October 04, 2021

How to Create an Uber-like App in 2022 !!! UPDATE !!! : Overview of the Business, Features, and Costs

Oleg Goncharenko

IT Consultant

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Uber appeared on the US market ten years ago, once it was officially announced in San Francisco. Since that time, it has grown up to be the biggest transportation network. Being represented in 85 countries and operating in over 10,000 cities, Uber does not possess any cars. The ridesharing service operates due to the independent drivers' community, which counts over 3,5 mil people today.

How did Uber grow so big? What is the secret of their success? Apparently, there shouldn't be any other answer than that: they have changed the rider customer's experience, having made it more friendly and suitable.

map view in uber app

Source: sfchronicle.com

Garretе Camp, a founder and the creator of the Uber idea, claimed that the former cab service hadn't been transparent to a passenger. He was confused when seeing the empty yellow cab on the roads of San Francisco while having to wait for his taxi continually. Besides that, the arrival time of the cab often went far from expected: customers had to wait longer and never knew the final estimate until the end of the fare.

Soon after, Garrett Camp and his companion Travis Kalanick created the mobile app Uber which turned the following principles to life:

  • A rider can order a cab in a few clicks so that a car will arrive in five minutes.
  • Before booking a fare, a rider can view the price of the service.
  • A cab should be dispatched to a rider at whatever time or place regardless of the weather conditions or community events.
  • Payment could be processed cashless, with no need to care about change.
  • Car owners could join the platform and earn money by the schedule they prefer.

screen from the ubers first pitch deck on mac

A fragment from the Uber pitch deck made by Garrett Camp in 2008

Now riders prefer ordering taxis via mobile apps. Lots of transportation companies are interested in constructing mobile services like Uber.

If you are looking to create an uber-like application, you need to take a few steps:

  • Learn the business model of Uber;
  • Figure out their user experience;
  • Define the stack of technologies to implement.

Table of contents

Uber Business Model: Value Proposition Comes First

Uber eliminated the third part from the riding process. Currently, a rider orders a fare straight to a driver located in the same area. That takes less time to pick up. Instead of a taxi service company, Uber dispatches the process automatically.

The Uber app significantly simplified the ride-hailing process:

  • There is no need for a passenger to call by phone and tell the dispatcher the specifics of the location. Uber indicates the passenger on the map and asks to confirm a place to start a trip.
  • The dispatcher doesn't need to check for taxis in the area and explain the order details to a driver.
  • The driver doesn't need to call back to the dispatcher to confirm the arrival or specify the destination.
  • The system automatically calculates the fare's cost, no need for a driver to call back to the dispatcher and report the final price.

Uber addressed the issues of the taxi consumers as no other tool for the same price. That is what value proposition is: a product gives a range of advantages that can't be purchased elsewhere for equal cost.

virtuous-cyrcle-of-uber

Source: andrewchen.com

When creating an uber-like application, consider the value proposition at the first point. Study the current experience of passengers and drivers, find the most critical issues in their process routing and try to resolve them. It will make your product needful and encourage new users to move to your platform.

Drivers' Acquisition Strategy of Uber

In 2014, according to Statista, Uber became the world's most valuable startup. The company was evaluated so highly due to opening a new space in the transportation economy. Like Airbnb, they found a way to share unused cars with consumers. Its value has risen more, and its cost today is $70 billion.

value of Uber

Source: Statista.com

Uber relied on individuals who were up to make extra money using their cars. To join the platform, drivers needed to meet feasible requirements. Right after receiving permission to their account, they could go online and pick the passengers. Besides that, Uber managed to automate the ridesharing process and provide the drivers with perfect onboarding.

The growing supply helped Uber to delight passengers with lower prices for the rides. They were provided with a range of opportunities like UberX and Pool that essentially save their money.

Comparison of the fare cost in Uber and other ride-share apps

Source: appinventiv.com

Today Uber serves over 69% of the rideshare market in the US and completes 18,7 million rides per day worldwide.

But it is getting more and more challenging for Uber to ensure low-cost fares. The lesser price for the ride is, the fewer the income drivers receive. At current, their hourly rate is hardly the same as the minimum wages in the US.

Wages of Uber drivers

Source: epi.org

Uber charges 30% lower than regular taxis. Besides that, the system takes over 33% commission from the passenger fare. For the remaining salary, drivers need to pay for the gas, insurance, self-employment taxes and vehicle expenses.

Despite ads claiming drivers could earn $90,000 a year or on average, or make $25 an hour, the average take-home pay of an Uber driver in the US in 2018 — after expenses — was estimated by the Economic Policy Institute to only be $9.21 an hour, slightly above the federal minimum wage.

The quoted source: CB INSIGHTS

The Economic Policy Institute studied the driver wages at Uber. Based on their summary, the driver earns an equivalent of $9.21 in hourly wages. This conclusion comes from the following calculation:

  • An Uber driver typically collects $24.77 per hour in passenger fares.
  • A platform takes $8.33 from that for the commission and booking fee.
  • Gas and technical maintenance of the vehicle cost about $4.87 per hour.
  • Since they are self-employed, from the remaining $11.77 per hour, a driver needs to pay $0.90 in extra Social Security and Medicare taxes.
  • If the driver is willing to pay ​​for health insurance or contribute to a retirement plan, he or she will eventually get $9.21 per hour, if they reduce these benefits they take home 10.87 per hour.

The low compensation discourages Uber drivers. Statistically, only 4% of them remain on the platform after a year since registration. For the last two years, the number of drivers decreased from 5 to 3,5 mil. It means that Uber lost over 30% of its fleet and has to pay more to get new drivers. In April of 2021, Uber spent $250 mil for the one-off bonuses to get the drivers back.

Uber's Revenue and Expenses

The high user churn affects the whole business of Uber. Nearly annually, the company reports billions of losses. Let's view their revenue statistics for the previous years.

Uber Annual Revenue

YearRevenue
2014$0.4 billion
2015$1.7 billion
2016$5 billion
2017$7.9 billion
2018$11.3 billion
2019$14.1 billion
2020$11.1 billion

Source: Uber

Uber Profit

YearProfit
2014($0.7 billion)
2015($1.6 billion)
2016($3.6 billion)
2017($4 billion)
2018$1 billion
2019($8.5 billion)
2020($6.7 billion)

Parentheses indicate a loss.

Source: Uber

The key drivers of Uber expenses are the revenue cost (software development, commission for the payment cards, insurance), administrative (expansion to the new regions), and sales and marketing.

Main expenses of Uber

Source: uber.com

Once you decide to make an uber-like application, take into account the factors leading to a churn. Find out the transparent scheme of compensation for the driver-partners, and be honest regarding the service price in front of your customers. This way you will gain their trust and establish long-term relations.

Motivational Programs for Drivers

Among the biggest challenges of the two-sided marketplace is user satisfaction. This type of service takes off the barriers for contractors, increasing the range of opportunities. In a while, the competition grows, and the vendors agree to work for lower prices to receive any profit. It makes the work less beneficial so that professional-level specialists leave the space for finding better opportunities. As a result, customers do not meet enough supply and don't gain quality service.

Uber has faced the same challenges: the drivers' supply is variable and brings a substantial risk to the marketplace.

  • In 2020, many drivers stopped driving because they couldn't count on getting enough trips to make it worth their time.
  • In 2021, there are more riders requesting trips than drivers available to give them — making it a great time to be a driver.

The following statistics help us understand the specifics of driver users:

  • Most Uber drivers work full or part-time at another job (Princeton University).
  • More than 50% of Uber drivers are working less than 10 hours a week (CNBC);
  • 46% of drivers have been there for less than one year (Ridester).

To keep up the permanent supply, Uber implemented gamification into a ride-hailing process. One of those elements is a heat map that aims to encourage drivers to reach more orders. The feature operates through the following steps:

  • The platform predicts the highest passenger demand and shows it on the map in a real-time mode.
  • Arriving at a surging area, a driver gets a new order in a short time.
  • After completing a trip, the system adds the surge earning to the passenger fare cost.

uber heat map feature

Source: RideGuru

Most likely that before moving to yours, drivers have worked with other ride-hailing apps, such as Lyft and Bolt. The same as Uber, they are using the analogy of the heat map. So, consider this option for your scope since it is matching with the current experience of drivers. Discover the main problems of the heat map in the competitor apps and find out how to address them. Resolving that, you will add more value to your product and make your uber-like app more advanced.

Uber faces not only the drivers' but the passenger's churn. One of the reasons is driver cancellations based on the destination. Usually, the drivers look to pick the passengers within the nearest location or offer a long-distance route. So, cancellations extend the waiting time and make passengers look through the other taxi apps.

Because of passenger churn, Uber set the new rules to the platform:

  1. The Uber app stopped showing the details on the upcoming rides to the drivers, who regularly cancel the offers. "It would hide the fare, destination and distance from drivers who had not accepted five of their last 10 trip requests” (The Washington Post).
  2. If the drivers complete a certain number without cancellations, they will be rewarded with a bonus added to their salary. In Austin (TX), for instance, ​​drivers are guaranteed $1,100 if they complete 115 trips, meanwhile, in Phoenix (AZ) they could earn $1,775 if they fulfill 200 trips (CNBC).

quest-features-in-uber

The screens showing the reward for completing 80 trips (which were done without cancellation).

Fare Cost and Price Composition

The most discussed topic about Uber is its pricing model. At the moments of the highest demand, the cost of the fare essentially increases. For that case, a passenger needs to decide: whether to agree on the proposed price or look for other options. Or, maybe, to revisit the app in 10-15 minutes and check if the price becomes lower.

Whenever rates are raised due to surge pricing, the Uber app lets riders know. Some riders will choose to pay, while some will choose to wait a few minutes to see if the rates go back down (Uber).

Uber calculates the price for each ride individually. Except for the standard cost that includes the time, distance and base fare, the price may contain a variable - a surge price. Until the latest time, the surge algorithm was comprehensive to the drivers and passengers: it had been computed based on specific circumstances, such as prime time, bad weather or special event. But currently, the pricing has changed.

Uber charges more if they think you're willing to pay more (Forbes).

Uber composes the price based on customer behavior. Its AI-based algorithm is aimed to find out the best moment when a user is willing to spend more. Say, it can set a higher price if the phone battery is to die. Or simply if a user's capacity allows them to pay over the regular cost. The approach is called dynamic pricing, and the company relies on it to return the investments.

... pricing can vary from minute to minute. It can also pull in personal customer data and historical activity to determine how to price the ride. If your online behavior shows a pattern of going certain places and times, it may charge more to your account at those times (Forbes).

And now, get back to the driver's earnings. Currently, if the passenger pays the surge price, Uber doesn't split it with the driver. Previously, it shared the ultimate trip earning based on the commission fee (it took only 25% for UberX, for example). But since not long ago, Uber has excluded the surge from driver's earnings.

Remember the heat map illustration populated with bonuses? "Instead of receiving a portion of the true value of what customers pay, drivers now instead are paid for their time and distance on the trip and a predetermined bonus, say $3, $5 or $10 for any price surges" (The Washington Post).

As you learned from the previous paragraphs, dynamic pricing is the key to resolving Uber's profitability problems. While developing your uber-like project, focus on individual pricing. The more flexible you are at this point, the more safe your business will be.

Summary of the Uber Business Model

Thank you for reading. Knowing the aspects of the rideshare business will help you avoid the most critical issues. Based on the Uber experience, we could outline the essential points on how to make the uber-like app more efficient:

  • Simplify the user journey. Conduct user interviews with the drivers and riders. Study their process routine to make it more friendly and straightforward.
  • Prevent user churn. Keep user satisfaction in mind as a key factor affecting a churn. Find out how to decrease the number of ride cancellations, long awaiting time and unreasonable pricing.
  • Consider the customer acquisition cost (CAC). Along with the revenue cost, it is one of the pain points of Uber. Because of that, its expenses outweigh the profit.
  • Focus on drivers’ benefits. Please find out how to make their work profitable in the long-term perspective. Provide incentives programs to motivate them to complete more orders.
  • Set individual pricing as it may become the primary profit source for your rideshare service.

A Roadmap to Develop an Uber-like App

The development of the rideshare application includes the following iterations:

  1. Business analysis;
  2. UI/UX design;
  3. Feature implementation;
  4. Testing.

structure-of-the-development-process

Business Analysis

The first milestone, 'Business Analysis,' aims to outline the project requirements. They need to be specified in two ways: in the format of user stories and feature explanations. This way, you could convey the full image of your product to a manager and software engineers.

