free. This has also made people sophisticated in many ways that they no longer wanted to wait for their taxis to come and pick them. The AI-driven Uber apps help people track their rides in real-time.
Uber was developed considering user experience and provided every possible means for the users to carry out their rides hassle-free. For example, the users can select the type of car they want, and they can also pre-book their ride whenever they want.
According to the current statistics, Uber has around 93 million active monthly users. In 2020, Uber had carried out rides worth $26.61 billion and had completed 1.44 billion rides during every quarter of the year. The Statista report has predicted that Uber will gain revenue of US$ 31,094 Million in 2021, and by 2025, the number of users of the app will increase to 331.2 million. Now Uber is being operated in 80 countries worldwide.
Uber clone – Developing an alternative to Uber
Opting for an Uber clone app is one of the perfect choices for starting a business. The Uber clone will be an alternative model for the standard Uber, incorporating the same distinctive features. Replicating the same features of Uber helps in developing the business to many extents. Significantly, when you start your business at a small level, this will help you save your time and cost.
The next question that ponders your mind is how to develop an Uber clone app. The answer is simple. You can build your app in two ways,
- Developing an app from scratch
- Approaching app development companies to get Uber clone app
You can approach app developers and ask them to develop your apps. Developing an app ground up will be very tedious and time-consuming. You end up spending more in its development process, and it will take around 5 to 6 months to develop an app.
Whereas on the other hand, you can approach app development companies that are experts in developing Uber clone apps and get ready-made solutions from them. By doing so, you can save time and money.
How much does it cost to develop an Uber clone app?
While developing an app, the cost factor is determined by the functionalities and features that you will fix up in your app. Let us examine the essential features that are must-have in an Uber clone app,
Geolocation & Routing
Geolocation is one of the prime features to have in an app like Uber. GPS technology is used to detect the location of people. In an Uber clone, the GPS will help the users and drivers track their rides’ location. This routing and matching algorithm is fundamental to be present in a taxi booking app. So, these two functionalities should be your priority in developing an Uber clone.
Payment
This is the following vital functionality to consider when you develop an app like Uber. Providing straightforward financial transactions between the drivers and the users is mandatory. So, incorporating a fare calculator in the app will accurately calculate the cost of the rides by considering the distance, travel time, base fare and price per minute.
For integrating pay gateways with your app, PCI compliance is a must-have in your app. After the certification of PCI, it’s time to incorporate a cashless payment system in your app.
Registration and profile
The registration page is an essential aspect of an app where the users will provide their necessary information to register with the app. Through this information, you can collect user data and a user base.
Notifications
As part of communication, keeping the users informed with necessary information is also part of an application. The app will send notifications regarding the offers, discounts, and various other details through SMS and email to the users.
Advanced scheduling
One of the advanced features of an Uber clone is providing an option for the users to schedule their rides in advance and also helps in planning their trip accurately. A ride schedule will be one of the great options to add to your MVP feature list.
UI/UX
A portion of the cost you spend for your app development will go for the app design. Since taxi booking services are entirely user-oriented, it is essential to have a convincingly easy-to-use UI/UX design.
It is pretty challenging to predict the cost of developing an Uber clone app as you will have to develop three modules for the app – user app, admin panel and driver app. Listed above are some of the essential functionalities to be included in the app. Apart from this, the features you opt for will also impact the cost of your app development. The team of developers you opt for developing the app will also affect. So, while hiring a team, kindly remember if they are aware of the following credentials
- To work deliberately in both Android and iOS
- Backend/frontend developers
- UX/UI developers
- Project management
- Quality assurance
Wrapping up,
Initially, On-demand apps were started as a niche segment and owing to the emergence of smartphones; almost every user became more comfortable using these mobile apps. People widely prefer taxi booking apps to book their rides. Developing a robust taxi booking app like Uber will surely captivate more users towards your application. So, hire the best team of developers and create a viable Uber clone app.
