Let's Review: Uber's Performance Analysis

The extent to which a product or service satisfies the demands and expectations of customers can be defined as brand performance. The alteration of a product's essential ingredients and qualities that define and identify the brand has a big impact on brand performance. Most of the time, the most successful companies rely on a solid market positioning aided by a unique selling proposition, or USP. (Bullock, L., 2020, June)

Uber's brand performance relates to how well the company serves the functional needs of its clients, and it focuses on five components of product performance (Hunter, D., 2015, June):?

1. Primary qualities and secondary attributes?
2. Reliability, durability, and serviceability of the product?
3. Effectiveness, efficiency, and empathy in service?
4. Design and style?
5. Pricing

In the case of Uber, its Brand Identity is very much associated with its products and services and therefore we will analyze the performance of its apps that the users interact with to determine if it fulfills their functional needs. The first component as discussed above in this case is its qualities and features. Some of the primary features include but are not limited to: (B. P. D. D., 2021, April)

1. Booking a ride for now or Later

• In this feature Customers' primary need for booking a ride using the booking tool is addressed. These clients have an option to book the ride at a later scheduled time.?
• The app retrieves the location of pickup and drop-off, the client's preferred mode of transportation, and the date and time when the ride will take place and instantly calculates the duration of the ride based on the available drivers in that area and the traffic conditions for the trip.
• Clients mostly use the book later feature when they have appointments and this can be done 15 minutes or 30 days out.
• Pre-COVID they had a feature for sharing a ride with others as well.

2. Real-Time tracking of the driver

• Using a GPS integrated real-time tracking feature users can get the real-time location of when the driver will arrive for pickup as well as the time and route till the end of the trip.?
• This mitigates the frustration of Users from not knowing when and how the trip happens.
• This feature also helps the rider to not get caught up in a hide and seek dilemma and easily find the driver when they arrive for pickup.

3. Allowing others to follow the ride in real-time through live-location sharing

• This is a safety feature that allows users to share their location with their loved ones to ensure they safely arrived at their desired location.
• This feature significantly increases the trust of the clients on the app.
• This allows the loved ones to monitor the path the driver will be taking without the concern of any harm coming to the client.

4. Selecting from multiple payment options?

• These days not everyone is comfortable carrying cash and so this feature allows the users to use mobile payment methods such as PayPal as well as digital credit and debit cards
• Users also have the option to directly put it on a work payment card as the app allows segregation of work rides and personal rides.

5. Selecting a preferred Driver

• Based on the interaction of the Users, they develop preferences on their favorite drives and one of the features is that the user can choose a preferred driver.?
• The app does a really good job of asking the client if they have a preferred driver to ensure customer satisfaction.

6. Adding multiple drop-off points

• Customers can select multiple drop-off sites, to best suit their needs so that they do not have to book a new ride for each stop.
• These users can also modify their trip with the “adjust-on-the-go” feature while they are on the trip which gives them the flexibility to change their trip when they want.
• The best part is that the app automatically estimates new costs as they modify the trip.

7. Giving Reviews and Rating to drivers

• This is a very vital feature as it reinforces the fact that Uber listens to its clients.?
• Users can provide positive feedback or even complain if they are not happy with the driver's conduct.
• The app also allows users to rate a driver and that way other users can select a preferred driver based on their ratings.
• This also helps the company to improve their company based on the feedback

8. In-app Chat and communication features

• This feature allows for rides to communicate with drivers to ensure smooth pick up or to give them direction
• It also allows users to swiftly communicate with the customer service staff.
• The call option is also available along with chat to enhance the level of communication when needed.

9. Providing a detailed history of the trip

• Users want to revisit their previous trips to look up their charge or recall a location as it is already saved to their in-app profile and this feature best does that as it allows the user to visit the trip history to retrieve information such as the charge for a particular trip, the route they took, driver's name and other information.

10. and lastly saving destinations for future

• This allows users to choose the same destination that they had previously visited
• It makes it easy to manage or book a frequently visited destination.

