INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Instead of switching between apps to secure a ride during rush hour, people in China can now hail from different companies using a single
service.The nascent model is reminiscent of a feature Google Maps added in early 2017 allowing users to hail Uber, Lyft, Gett and Hailo
straight from its navigation app
A few months later, AutoNavi, a maps app owned by Alibaba, debuted a similar feature in China
Other big names like Baidu, Hellobike, Meituan and Didi subsequently joined forces with third-party ride-booking services rather than
Meanwhile, established carmakers including BMW and state-owned Shouqi are entering the fray, offering premium rides with better-trained
fleet drivers, but they face an uphill battle with Didi, which gobbled up Uber China in 2016.By corraling various ride-booking services, an
aggregator can shorten wait time for users
For new ride-hailing players, riding on a billion-user platform like Meituan opens up wider user acquisition channels.These ride-hailing
marketplaces let users request rides from any number of third-party services available
At the end of the trip, users pay directly through the aggregator, which normally takes a commission of about 10%, although none of the
players have disclosed how revenue is exactly divided with their mobility partners.In comparison, a ride-hailing operator such as Didi
charges about 20% from each trip since they take care of driver management, customer support and other dirty work which, to a great extent,
