The History & S.W.O.T. Analysis Of Ubercab, Inc
Introduction
Founded in 2008 and formerly known as UberCab, Inc., which changed its name to Uber Technologies, Inc. in October 2010, has developed, marketed and operates an application based ride-sharing solution in which the consumer submits a ride request to the app and is then routed to its crowd-sourced fleet of drivers. The application itself connects drivers with the consumer and enables them to arrange and schedule transportation and/or logistic services with a third party provider. Uber serves customers in all of the Americas as well as Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific markets. As of February 2018, Uber had a company value of $72 billion.
Business Model / Pss Structure
This business is a unique platform based product service system that links drivers and passengers together to bring them to a desired location. This product service system runs on a supply and demand basis, passengers are the demand and uber drivers are the supplier of the transportation. The business model elements are as follows:
Key Partners
Ubers key partners consist of drivers, technology companies, and investors. Drivers are a crucial aspect of this company in order to keep passengers traveling. Technology partners provide top quality applications and make sure payments, driving routes, and systems are up and functioning on the daily basis. Last, uber has used investors to get the company off the ground, and to expand their market.
Key Activities
- Obtain more users
- Rating passenger & drivers to avoid bad experiences
- Reduce wait times for passengers / keep drivers busy
- Expand to more U.S. cities
- Improve & update current platform
- Develop new services.
Key Resources
- Application platform
- Drivers with cars to satisfy the increasing demand
- Venture capitalists
- Data logging and analytics.
Value Proposition
Customer value includes fast pick-up, estimate ride time and cost, non cash transaction, and uber comes to them instead of them coming to an uber. Value to the Driver includes making their own schedule, becoming their own boss, and increased income.
Customer Relationships
Uber maintains relationships between their drivers, passengers, and the public by:
- Promoting safety
- Managing issues with passengers and drivers
- Resolving customer issues (ex. Charged when driver doesn't arrive)
- Promoting a positive company image to retain customers and drivers
- Reducing traffic and emissions on the surrounding area
- Reducing drunk driving by using the App
- Allowing user feedback to give the end user respect
Value Proposition
Uber gives their customers the ability to take car rides in situations where the customer would normally not be able to drive themselves. This service is ideal for crowded cities with limited parking, designated driving, and much more. The value to the customer is having easy access to transportation when driving their own vehicle is not an option. Other benefits to the customer include quick pickup, estimated time and cost of the ride, and non cash transactions. Benefits for the driver include flexible hours, extra income, and not having a boss.
Unique Selling Proposition
They are providing additional assistance to senior citizens and physically disabled people.
In some place they are offering bicycle sharing systems with their partner Jump Bikes. Uber now has luxury vehicle options.
With the introduction of UberX, Uber offers cheaper options for all groups of customers
UberKIDS provides child safety seats for an additional charge.
UberPOOL is an option where more than one people can share a car to go to same place providing a cheaper alternative to individual car rides.
UberSUV is offering a sport utility vehicle option
UberWAV provides a wheelchair accessible vehicle.
Customer Base
Uber’s United States customer base is comprised “urbanites,” which is a person that lives in a metropolitan area or well populated city, with just 6 percent living outside an urban or suburban area. One quarter of Uber users are part of the top income quartile, with this metric of customers, it is clear that Uber’s value proposition goes beyond simple financial savings versus a traditional cab. The 16-34 age demographic makes up 66 percent of Uber’s US user base, very few users are from the 55-64 age group. 52 percent of Uber users are male and the other 48 percent are female, so gender usage is almost equal.
Competitors
Uber is one of the top private companies in the United States, with the utilization of Uber technology; consumers can schedule transportation with the help of a mobile App. The app receives client requests and sends the same requests (bearing location and final destinations) to drivers who are within proximity to the said clients. As one of the tools of operation, the drivers must have a smartphone.
Stakeholders
Uber, a vanguard of the new ride-sharing economy, have announced recently that they’re willing to become open for third-party developers to build apps for their fast-growing car-calling service. They’re using data to restore power and choice to their stakeholders, in the process turning customers into marketers and suppliers into vital yet virtual cogs in their platform. Examples of Uber policies to empower stakeholders:
Real-time landing page click data, peer reviews, product ratings and other metrics are helping companies at large become better decision-makers than any individual CEO could ever be.
Customers are able to discuss their wants and needs as well as why they are important to them. Uber took that opportunity to listen to them and work according to that.
Uber restored the power and choice to the consumer. Comprised with new technology and better access to data, they can hail rides directly from drivers, without having to be routed through the pinch point of traditional cab companies. Other stakeholders like suppliers, manufacturers and service providers are jointly working with Uber to develop a plan for maximizing profit by making long-term agreement with Uber. It changes the platform for everyone to build wider scale customer relations to generate profit.
Uber is working with other stakeholders like sub-Saharan African countries for growing the number of Uber driver. This creates a huge opportunity for local entrepreneurs to create and enjoy the flexibility and enhanced earnings potential. Currently, around 29000 driver-partners are taking advantages of earning which shows a supplement source of income. Uber also offers information sessions and tailored workshops on training and skills development. Uber investors are bringing multiple vehicle financing programs across South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria to reduce barriers to both credit and capital.
