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Ryde Deep Dive - will my strategy last?

GMT+8

 

Previously in my last ride-hailing article, I explained how I could get up to 40-50% discount on rides with this strategy. However, isn’t this too good to be true?

How can such a good deal exist without one talking about it?

Well, we’ve come to the “Impossible Trinity” of:

  • Low price
  • Good service/product
  • Availability

With Ryde, we get a good price, and good service but is it readily available?

Well, I’ve tried recommending this strategy to my friends and their feedback so far is that they can’t get drivers.

Though there are many possible reasons for this, I’ll focus on how to get requests accepted.

After which, I’ll explain more about my strategy and what are the possible scenarios that will “end” it.

 

Ways to get requests accepted.

The main point to note is unlike grab where requests are assigned, ryde drivers pick instead. If there are no drivers in my area or the price is too low, they will not pick it up.

To increase the job duration, we can schedule the request in advance. This has two main benefits where you can choose an off-peak period to lock in your fare and also allow your request to reach more drivers.
The other perk of scheduling is that, when both parties are early, the ride can commence 10 min ahead of booking.

Alternatively, be prepared to wait, there are rare instances where I couldn’t schedule the request and had to re-post a few rounds before I got the driver.
In other instances, the driver was about 10 min away. It was still worth it as my discounted fare was around $9 while the prevailing fare was around $16 - $20.

Normally, refreshing the request or switching to rydeX will do the trick when it's a pricing issue. This is not a big issue as there are savings from vouchers.

 

What is rydeFlash? Why is rydeFlash so much cheaper?

 

So rydePool and rydeFlash are variations of grabhitch and grabshare. So it is available to non-private hire drivers but they can only do a limited number of trips each day.

In the case of rydePool the request itself is subjected to sharing with other passengers but it’s not been implemented since covid hit and hasn’t been relaxed since Singapore reopened.

The other interesting thing is that the driver could have a family member or friend in the front seat.

In the case of rydeFlash, the ride is not subjected to sharing with other passengers. However, it still has an aspect of carpooling as the driver could also have a family member or friend in the front seat.

I've compared notes with the rydePool explanation and there is a difference. 

Hence, the fares in rydePool are cheaper than rydeFlash. 

That said private hire and taxi drivers can take these jobs too, but they normally would not due to the lower fares. 


In summary, rydePool is cheap due to sharing with other riders and that might go away in the future. 
rydeFlash on the other hand is a pricer option for taking a trip based on the number of pax but is not subjected to sharing with other riders. 


What about vouchers? Why are the discounts so steep?

I had a hard time getting my head around this too. Was it a capital call cos ryde has cashflow issues like banyan tree?

However, after seeing the promotions coming back, I’m more convinced that this is part of ryde’s strategy which is the tier-ing of consumers based on a leap of faith.

The Leaper – By pre-paying, ryde is happy to give a steep discount as it ensures the base demand of their platform. This is akin to early bird discounts that SIA normally offers.

The Hopper  – ryde+ is available for you to only pay on the go with cashback on each trip and a 15% discount. This is still a good deal as once you complete 5 trips, the membership is free.

The Passer-by – you’ll just pay a cheaper far than other platforms at that time.

**Side note **


In the 3.3 sales, ryde was doing a series of flash sales. 
A $70 voucher with a discount of $18.1 +$6 + $2 ($26.10) gives a final price of $43.90.
This brings about a total savings of 37.28%.

Also, more savings are possible with other products/voucher combinations.  

All in all

I think this strategy will last with only rydePool being "nerfed" when ride-sharing is re-introduced. rydeFlash trips will stay the same. 

Also if you're new to Ryde, click the referral link here.
Sign up on the weekends of March 23 and we both get rewarded with $10 of rydeCoins.

What do you all think? Let me know. 


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