, In turn, enhances the booking experience as they have to follow fewer steps to schedule for their favorite destinations.

• They can label these locations as home or office or any other label they want to name it with to facilitate a one-click booking process when scheduling these rides.

Some of the secondary features of the app are as follows (Campbell, H., 2017, November):?

1. Visa Local Offers Benefit

• This allows users to earn credits when they make purchases with the Visa card linked to their app
• The good thing is that users do not need to ride to get these points, they can use the card anywhere to get the credits, all those users need to do is to spend using the card at a participating retailer or restaurant.

2. Redeeming points from the Uber Visa Card?

• This card has no annual cost
• It gives users up to $600 in phone insurance
• $50 off of subscription services after users spend $5000 in annual spending for services such as Netflix, Amazon, and others.
• You can also redeem these points for future Uber rides

1. Leaving Tips for drivers

• This feature allows the riders to tip the drivers and thank them for their service if they desire.
• It prompts clients to tip at the end of the ride but is an optional feature.?
• Users can choose to reward the driver through tips when they have received exceptional service.

The second component for this performance evaluation is the Reliability, durability, and serviceability of the product:

From our survey, 36.36% of people agreed that Uber rides are reliable and available when they need them. Uber app is reliable and safe as it has features such as (Jamaica, S., 2021, July):

1. Emergency help, that is calling 911 through the app while sharing a live location.?
2. GPS tracking to record the location if something happens or otherwise.
3. Background checks for drivers and partners
4. Ride location sharing for having up to 5 people keep an eye on your ride
5. Their ability to check for unexpected stops or accidents.
6. Privacy and security features such as biometric or pin verification, protecting user credentials
7. Ride insurances for the riders so that they are covered for loss or damages.
8. And lastly the client feedback features allow Uber to retrospectively enhance its service and user experience and consequently enhance durability, serviceability, and reliability of the app and the services.

The 3rd component deals with Effectiveness, efficiency, and empathy in service.

The best example of Uber's empathy can be seen by how they are contributing during Covid-19 Chaos. Uber started a service to help accommodate public health officials and agreed to provide data regarding the drivers and riders that may have contacted someone with Covid-19, to help stop the spread of the virus.

The company has also issued ad campaigns focusing on the need to wear masks especially while riding. Anjum, U., 2020, July) One of the big reasons for Uber’s effectiveness is its ability to respond quickly to the needs of the client and effectively evolve as per the market changes as compared to its competitors. Uber's marketing strategy has always been innovative and that helps in attracting its target customers effectively. Uber effectively capitalized on the service gap and that affected a large number of people (Tamburino, R. (n.d.)). Uber’s unique selling proposition has an immense focus on cost efficiency, enhancing the service range, and top-level convenience of its clients (Dudovskiy, J., 2021, July). 86.76% of the people we surveyed believed that Uber is User-friendly and it speaks a lot about its effectiveness. Overall Uber’s business model exhibits their app integration towards their marketing strategy, which has not only guaranteed cost efficiency but also time efficiency amongst its clients (Yokota, S., 2019, December).?

The 4th element focuses on Design and style. Uber’s design is focused on the aspects of the taxi market that the cab services failed to acknowledge. It focused on customer-centric design principles and innovated the taxi experience. They added cashless payments to make it easy for riders to pay. Their design took away the frustration of not knowing whether there will be a ride available and provided a way for them to directly contact the driver as well as see where they are in real-time and they integrated driver reviews as well as one-to-one customer-driver mapping to ensure safety and an amazing experience for their clients (Center, S. E. A. C., 2019, July).?

It focused on a geospatial design that allows its clients to find rides near them (L, N., 2018, September). Uber resigned its logo, app, and experience over time to best suit the needs of its target market (Watr, S., 2019, September). Uber considered 3 questions while implementing its design strategy. One of the most primary ones of those was how to design for everyone all around the world? Its goal was to create a design solution that is scalable and can be extended to several different combinations and can be used in several different contexts as well and Uber managed to do that beautifully for its clients (Pan, S., 2017, July).

