Grab – The Uber Like App Taking Southeast Asia by Storm

 

GrabTaxi is really giving a cold shudder to other taxi app solution in Southeast Asian market. What makes them so popular?

GrabCar is not a quite unknown name in the SouthEast Asian market. With $2 billion from Didi Chuxing and Softbank in July 2017, Grab is all set to break the monopoly of Uber in the Southeast Asian market. This ride-hailing company is popular in Singapore and Malaysia and cemented their alliance with an uber like app development.

$2B from SoftBank and Didi Chuxing, Grab is all set to take the Southeast Asian market by storm.CLICK TO TWEET

Founded by Antony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling in 2011, GrabTaxi got rebranded as Grab and brought their taxis (GrabTaxi), private car services (GrabCar), motorcycle taxis (GrabBike), social carpooling (GrabHitch) and last mile delivery (GrabExpress), under one umbrella. This was a signal to the Uber that Grab is all ready to take the market by storm in the next year. This year they made India the talent backyard for growing their taxi app solution.

Grab is a different company now. The valuation of the company has leaped from $1 billion to $6 billion, making it the high-valued tech startup in Southeast Asia. Their business swelled to over 1.8 million drivers with more than 60 million downloads making it larger than Uber.

Why is Southeast Asia a Breeding Ground for Taxi Apps like Grab or Uber?

Southeast Asia is an incredibly exciting region. There you will find an opportunity to make lives of the millions of people easier with the help of products and services that bring convenience and more income opportunities. Thus, transport apps have been able to address those numerous problems that previously no other technology had done.

Grab operates in more than 36 cities across seven countries in Southeast Asia, where it claims to have over 50 million downloads. Though focusing mainly on the private cars and licensed taxis, Grab also offers bike taxis, shuttle and carpooling in selected countries.

Uber in this stance, does not reveal their actual data in Southeast Asia, but on a business level, it has definitely witnessed profitability in some of the selected markets in Southeast Asia. Thus it made them prompt to invest in this market and India following their exit from China. As said that the growth of uber like app development in Southeast Asia is visible in India. Since more companies like Grab, Go-Jek is hiring taxi app developers from India to give a fight back to Uber.

How to Make an App like GrabTaxi? 

Grab has grown over the years and it more than just a taxi app solution. This new brand which was common to those apps like Uber and Lyft has evolved in the last six years to outserve its customers in Southeast Asia. They have set a benchmark for many transport services that cater to all price points, available in one single app. They have hired taxi app developers to deliver a possible user experience.

Related Read: 7 Questions to Ask Your Taxi App Developers Before Developing Apps like Grab, Uber, and Lyft

Uber like app development does not mean the use of Uber clone script, to reproduce a second Uber. But Grab, which is loosely based on apps like Uber and Lyft is simple to build. The functions of this app are quite simple, mostly similar to taxi apps like Uber and Lyft.

• Entering a pickup and drop location in the address bar
• Application is able to find the closest driver
• Book a ride easily to a preferred destination
• Easy payment through various options etc

Uber Like App Development Features Grab Employed to Grow Like Others 

But these are general, features like other taxi app solutions. What serves as the USP of Grab is having more than 9 services in one single app –

• GrabCar – call a driver to drive you throughout the day or for few hours to different spots
• GrabHitch – to reach an address if you are ready to impart the cab to any individuals you do not know
• GrabShare – when you allow your buddies to share a ride with you
• GrabCouch – ride with more than 10 individuals together and get awesome offers on more people traveling.
• GrabShuttle – similar to bus service, you arrange only seating in the common transport which drives to your goal.
• Family  – it benefits riders with offers on the extremely agreeable condition
• JustGrab – when taxis or auto drivers can carry out the order
• GrabNow – for moment taxi ride for Grab rewards
• GrabRental – you can lease the auto to yourself, looking to change it for a day, month or even a year.

1. Passenger App Features

They also offer passenger and driver app on iOS and Android, along with an admin panel. A quick snapshot of common passenger app features that you can expect to find in a taxi app solution like Grab.

