Hold down three big mountains in Uber China

Text / Luo Chao

The efficiency of traffic flow is the lifeblood of city management, and the optimal allocation of traffic resources is the proposition that the Internet can solve. Internet companies have been fighting for space in order to provide solutions. Taxi software from the controversy four to the end of the dust, the same is the digital era of lifestyle innovation, the user's gradual adaptation and dependence on support, a direct impetus to business innovation returns.

It is also precisely because of the shorter payback period, the capital is driving the convergence of the two major Internet markets in China and hopes to achieve an all-encompassing ideal on some products that do not bear the responsibility of ideology. Therefore, the Internet giant in China is starting "Internationalization", and many start-ups in the United States are also actively seeking access to China.

Uber is Silicon Valley's "Booking Software," and although it works with professional taxi drivers in a number of loosely-populated cities and territories - the service model for ticketing and fast taxiing. But its main business, it is the main professional car rental and free private car booking service, and it in order to enter China, is the choice of luxury cars to avoid high competition zone.

As a host, stopped in front of Uber is to create a four-year easy to use car. In this online and offline combination of close segments, the two kinds of thinking are also fierce collision with each other.

Uber China difficult trial and error, forced into the low-end car

Uber China has officially launched a low-cost car service: UberX, about 3/4 of the previous price, much higher than the number of taxis. Uber's move from offering luxury cars to high-end end-use markets has made it a direct competitor to China-based Internet car service providers, and Uber chose to do so.

Breakdown In recent years and the Internet circle detached foreign brand tour of China, we can clearly remember ebay and Taobao, MSN and QQ ...... Their final outcome ended in failure. Now there are three big mountains in front of Uber: not only the easy-to-use vehicles that have been built for more than four years, but also the taxiing software represented by the quick beeps and common problems of foreign-funded enterprises entering China - "acclimatized."

First, the local advantages of the company

Uber into the low-cost car market at the same time, is trying to enter the second-tier cities north of Guangzhou-Shenzhen. This means Uber will compete fully with the domestic car service platform. The easy-to-use car born in 2010 is undoubtedly the biggest rival Uber mode encountered in the country, at the same time, Yi Yi similar service and AA car. They are almost the same with the Uber China mode, are car + car service. In the international market, Uber apparently has gained a lot of fame, but in China first arrived, the fledgling:

1, Uber mainly offers luxury car rental began to try mid-range models, the number of vehicles in China does not exceed 1,000 units, covering only the northern part of Guangzhou-Shenzhen; It is understood that easy-to-use vehicles in the country more than 50,000 vehicles of various models, including Hong Kong 57 cities, even planning to enter San Francisco and New York. This also means that Uber is still only for high-end business people, and easy to have become a taxi than the high-end public car service.

2, easy to car The earliest is mainly with car rental companies, and now gradually developed into a mobile Internet through the direct scheduling of rental companies, the driver side and the client's smart car platform. Easy to integrate In the process of integrating leasing companies in the country, in order to balance the car rental companies under their cooperation, often in a city looking for two or more companies, and real-time monitoring through the system scheduling to ensure competition through competition to improve service quality. Uber the United States is relying on the integration of private car owners resources fortune, of course, different national conditions, Uber entered China and car rental companies, this is not the usual mode, the future need to wait and see.

3, Uber to enter the Chinese market, the early user base is in China's foreign workers or Internet elite, is easy to car a white-collar consumer subsets. For now, Uber positioning relatively narrow user base, can not form a large-scale advantage, which is Uber price cuts into the low-end market reasons.

4, starting from the user's emotional needs, Uber relies on GPS technology to find idle vehicles, the driver only for the highest bidder to provide services, customers can not collect the driver and select the driver, can only passively accept Uber's dispatch, which is "minimalist" service Concept of malpractice; and this appeal in the domestic car market has become more mature, easy to provide more personalized service for consumers, when a driver by the user to collect and use many times, the two may no longer be Cold car rental relations.