Let's describe the user stories based on the Uber example. Reading this, you will learn about the scope of a similar app.

Overview of the Rider User Stories

Registration and Account Creation

  • A rider user registers to the app;
  • A system sends a code via the SMS;
  • A rider continues the registration by submitting the received code;
  • A rider user enters the app and creates a profile;
  • A rider user confirms the personality.

Destination Settings

  • A rider specifies the destination ('Where To Go');
  • A system shows the price per each ride category (UberX, Black, UberXL, or Comfort);
  • A rider chooses the ride category along with the calculated price;
  • A rider chooses the pick-up spot and confirms it;
  • A rider selects the payment method and submits the required data.

Sending the Request

  • A rider makes a request;
  • A system begins searching for available drivers;
  • A rider views the details on the driver and vehicle and the estimated time for arrival;
  • A rider could track the driver's movement;
  • A rider could track the vehicle's movement during the ride.

Arrival Settings

  • A rider would view the notification if the driver arrived;
  • A rider can view the details on the free waiting time once a driver arrives;
  • If a rider is late to come, they are notified about the paid waiting time;
  • A rider should confirm (orally) their name to a driver before sitting in a car.

Advanced Booking Features

  • Book / Schedule a ride upfront;
  • Book a ride for another person;
  • View the driver's profile information;
  • Save the frequently used destination;
  • Specify the extra stops and drop-offs;
  • Cancel the ride.

After the Ride is Completed

  • A rider can rate a service;
  • A rider can leave the tips;
  • A rider can get a cashback.

Emergency and Support

  • Share ride information with other people;
  • Chat or message to a driver;
  • Support and Emergency calls.

Payment Features

  • A system releases the payment once a ride is completed;
  • A rider could pay for a trip via cash;
  • A rider user could split the fare cost with another passenger (this feature is not available until the end of the COVID pandemic).

In the recent release version, Uber added new features that made the ride-hailing process more suitable.

The rider could specify a particular spot on the map

Uber's product team enabled the riders with the ability to choose the spot for picking up. With that feature, drivers can view a specific place where they can meet a passenger. It makes their routine much easier since they do not need to call their clients upfront. Besides that, they are not wasting their time to find a rider if they are waiting somewhere in a crowded area (park, airport, railway station, stadium, or concert hall).

If you envision targeting the big city, you could keep the following user experience in your mind:

specific-location-of-rider

Take into account that Uber first displays an overall price to the rider and afterward prompts a user to confirm the location. This feature doesn't affect the price of a trip. At the end of the ride, the application reminds a user to put on a mask.

Uber checks the rider's identity

At the beginning of registration, passengers should confirm their identity. It should be done by submitting the data concerning either document: state ID, passport, driver's license, or through the payment card credentials.

riders-identity-checking-up

Safety is crucial for the community-driven platform, so it makes sense to ensure the person's identity feature. Except for that, Uber implemented a panic button feature so that a passenger may call an emergency if they ended up in a dangerous circumstance.

Overview of the Driver User Stories

Uber's Driver Registration

  • A user opens the app and submits the phone number;
  • A system sends a confirmation code via SMS;
  • A user submits the data to prove the personal identity;
  • A user sends a request to create a driver account at Uber (a user should first receive permission from Uber).

Requirements to an Applicant

  • Age: be at least 21 years old;
  • Driving license: should be valid in the country for at least one year;
  • Transport: a five doors vehicle not older than 10 years;
  • Insurance: to have car insurance in their name.

After sending the request, a user waits for permission. If successful, they will be invited to the local office of Uber to get the vehicle inspected.

First Steps

  • A driver logs in to the account;
  • A driver takes a selfie to confirm the personality;
  • A driver views the map to choose the destination;
  • A driver views the highest demand on the heat map.

Receiving a Request

  • A driver selects the riding area by using the destination filter;
  • A driver clicks on the 'GO' button to start the job;
  • A system begins searching for incoming requests;
  • A system sends an offer to a driver once a new request arrives;
  • A driver could accept or cancel the offer within a specific time.