The last component of product performance is its Price. Uber can track and choose highly rated drivers thanks to the use of a cashless payment system. It also has several other benefits, such as making it easier to get a car and keeping track of expenses. The adoption of a two-tiered rating system boosts trust and security. For drivers, the technology is simple to use (Yard, P. (n.d.)).

Here's how Uber calculates user fare using the four primary variables listed: Base Fare + (Cost per minute * ride duration) + (Cost per mile * ride distance) + (Cost per mile * ride distance) + (The booking fee that is deducted from your fare). There are a few other aspects that influence your Uber fare that isn't covered by the four primary criteria (Team, R. G. (n.d.)).

Following are the types of rides Uber offers to its clients:

1. Economy

• Uber X (Affordable rides, all to yourself) 1-3
• Comfort (Newer cars with extra legroom) 1-3
• Uber XL (Affordable rides for groups up to 5) 1-5
• Uber Green (Eco-Friendly) 1-3
• Connect (Send packages to friends & family) 1-4
• Pool - Unavailable (Temporary unavailable) 1-2

2. Premium

• Black Hourly (Luxury rides by the hour with professional drivers)1-3
• Black SUV Hourly (Luxury hourly rides for 5 with professionals.

3. More

• Marin Connect (Luxury hourly rides for 5 with professional drivers) 1-2
• Select (Premium rides in high-end cars) 1-4
• Assist (Special assistance from certified drivers) 1-3
• Wav (Wheelchair accessible rides) 1-4

For each of these rides, Uber calculates according to the above-mentioned formula and estimates the fare. So far clients have been very happy with the fare calculations. (Uber. (n.d.)) 37.88% of people who took our survey believed that Uber overcharges.

Overall Uber’s brand performance has been phenomenal despite the class-action lawsuit by its drivers, Uber has managed to maintain and exceed its brand performance by exceeding customer expectations and functional needs.??

References:

Anjum, U. (2020, July 21). Uber shows empathy in the COVID-19 chaos. Phone World. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3GOxknc.??

B. P. D. D. (2021, April 28). Uber app features a Full list of online cab/ Taxi Booking services. Homepage. Retrieved November 5, 2021, fromhttps://bit.ly/3EMBA4U?

Bullock, L. (2020, June 10). Importance of Monitoring Your Brand's performance and its contribution to the success of your business. LilachBullock.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3bI7pzo?

Campbell, H. (2017, November 30). 7 secret Uber features you should know about. The Points Guy. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3bLATwd.?

Center, S. E. A. C. (2019, July 3). Design thinking at uber. SEAC. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3bKvVQa.?

Dudovskiy, J. (2021, July 21). Uber marketing strategy: A brief overview. Research-Methodology. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3015vYc.?????

Hunter, D. (2015, June 14). The uber brand identity. Academia.edu. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3kajySn?

Jamaica, S. (2021, July 27). Six reasons why Uber is a safe and reliable app. Sleek Jamaica Media. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3mN3gjQ.??

L, N. (2018, September 8). Uber system design. Medium. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3kbHRz3.?

Pan, S. (2017, July 3). Uber. User Experience Design Portfolio of Simon Pan. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/2ZZABPx.?

Tamburino, R. (n.d.). Uber: A winning strategy. Technology and Operations Management. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://hbs.me/3CMilYy.??

Team, R. G. (n.d.). How is My Uber & Lyft fare calculated? RideGuru. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3CSspiH.

Uber. (n.d.). Explore the uber platform | uber United States. Uber. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://www.uber.com/.??

Watr, S. (2019, September 8). your business with Service Design: An Uber case study. Medium. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3okD28b.?

Yard, P. (n.d.). How does Uber do performance management? https://www.performyard.com/. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3CPELrS.?

Yokota, S. (2019, December 25). Uber's secret to success; analyzing the company's marketing strategy~. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://bit.ly/2ZY8ktk.??

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