Although Uber China and Yi to meet the inevitable competition, but the difference between the two great. Easy-to-use cars and other domestic car services company has a first mover advantage, and a better understanding of local policies and user needs, will become the first mountain facing Uber.

Second, the darling of capital markets: fast and Didi

In addition to easy to use car, Uber China is facing the second mountain is a taxi App. Uber in the United States to challenge the taxi industry, access TAXI as a taxi application, but the Chinese taxi application is the Red Sea, on the one hand and Didi Ali and Tencent in support of this is a must-see, on the other hand taxi App The issue of market regulation remains unresolved. Didi has begun to transfer to the LBS service, for example, can search for hotels. Uber want to enter the taxi application basic game.

In theory, a taxi app is a truly shared economic application that appears to be technology-driven to help make the resource and demand more accurately docked through mobile internet. However, it is operationally driven in China: First, a taxi app is looking for a taxi driver user who can hit the car up. Secondly, a passenger user can only continue to use a single driver. Didi and fast In order to enclose these two types of users, with the support of Tencent and Ali into the billions of subsidies, six months after the driver's subsidies continue, in addition they also cooperate with the carrier taxi users do not have to pay Traffic fee. If stop subsidies and discounts, many taxi drivers will not hesitate to unload taxi applications.

There is also a crucial point is that the car App in addition to burn, there is basically no profit model, and this dilemma can not see any signs of change.

In such a predicament, Uber China can only stay away from the taxi market.

Third, the common problem of foreign-funded enterprises: acclimatized

1, lack of local resources

Because of the lack of ownership of personal vehicles in the country, Uber can only abandon the North American model, out of high prices and car rental companies, which in turn limits Uber's investment and expansion speed. Domestic car rental companies such as Divine, a hey after years of development, fully integrated offline resources, has deposited a relatively solid user base, more car-oriented business-oriented cooperation, docking a variety of resources. Many car rental companies specialized services for large companies, even with car rental or monthly lease to businesses. Uber China has yet to build such a partner resource from scratch.

It is worth mentioning that the rapid development of China's online travel, the largest OTA Ctrip investment in early 2014 easy to use car. Traffic and tourism two major industries have a natural combination, easy to smooth strung Ctrip (except air tickets, outside the hotel) ground transportation services. Uber in China temporarily in a relatively isolated area, from the car itself to extend the new model is difficult.

In addition to car App and taxi App, to solve the travel problems there are only rent-a-car rental mode, such as the traditional car rental and sharing economy PP car rental. This is yet another market where smart tracker and turnkey equipment needs to be installed for private cars and a new credit system needs to be set up that is not Uber's.

2, the lack of localization technology and product team

As an early Uber Guangzhou user, I clearly remember that on February 13, Uber did not pay much attention to China when it announced its entry into China. At that time, I experienced Uber myself and gave many opinions. For example, there are many copycat obstacles in Uber Chinese App, the interaction is not suitable for Chinese users and the available vehicles are too few. In the past 4 months, the Uber Chinese App has updated 12 smaller versions. Unfortunately, the above mentioned copywriting and interaction issues that I mentioned have always existed. This is the case, with Uber China's team only operational and community staff. Without a localized technology and product team, it is hard to understand user needs and understand user habits and develop matching applications for them.

Uber China must find ways to overcome the "acclimatization" issue.

There is only one way to go before Uber China: tackle the problems with local companies, become familiar with China as early as possible, be familiar with the Chinese market and Chinese travel habits, and speed up the layout of cities and vehicles. Uber into China and into the mass market, the entire car industry has played a positive role in the market, China's car rental companies will improve the quality of car service, the next competition will be more intense. Domestic car products these years have gone through the path, Uber really can learn from. Like KFC's tender cow, good localization is the basis for reproduction in China. In addition, do not forget to optimize your App, do not be so big on the ground, the point of grounding ok? Socialization in China has been playing for a long time.

(Luo Chao for NetEase Zhuangao, reprint, please indicate the source. The article represents only personal point of view.)

About the author: Lei Technology founder A Chao, microblogging: @ Internet A super, WeChat public account: SuperSofter