Dispatching Process

  • If accepted, a driver can view the rider's profile and the destination details;
  • A driver can view the navigation screen by clicking on the 'Navigate' button;
  • A driver chooses the preferable destination to get to a rider’s place;
  • A driver can track the rider's location on the map;
  • A driver should confirm the arrival once they get to the place;
  • A driver presses 'Start Uber X' (or another, depending on the ride category) to initiate the ride.

Finishing the Ride

  • A driver finishes the ride by clicking on 'Complete 'UberX' (or another trip category);
  • A driver could receive a new ride request (if online);
  • A driver could switch to offline mode;
  • A driver can rate a rider and leave feedback;
  • A driver can view the upcoming promotions.

Communication Features

  • A driver user can view the rider's profile information;
  • A driver user could chat with a rider user;
  • A driver user can view the cell phone number of the rider user.

Earnings and Promotions

  • A driver can view the profits after a ride is completed ('Waybill');
  • A driver can view the gains after the quest is completed;
  • A driver can view the earnings from the tips;
  • A driver could track the income statistics.

Safety and Security Features

  • A driver could enable the ‘Follow my Ride’ option (for safety purposes);
  • A driver can call the 911 emergency service (by clicking on the ‘Shield’ icon).

Payment Features

  • A driver user could bind their payment card into account;
  • A driver gets compensation for the toll;
  • A driver receives medical insurance for the hours spent online;
  • A driver could get compensation if the trip was canceled.

main-features-of-uber-like app

Due to the business analysis, we are able to come up with the core features list:

To Match a Rider With a Driver

  • Determine the rider's geolocation;
  • Measure the distance of the route;
  • Find an available driver in a specific location;
  • Send an offer to a driver (either waiting for a new request or finishing the ride shortly).

To Calculate the Time and Price of the Trip

  • Calculate the estimated time of arrival (ETA);
  • Calculate the price based on the duration, distance and base fare;
  • Calculate the driver's wage due to online hours and distance.

To Automate the Dispatch Process

  • Navigate a driver to a pickup spot;
  • Determine the surging area based on the prediction services;
  • Display the surging area (heat map) to a driver;
  • Notify a rider about the surge price.

To Set Communications

  • Enable a call via the phone device;
  • Enable SMS sending via the phone device;
  • Leave a comment before a ride order;
  • Establish chat messaging.

To Release a Payment

  • Process the payment to a driver after the order is completed;
  • Compensate a driver's spendings if a rider canceled a trip;
  • Calculate Uber's service fee from each trip;
  • Add the surge bonus to the driver's wage;
  • Reward the driver after finishing the quest;
  • Enable a rider to pay tips.

To Write a Feedback

  • Rate a driver/rider after the service is completed;
  • Leave feedback.

UI/UX Design

Before taking on the code programming, we recommend you complete the UI/UX design. The finished graphic layouts will help you examine the scope of the app and finalize the feature requirements.

If you pick Figma or Sketch systems for creating the layouts, you will be able to make them clickable. This way, you could simulate the user steps across the app and validate each function.

The clickable visuals will help your developers estimate the features and come up with the timeframe to complete them.

Approximately, the UI/UX design for the uber-like will take 640 hours to complete. This calculation is based on the user stories described in the article. Along with that, we estimated a web admin side needed for management.

Type of ApplicationQuantity of screensTime to complete
Rider's application75 screens240 hours
Driver's application50 screens200 hours
Web-app (admin panel)45 screens200 hours
TOTAL170 screens640 hours

How Long Does It Take To Create an Uber-like App?

When estimating the project, we followed a few scenarios: optimistic, pessimistic and most realistic. Based on outcoming figures, we calculated the average time using the PERT methodology.

The overall time needed to deliver the project:

  • Rider's App - 172 days.
  • Driver's App - 172 days.
  • Admin's Website - 125 days.

We calculated the time for the following team:

  • DevOps engineer - 1;
  • Node.js developer (back-end) - 1;
  • React Native developer (mobile app front-end) - 1;
  • React.js developer - 1.

Keep in mind that the below-given timeframe pertains to the programming services only. Additionally, we would need to evaluate the Q&A and project manager's work.

Once you want to accelerate the delivery of your project, you could add more programming specialists.

Rider's App

FeaturesMobile App, DaysBack-end, DaysTotal time, Days
General project setup4.61014.6
Infrastructure setup-22
Application publishing4-4
Onboarding screens2.5-2.5
Authorization process71118
Rider account8513
Account settings41.55.5
Rider's dashboard ('Where To')3.751.255
A new ride request8.753.7512.5
Ride requesting process102737
Saved locations1.523.5
Schedule future rides31.254.25
Rider's menu module0.75-0.75
System messages to a rider2.51.54
Rider's payments6814
Rides history2.52.55
Help info1.750.752.5
Arrival tracking: estimated time of arrival, vehicle view on the map3.7569.75
Rate a driver2.52.55
Tips for a rider1.751.253
Cashback bonus1.54.56
OVERALL TIME80.191.75171.85

Driver's App

FeaturesMobile App, DaysBack-end, DaysTotal time, Days
General project setup and integrations6814
App's infrastructure setup-22
Application publishing2-2
Onboarding screens2.25-2.25
The authorization process for drivers639
Driver's profile7310
Driver's dashboard4.5-4.5
Real-time statistics34.57.5
Navigate to a pick-up spot2.52.55
Worked hours statistics21.253.25
Driver's menu module2.2-2.2
System messages to driver1.753.55.25
Help info and support1910
Earnings statistics44.58.5
Driver's wallet6612
Account info61.57.5
New offer and rider's details6612
Dispatching process181331
Ride processing5712
Rate a rider2.252.254.5
Payment features-88
OVERALL TIME87.4585172.45

Admin panel (Web-app)

FeaturesFront-end, DaysBack-end, DaysTotal time, Days
General project setup and integrations2.21.53.7
Infrastructure setup-22
Statistics: registered users, revenue, rides completed7.5613.5
Search filters for drivers' statistics4.5​​4.59
View the details on the driver56.7511.75
Manage the drivers activities358
List view of riders in the system2.252.254.5
View the details on the rider2.524.5
Manage the riders activities2.51.253.75
List view of all rides2.252.254.5
View the details on the ride2.513.5
Messaging with users6612
List view of locations1.51.53
Manage locations101121
System notifications for admin users538
Manage admin users6612
OVERALL TIME62.762124,7

Feature Implementation

How to define the technical stack?

There are no strict requirements regarding the technologies. You could select them depending on your strategy and preferences. If you are looking to develop native apps, your product will demonstrate perfect graphic rendering.

Meanwhile, you could save your budget by choosing the cross-platforming app development, which will help you reach a decent quality. Frameworks like React Native and Flutter allow creating mobile apps for iOS and Android with a single programming language. This way, you will develop the project with fewer team and budget expenses.

We would love to point out Node.js. This framework enables creating a back-end with JavaScript. Its lightweight architecture will help you build performative server-side rendering and effortless integration with mobile applications. Uber utilizes Node.js for back-end development too.

The programming languages and solutions to build your uber-like app:

  • React/Redux, Node.js, Ruby on Rails (for web-app);
  • React Native / Flutter (for cross platforming mobile app);
  • Kotlin/Java (Android), Objective C/Swift (iOS) for native apps;
  • Google Cloud Platform, AWS, Microsoft Azure for cloud storage.

The third-party APIs that you definitely need

The key features of Uber-like applications, like GPS tracking and payment processing, could be handled with external services. Let's overview the leading ones required for the development:

GPS Location:

  • CoreLocation Framework (iOS);
  • Google Location Service API (Android);
  • Mapbox (for Android and iOS).

Route Destination:

  • Apple MapKit (iOS);
  • Google Maps Android API;
  • Mapbox (for Android and iOS).

Navigation:

  • Google Maps SDK (Android and iOS);
  • Waze (Android and iOS).

Payment Gateway Integration:

  • Braintree;
  • Stripe;
  • PayPal;
  • Google Pay;
  • Apple Pay.

Push Notifications / Messaging:

  • Apple Push Notifications Service;
  • Google Cloud Messaging (GCM);
  • Twilio.