Technology Used
Uber is an app based product and the technology behind this app is relying on mapping and geolocation features. Uber uses an application called CoreLocation Framework to identify the device location for both drivers and passengers. The Corelocation framework provides vehicle class, location and arrival schedule to the server. The customers can access point to point driver location on a map via the server. The Uber app for the devices running android operating system uses Google Map while the devices running iOS uses MapKit for the Geolocation service. Upon requesting for a ride the users get notified via the app or text messages about drivers information, location and ride status.
Uber works with Twilio communication provider for the text messaging service. In order to send the push notification, Uber uses Apple Notification Service and Google Cloud Messaging. Uber accepts both debit and credit cards as well as promotional codes for payment. Uber is partnered with Braintree, one of the leaders in the mobile payment market to process the card payments and maintain the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) requirements. Uber also uses PayPal service for credit card scanning on iOS. In recent years, Uber has been focusing on self-driving car research and as a result they first launched their self driving car in 2016. Uber has announced to buy 24,000 Volvo XC90 vehicles to accept autonomous technology in between 2019 and 2021. However, after an incident happened in Arizona, an Uber self-driving car killing a pedestrian.Uber has since cancelled its self-driving car program.
S.W.O.T. Analysis
Strengths
- Uber is a well-recognized brand with a presence in over 50 countries.
- It has a high standard of service with verified drivers and cars.
- There is a potentially unlimited fleet of vehicles.
- Uber prioritizes customer satisfaction.
- There is very little competition.
- The rating system boosts trust and safety for both customers and drivers.
- The system is convenient for the drivers, and it allows them to work flexible hours.
- The prices are lower compared to a traditional taxi.
Weaknesses
- The idea can be easily imitated.
- There is an extra cost on the drivers to keep their vehicles operational.
- The Uber system is dependent on internet connectivity.
- There is no real connection between the company and its drivers.
- The image of the company is based on the behavior of the drivers.
- The recording of where a customer gets in the car and where they go in it creates privacy concerns.
Opportunities
- Customers are often dissatisfied with traditional cab companies because of high prices and long waiting time.
- Growing internet access globally creates an opportunity for Uber to expand their services.
- Uber can offer a sense of privacy in cities with overpopulated public transport.
- An increase in Uber drivers would decrease the waiting time.
- Uber could create additional services such as medical transport, school transport for children, etc.
Threats
- Uber drivers are unhappy with their low-profit margins.
- Legal regulations ban Uber from operating in some countries.
- The competitor company, Lyft, is causing customers and drivers to switch.
- Self-driving cars would eliminate the need for Uber.
Future Outlook
Uber's mission statement is “make transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere, for everyone.” For making it reliable, accessible, usable and universal, they can consider the following ideas. The price model they are following is the dynamic pricing where the price increases with the demand and this is strongly criticised. They should revisit their pricing model and logistic supply model with the increase of demand. They can also offer free rides during an emergency as a service to the community. Carpooling system is not established in every place yet. Therefore, Uber should focus on expanding the carpooling service which will be both economically and environmentally beneficial as well as reduce traffic congestion. This way Uber will be promoting more sustainability.
Several sexual harassment incidents indicate that Uber lacks in providing adequate passenger safety comparing to other taxi cab services. They can improve their background check system and offer safer rides to customers and be more competitive. They can also provide their driver with first-aid training for any emergency situation. As they are planning to offer short flight using VTOL, they can also extend their plan to provide different types of water vessels. For the locations where traffic congestion is a severe problem, Uber can also provide ambulance service with basic facilities. This may provide faster mode of transportation for passengers with medical urgency, who will otherwise have a longer wait time for ambulance services.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Uber is the current leader in rideshare platforms in the United States. Passengers are picked up at a pinpoint location and can be brought to any location they desire for a fixed price. Although they have grown in many aspects the company still has room to improve their services. Uber can develop better driver training methods and background checks for those drivers. Uber is currently becoming more popular and will eventually phase out the standard taxi services if the company is managed efficiently. It is also possible that Uber could acquire their main competitor Lyft within the next few years considering Lyft only controls a fraction of the ride-share market.
References:
- https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2017-09-28-uber-drives-partnerships-with-multiple-stakeholders/
- https://creately.com/diagram/example/il7tdcds1/New%20stakeholder%20analysis%20-%20UBER%20CHINA
- https://www.slideshare.net/OneDayIDie/capstone-report-47958143
- https://www.marketing91.com/uber-competitors/
- https://www.innovationtactics.com/porter-five-forces/
- https://medium.com/yalantis-mobile/uber-underlying-technologies-and-how-it-actually-works-526f55b37c6f
- https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-technology-stack-behind-Uber
- https://www.npr.org/2018/07/31/634331593/uber-parks-its-self-driving-truck-project-saying-it-will-push-for-autonomous-car
- https://www.wired.com/2016/10/uber-flying-cars-elevate-plan/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber
