?? Data is King! - Uber - 2- 3 min read ??

Data is King!

You may have heard or read folk talking about how ‘Data is the new oil’ or bigging up big data (pun intended), but, is data being king really a new thing? I don’t think so.

Take a look at any success story you can think of whether it be sporting or business, data is always there. 

Look at Team GB’s tremendous cycling success, marginal gains is all about the data! 

Look at Amazon’s rise in the 2000’s, upsells, reviews and relevance - data, data, data!

In today’s top companies data is more important than traditional assets. Take Facebook, the world’s biggest media company that creates no content, Alibaba, the world’s most valuable retailer, yet carries no inventory, AirBNB the world’s largest accommodation provider, yet owns no real-estate and who could forget everyone’s favourite largest taxi company that owns no cabs - Uber!

Sticking with Uber for a bit they truly are the data kings. Let's break it down a little:

?? Right Place, Right Time - Uber advises drivers when and where to go to maximise their revenue and enhance the likelihood of being near a passenger pickup. This process isn’t driven by some lad or lassie in a cramped office staring at a map with pins on it - it’s driven by data. Live, insightful, real-time data!

?? Data Defines Delivery - From the second you open Uber the data is firing it’s way to your eyeballs. How long till you get picked up? how much will it cost? what rating does your driver have? what car is she in? An old fashioned dispatcher probably can’t give you that information even if you ask, not to mention they can only handle one request at a time.

?? Supply and Demand - Uber drivers have access to real-time data telling them the best times to work. Data decides when surge pricing kicks in.

? Reviews and Ratings - The rating you give to your Uber driver goes much further than just to give feedback about their performance. It’s commonly understood that the most frequent/loyal customers are matched with higher rated drivers when possible. It’s also suggested that if your average rating as a driver falls below 4.4 the driver risks ‘deactivation’ meaning they won’t be able to access Uber’s passenger base. Yikes! ??

?? Data Driven Marketing - Did you know that on Monday’s when you are in your London office that 67% of the time you call an Uber? No?.. Uber does. Imagine what kinds of cool campaigns you can do with that data (of course, this campaign has a higher success rate if the day is Sunday and it’s 2am and you’re stumbling out of a night club, but that’s not relevant to you, right?).

How about if you are in an unusual location, perhaps near an obscure train station imagine what cool acquisition campaigns you can do with that data!

These are just 5 angles of how Uber are leveraging data to surpass their peers and provide a personalised and frictionless experience to their passengers and drivers. They are just the angles that are public knowledge and Uber are only just getting started!

Data is king ??.