The third-party solutions leverage the development speed but require considerable investments. Let's recall the previous paragraph on the key drivers of Uber's expenses. The biggest one is the delivery cost, which includes the map and payment processing services fees.

map-view-on-the-screen-in-uber Source: unsplash.com

Uber utilizes the Google Map SDK. It is a powerful solution, compatible with both iOS and Android platforms. Unfortunately, it is pretty expensive for early-stage companies. Our latest review analyzed Google Maps API with another service, Mapbox, finding it cheaper. Although it does not provide the same range of features as Google Maps, the Mapbox seems to be a decent alternative.

Regarding the global payment processors, you should first check if they operate in your region. Alternatively, you could use the local payment systems. After you proved your product concept and decided to scale up, you could switch to global operators, like Stripe and Braintree.

How to Choose a Vendor?

The development of the uber-like application requires sufficient investments. A contractor with a similar expertise and proficiency level will guarantee that you will not waste your time and money.

Consider the following criteria for choosing a vendor for building your app:

Expertise in the related area

Make sure that the vendor has similar expertise as you seek. Inquire if they ever dealt with developing the two-sided marketplace. The appropriate contractor must know about the business logic and technical requirements. The big advantage for the candidate is to have the experience of integration with Google Maps SDK and payment gateways like Stripe and Braintree.

Proficiency in product design

The product you envision creating requires essential commitment in terms of the business analysis. The software contractor should be familiar with the product specifics and help you figure out the project's main priorities. Besides that, the software supplier should be flexible and follow your strategic goals. Inquire if the candidate contractor could assist you with the business analyses developing your product.

Extendable team

The rideshare business faces constant changes. To get it profitable, it must expand to other markets. Scaling up brings new challenges and adaptations. The development team should move fast along with you and fulfill your requirements. The supplier with a big crew could help you extend the functionality and meet your deadline expectations. It concerns not only the development crew but project managers, Q&A specialists, project managers and designers.

Suggested team structure

  • UI/UX designer - 1.
  • Node.js engineer - 2.
  • React Native developer - 2.
  • React.js developer - 1.
  • DevOps engineer - 1.
  • Quality assurance specialist - 1.
  • Project manager - 1.

Conclusion

Business like Uber requires lots of time and finances. Before you take on it, make sure that your service will meet customer demand, and you will return from your investments. Sure thing, it is hard to predict what comes next until you launch your company. Nevertheless, some criteria can help you validate your business strategy.

Check your value proposition by answering these questions:

Competitor Analysis

  • What competitor uber-like apps operate in your area?
  • What are the distinctive features of competitors?
  • How much does it cost for them to acquire new customers?
  • How could you minimize the customer acquisition cost?

UX Research

  • What are the pain points users are facing while working with the competitor uber-like apps?
  • Do you have an idea for enhancing the existing user flow?
  • What visual patterns do you envision for your app design?

Marketing Strategy

  • Do you plan to test your product app before launching it on the market?
  • How will you reach out to the early adopters?
  • How many users would you love to acquire for the initial period?

Product Development

  • What core features would you love to implement in your app?
  • Did you calculate the cost of using the third-party APIs?
  • What third-party solutions are you looking to integrate with?
  • What languages would you love to add to the app's service?

You could enlarge the proposed checklist. If you need assistance with evaluating your project or any consultations regarding technologies and product implementation, please feel free to address Brocoders.

We are looking to extend our expertise and find new partners. Address us once you need to get your project evaluated or need a consultation regarding its feature development.

About Brocoders

Our team helps startup companies build their online products. Since 2013 we have crafted over 70 web-based and mobile applications for our clients. Among those is Gokada - a rideshare service operating in Nigeria. While working on this project, we obtained sufficient experience in feature implementation and product design of the uber-like apps.

Featured Articles

  1. Uber and the labor market. Uber drivers' compensation, wages, and the scale of Uber and the gig economy // Economic Policy Institute, May 18, 2018.
  2. Uber's virtuous cycle. Geographic density, hyperlocal marketplaces, and why drivers are key // Andrew Chen's Blog.
  3. Uber Charges More If They Think You're Willing To Pay More // Forbes, March 30, 2019.
  4. Why Can't Uber Make Money? // Forbes, December 14, 2017.
  5. Here is Uber's first pitch deck // TechCrunch, August 23, 2017.

FAQ on Uber's App Business

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