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Uber-like applications have a wide appeal to modern marketplaces. Uber’s business plan is mostly used to develop any type of taxi app as it is considered to be the basis. Its business strategy gained a huge worldwide success. Now there is a word to determine this process – uberisation.
Why did Uber become so popular and actively used? This application was something different from the usual taxi cabs. Uber is rated as the second most disruptive innovation company worldwide. They provide their clients with an efficient and economical experience of transportation. Uber-like apps are very convenient in usage.
Uber taxi is considered to be the best and is active in 65 countries. Despite the high level of competition, it still takes the highest position. Uber-like apps can be produced for various industries that are on-demand for customers. Among them are:
- Beauty industry (e.g on-demand beauty services)
- Healthcare services
- Transportation services
- Local food & grocery delivery
- On-demand
- Babysitting
- Hotels
- Barbers
We have already described all these industries in detail in the article on our blog. If you are curious to know more about this field, you can read about it in our posts.
Uber Shuttle features
There are various types of Uber types of vehicles like Uber X, Uber Lux, Uber Suv, or Uber Black. Besides a simple city car, we would like to emphasize Uber Shuttle type of transport. It has similar but also different features compared to simple Uber. It is a kind of public transport but you reserve your seat in a comfortable vehicle. So how does Uber Shuttle work and what its main peculiarities? They are the following:
- Uber Shuttle has a list with definite stops where the driver picks up passengers
- The price is lower than a simple taxi cab and depends on the distance
- You can see available shuttle near you in the app to order
- After ordering, you will see the direction to your stop and real-time moving of the driver
- Payments available for cash and credit cards as well
- It is very convenient as you can be sure that your seat is reserved and you can get to your final destination with comfort
How to build an Uber-like app?
Building Uber-like apps imply that you can achieve the same level of success on the market.
Certainly, you can copy already existing features from other similar apps but it is much better to come up with an individual set of options that will fir your business model and make user experience excellent.
There are certain lists of steps that should be taken and considered during the whole process of development. They are the following:
- Building and carefully considering a suitable business model based on customers and modern market demands for a chosen industry.
- Defining your target audience with customers needs and desires for future platform
- Unique Selling Points – defining the role and uniqueness of your app on the modern market
- Choose the appropriate functions and technologies for your application to make it advanced and better than other apps.
- Find an experienced team of developers who build a successful software solution
- Heed to customers’ feedback all the time and make necessary changes and updates if needed.
- Feature of taxi-hailing for local drivers to work with them.
In addition, recently Uber has opened the API to apply it in diverse business industries.
Implementing the right technologies and its frameworks is a crucial step. Nevertheless, while building Uber-like apps you should pay no less attention to design. As there are many other taxi or Uber-like applications, the design should be creative, different, attractive, and user-friendly. It should contain various combined visual elements, simplicity of usage, and nice to look at.
Top 3 advanced features for Uber shuttle-like app
Uber shuttle-like apps give the ability to order a car from and to your destination in advance, so you don’t have to wait or to look for a taxi for a long time.
These apps are appreciated by travel companies, businessmen, common travelers, and others. They make the trip more convenient and safe.
If you are going to build an Uber shuttle-like app, you have to overlook the main features for airport shuttle:
Passenger-oriented features in Uber-like apps
Passengers and drivers use different functionality in the app. When developing this type of application, you should consider all these features for customers to ensure the positive user experience:
- Registration – via different services like email, Facebook, phone number, or other social networks with verification.
- Taxi Booking – refers to the feature represented on the screen for entering the address, selection of car type, and set pickup location.
- Fare Calculator – tracking the price before the beginning of a ride
- Driver Tracking – the ability to observe the location and movement of your driver
- Payment – multiple payment methods are necessary and should be implemented via credit card, Apple Pay, etc.
- Push Notifications – informs about your driver, his moving and arrival to your destination
- Chat or phone number – the ability to contact the driver from the app.
- Driver Rating & Review – feedback about your trip and driver skills
- Travel History – shows details from previous rides and transactions.
- Customer Support
Driver Functionality in Uber-like apps
Drivers, compared to passengers, tend to make use of another set of functions inside the application. It is one app with two diverse versions appropriate for drivers and customers. Among the main driver’s features are:
- Profile & Status -verification of driver is done by an administrator and demands some data – license, personal info, vehicle insurance. Also, the profile should be filled with name, age, type of car, etc.
- Trip Alert – ability to receive trip orders to accept or cancel them
- Push Notifications – used for alerts, taxi app booking information, trip changes, and completion.
- Navigation & Route Optimization – offer the best trip route using Google Maps.
- Driver Delivery Reports – provides statistical information regarding trips and earnings
- Chat – texting or calling to a passenger from the app.
Process of booking a car
The process of searching and booking a car should be as simple and as fast as it is possible. It is important to remember that there are many other taxi apps that can offer and provide a ride more quickly than your company. So we prepared a list of main steps of making the order need for the Uber shuttle-like app:
- Request for a ride – customers need to type end destination and see the fares that depend on the type of vehicles they want to choose from existing categories.
- Verification of ride – the confirmation of data, initial destination, and type of payment – credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or others. The info about your cards should be typed before the beginning of your trip.
- Connection with nearby driver – the driver can accept or cancel the trip
- The size of payment will be automatically shown at the end of a ride and the money will be written off from your card. Also, there is an advanced function of giving tips to the driver after the trip – the sum is chosen by you and also written off from your card.
- Rating and comments about the trip and drivers, it is important to get feedback from customers to improve the app in the future.
Integration with Google Maps
All Uber-like apps have to be integrated with maps service. It is an irreplaceable feature of taxi solutions. Uber shuttle-like apps are not an exception. The best and most accurate type of integration is with Google Maps. This service is usually used in all applications that have a function of geolocation. Our developers’ team has a rich experience in interaction software solutions with Google maps. On our account, there are several huge projects where the function location is vital. Among them is the Bestyn application where users chat with their neighbors in messenger, post, and exchange local events and news, discover what’s happening nearby, and create Business Profile to get more options in Bestyn.
Integration with Google Maps gives the ability to track drivers, to see the accurate destination, the location of passengers, the right direction – all crucial options for Uber shuttle-like apps.
How Much Does the Uber-like App Cost?
The cost of development of an Uber shuttle-like app varies and depends on the functionality of future solutions. This type of application is a complex development and the price depends on many factors. Among them are:
- Variety & complexity of features and functions
- Design features
- Number of services and operating system conditions
- Technology and frameworks
- Development team experience, level of expertise, capabilities, location, & rates
These are the basic points if talking about application development. For building a successful solution for your business, it is important to choose a team of appropriate developers who know how to create the individual and high-quality product:
- Back-end developer
- Web developer
- iOS & Android developers
- Native app interface (UX/UI Design)
- Project manager
- Quality assurance specialist
- Business analysis
Depending on the functionality the development may cost from $3600 to $150 000.
Conclusion
Building an Uber shuttle-like app is a complex and durable process that demands high quality and experienced developers. There is a rather huge level of competition among Uber-like apps and other taxi services so. It is crucial to make the solution individual and creative. It should offer user-friendly design, advanced and powered by modern functionality, and suitable technologies. The first and main step is to build an excellent and successful business strategy to produce a great solution. Our Business Analysis can help you with your project and make it popular in the modern market, so feel free to contact us for professional consultation.