HIGHLIGHTS
- Uber has partnered with Meta (Facebook) to launch ride-hailing services via WhatsApp in India.
- The company will create a variety of “custom solutions for products and services across sectors in India”.
- Uber has been operating in the Asian country for the past eight years and is now available in 70 cities.
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Car booking service via WhatsApp
Uber in San Francisco has partnered with Meta (Facebook) to launch ride-hailing services via WhatsApp in India. This integration will allow customers to book an Uber ride without downloading the company’s app. We will manage everything from user registration and car booking to receiving trip receipts within the WhatsApp chat interface.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for all Indians to ride Uber, and to do that, we need to meet them on platforms they are comfortable with,” said Nandini Maheshwari, Senior Director of Business Development at Uber APAC.
The service is being rolled out in a city north of Lucknow and will soon be extended to other Indian cities. Those who book rides through Whatsapp will have access to “the same safety and insurance features as those who book rides directly through the Uber app”.
According to Abhijit Bose, head of WhatsApp India, “The Uber experience on WhatsApp is simple, easy to understand for users and has the potential to speed up Uber adoption with a new set of customers in India“. The company will create a variety of “custom solutions for products and services across sectors in India”.
Benefits when combined with Meta
India is one of WhatsApp’s biggest markets with nearly half a billion users. According to Uber, India is “one of the company’s largest international markets”. Uber has been operating in the Asian country for the past eight years and is now available in 70 cities. Over the years, Uber has had to compete with Ola, the Indian carpooling app, to build its own foothold and market.
Combined with Meta, Uber can reach over 500 million Whatsapp users in India. This is a positive move, helping Uber to mushroom the number of customers and generate significant revenue in the future. Users can see the driver’s name and other details in the chat, track the driver’s location, and can even talk to the driver without revealing the phone number. The integration of these two applications helps users quickly achieve satisfaction and convenience in booking a car without using too many apps.
Thanh Thao
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