• Login through emails or social networks
• Track ride in real-time using GP
• Select a cab type – you have actually 9 types when it comes to Grab
• Approximate Ride estimate before booking a ride
• In-built payment methods using a debit card, credit card, in-app payment, etc.
• Driver ratings and feedback submission
• Booking history

2. Driver App Features

A quick snapshot of common driver app features that you can expect to find in a taxi app solution like Grab.

• Check the current booking status – Available, idle, or unavailable
• Incoming ride alert to the drivers through notifications/calls
• Navigation to a client location
• Timer for waiting at passenger’s location
• Google Map Navigation
• Entire access to booking history

Some common features that you will find in both passenger and the driver app includes – push notification, SMS alerts, direct calling to passenger or driver from the app itself, SOS button, offline support, etc.

3. Admin Web Panel Features

The administrator can measure the earning, maintain the data records of the customers, manage their feedback and complaints and even have hands-on into the analytics. Through this instrument, the owners can have full access to his cab business like Grab.

Related read: 7 Questions To Ask Before Hiring a Taxi App Development Company

How Much Does a GrabTaxi Cost?

It is difficult to discuss or talk about uber like app development or similar apps. The cost of developing a mobile or web application is never fixed universally. It varies depending largely on the elements like technology stacks used, developers employed, kind of designs used, hours required and various other factors. To give you a rough estimate of the cost while developing taxi app solution like Grab, here is a small snippet overview –

1. Cost of Hiring Taxi App Developers

The cost of developing a taxi app solution like Grab or Uber is largely dependent on the per hour charges of a taxi app developer. An uber like app development takes approximately 3 to 4 months. That brings up the developer’s cost to somewhere around $8,400 – $16,000 onwards.

2. Payment Integrations 

You will find that the in-app payments and charges are the primary catch points of an app like Grab, Uber or Ola. The payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Braintree adds more $4500 to $7500 to your uber like app development cost.

3. UI/UX Design 

The thing that made uber like app development an instant hit among the users is their UI/UX. Several taxi app solution thus tries to hire a good UI/UX designer to develop things accordingly. The charges might vary as the design hours might sum up to $1200 – $1500.

The prices mentioned are based on industry standards and do not belong to any particular company. The price of app development differs based on the actual requirements. For accurate calculations on Uber like app development, refer to our cost calculator.

Out-of-the-Box & Completely New Features in Taxi App Solution like Grab

Some out-of-the-box features in taxi app like Grab that are sure to steal the eyes. Even you can ask the taxi app developers to use them if you are opting for app development like Grab.

• Pickup and drop-off points will stay pre-filled based on the favorite places riders have marked. The preferred location will trank by the day, time and physical location of the user. This allows booking a ride in just two clicks.
• Hands-free booking with auto-retry. Auto-retry helps to minimize the repeated booking attempts
• Real-time driver tracking to have a better estimation of the arrival time.
• For Android users, signing up is made more simple. As the app will automatically confirm the user’s identity and phone numbers. The user just has to click on the confirm button. The same will be rolled for iOS users as well.
• With the help of Flash your search all the closest taxis and GrabCars, so that passengers need to wait less time.
• GrabPay allows you to ride cashless using a credit card payment, ensuring a seamless travel experience.
• GrabWork is for business professionals as it allows one to use rides separately for urgent meetings and other corporate-friendly features.

For uber like app development with a twist, these Grab app features are sure to make your cab stand out.

What’s Your Take?

Guys, to capture the market like Southeast Asia and to be a  contender for Grab, will demand a clear vision and clean market strategy. If you have that. You’re a ROCKSTAR!

You should always ask a prospective agency to plan the app before you jump start. Since for taxi app development like Uber, there is so much to consider. And with recent apps like GrabTaxi and their outstanding features make things more complex.
It is not just the project cost that settles all your worries. You need to find out if the taxi app developers are capable enough to deliver or have the proper skillsets to build successful apps.
At AllRide Apps, are developing a taxi app solution since 2016. We bagged 2 awards, delivered more than 10+ successful apps to clients based in Middle-East, USA, and Latin America. Will you like to see some of our works?

Check Our Taxi App Solution Portfolio

You will not grow big in business just by building another Uber clone. That’s what GrabTaxi considered and they emerged powerful as the single brand called Grab. To add some more secret sauce you can talk to our experts or simply download a brochure.