Scooter Sharing App Development – Top Benefits and Features to Know

As the article headline says, we are going to talk about creating a scooter sharing app which is basically a taxi-hailing app, and quite similar to Uber & Ola. But there is a valid question that arises why there is a need for Scooter Sharing specific apps when we have already such big taxi business players in the market?

Benefits of Scooter Sharing App Development

Cost-Effective & Source of Employment:

There is no doubt that scooter consumes less fuel compared to cars wherein crude oil is expensive; hence, affordable. It has also emerged as a successful and needed taxi business. For example, bike taxis are commonly used in tourist states like Goa for the convenience of visitors and are a popular source of employment.

Time-Saving:

Bike taxi only takes a fraction of the time to commute a person from one place to another. In the highly populated countries of Indonesia & Thailand where traffic jam is a daily show, people are commuting through bike taxis over car taxis.

According to a Brookings India report, the sharing economy is believed to reach 335 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 in the country. Besides, the concept of sharing the ride, bike taxis were seen as innovative for tackling the problems of growing traffic jams and pollution in major cities.

Taking these benefits and reports into consideration, it is worth investing money in developing an on-demand taxi app. You will be able to find many Taxi Booking App Development Companies which can design your app according to your needs.

In such apps, you let that app know that you need a taxi and also about your current location. Then, your app finds a nearby taxi for you by asking for nearby available drivers. Any nearby driver accepts your request, and then they come to your location. If you have noticed the overhead lines, then it mostly talks about the feature “location” which is the backbone of such apps. If your location feature works well, then, your business is going in the right direction. Taxi booking apps are mostly based on the below mapping & geolocation features. As we know that current iOS & Android are dominating the mobile app market. I have tried to describe the Location features of both platforms:

Spot the device’s location:

For iOS Apps, the Core-Location framework is used to track the location of the user. The core-location framework gets the device’s geographic location and its orientation & shares it with Uber. Hence, it is easy for Uber to monitor any movement in the device’s location. In Android, Google Location APIs are used to facilitate such services.

Driving to the destination:

Once a ride is booked, the app should be able to identify the right direction of the destination from the pickup point. For iOS, Mapkit is being used. Mapkit comes with the iOS SDK, which provides map navigation functions. For Android, Google Maps Android API is being used, which is widely famous.

Map Integration:

Now we know about what are the Geolocation services for both mobile platforms and how they work. It is important to have maps integrated within the app so that buyers will get all the options in one place. Currently, Google Maps is the dominating map service in this category as it is the most reliable Map technology. Hence, it is advisable to integrate your app with Google Maps Services for both iOS & Android platforms.

You can also use one of the recommended software which is designed to enhance online booking called “Shuttle Booking Software”.

Payment Gateway:

Today’s world believes in the cashless system, and with the increase of technology, there are various electronic payment methods available in the market. Always make sure that your payment methods have to be compliant with industry standards. One of them is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), which is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. In effect, this applies to any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID). You can offer a mix of online payment options which are:

PayPal:

PayPal is a service that enables you to pay, send money, and accept payments. You can register your credit card or debit card with your PayPal account. After registering the card, you can make the payment after logging in to your account.

Credit/Debit Card:

You can sign up with any credit/debit payment gateway like Billdesk, Paytm, etc.

App User Interface (UI):

While designing the app UI, the processes of booking a taxi, tracking a taxi, and making payments should be smooth and flawless because these are the primary functions that will be used frequently. Your homepage should open the customer’s geolocation, and point to their exact location. Your homepage should also have the search option to find the destination so that the system will be able to map the route from the starting point to the destination. All other options such as the Help section, Manage Payment, and Account settings should be located in three-dot menus on the left side.

Registration:

Creating an account to avail of your services is the first step. If a customer finds it painful, then there are higher chance that they will uninstall your app. Users should be asked about their Name, Photo, Phone number, and Email Address. Users will not appreciate sharing their more information. Hence, be cautious while creating the registration process for your users.

Cancel a ride:

Many times, riders cancel the rides due to various reasons. For example, Plan Change, Wrong Location, taxi is not moving, etc. Riders should be offered such options to get a seamless booking experience.

Push notifications:

Notifications play an important role to keep your rider updated about their booking. Your app should notify the rider from booking confirmation till the ending of the rider. Users will always appreciate such status updates about their rides. There are two types of notifications that are generally sent to users: In-app Notifications & SMS notifications. In-app notifications are eye-catchy, fast, and reliable however if the internet is off then users will not get these notifications. In such situations, SMS notifications are best as they will land in their phone’s message inbox. Users should be given the option to choose between these types of notifications.

Recommended Features:

Favorite Location:

This is one of the most prominent and efficient features for the users especially for daily commuters. Daily commuters have their fix places such as their office, school, colleges, etc. By using this feature, they can save their location and book it without searching for it manually.

Favorite Payment option:

It is frustrating when someone has to enter their payment details repeatedly. Hence, many service providers do provide the option to save the card option to pay later. This is a good option for regular riders. This option is generally available for Credit/Debit cards where users are only required to enter some information on the card and the rest of the details are already saved.

In-app call:

Users are very cautious about their private information. As a taxi service provider, it is your responsibility that user data is not shared with anyone and it has serious legal consequences if data is leaked by any means. For rider and driver communication, you can provide an in-call option wherein the driver or rider can call each other using internet-based calling. In this method, the driver and rider will not be able to see their phone numbers. Also, there are business telecom services available wherein rider and driver can call each other with a pseudo number and their original numbers will remain unknown.

Business Marketing:

As we have discussed the benefits of a bike taxi business and its app design, now let’s talk about how you are going to market your business. To promote your app, the first step would be targeting metro cities as you will be able to find suitable customers for your business. Once you identify the city, you can plan the marketing strategies:

Organizing events for drivers:

Organizing an event for drivers is a good opportunity to explain your business vision and explaining the benefits. As mentioned above, you can describe your business as a good source of income for unskilled people who know the driving. Also, you can take them into confidence with the high rate of margins and daily payouts in their bank account.

Discount or Free Rides:

When Uber was introduced in India, they gave the first three to four rides free and this strategy worked. At least, they were able to create a good size of Userbase. Once they get a good chunk of buyers, they come up with discount offers instead of free rides. This was widely accepted by users. This is the common marketing strategy to maintain and retail your users on your app.

Online promotion:

You should also create an appealing internet website for your business where users will able to see all. You can hire blog writers for your business so that your website will appear in internet search results. You can also try Google Ad services to promote your business TV & Banner Marketing: This is the most common but effective marketing option which you must use.

Celebrity Endorsements:

Humans love to follow said by their favorite star celebrities. You can also collaborate with a celebrity for your brand endorsement. Users will have a unique feeling about your business promoted by one of their favorite celebrities.

How VOCSO can help?

VOCSO is a reputable mobile app development company that specializes in various types of app development, including scooter sharing app development. They have extensive experience and expertise in creating high-quality mobile applications tailored to meet the unique requirements of scooter sharing services.

When you choose VOCSO for your scooter sharing app development project, you can expect professional guidance and support throughout the entire development process. Their skilled team of app developers, designers, and testers work together to create a feature-rich and user-friendly app that aligns with your business goals.

VOCSO understands the importance of a seamless user experience in a scooter sharing app. They focus on developing intuitive interfaces that make it easy for users to locate, unlock, and rent scooters. Additionally, they can incorporate features such as real-time GPS tracking, payment integration, user profiles, and customer support to enhance the overall functionality of the app.

As a leading mobile app development company, VOCSO ensures that your scooter sharing app is compatible with both iOS and Android platforms, providing a wider reach for your target audience. They also prioritize app security and data privacy, implementing robust security measures to protect user information and transactions.

Throughout the development process, VOCSO maintains effective communication channels with their clients, ensuring that they are updated on the progress of the project and have the opportunity to provide feedback. This collaborative approach helps deliver a final product that meets or exceeds client expectations.

If you are looking to develop a scooter sharing app, VOCSO can be a reliable partner to transform your vision into a fully functional and visually appealing mobile application.