“Where there are pain points in the market, there are opportunities”, this sentence has resonated with countless entrepreneurs; can we seize opportunities as long as we discover the pain points?

In fact, it is not. When there are pain points, we must respond to the market as soon as possible, solve the current pain points, and transform them into services we provide. Only in this way can we win more opportunities.

The article shared today is about Didi’s travel operations. Let’s see how Didi turns pain points into opportunities.

1. Start by understanding Didi

Didi Chuxing was officially launched in July 2012, and the Didi Taxi service was launched in September of the same year. Since then, it has changed and subverted people’s traditional travel habits with Internet thinking, and gradually established and cultivated new travel methods in the mobile Internet era.

Didi’s product positioning: a one-stop travel platform that integrates numerous travel services.

Didi travel services: including Didi taxi, route navigation, Qingcai carpooling, cycling, real-time bus services, ride-sharing, car rental and purchase, chauffeur service, car services, financial services, errands, freight, etc.

Didi is a typical example of a pig that gets blown up by the mobile Internet boom. While gaining the favor of the capital market, it also uses its unique sense of smell and keen vision to efficiently match its business with the market population. With opportunities and hard work going hand in hand, it has grown step by step into a super giant company with more than 800 million monthly active users worldwide today.

2. From taxi-hailing business to travel ecosystem

Didi Chuxing was called "Didi Dache" before September 9, 2015. After the name change, its single-line business gradually moved closer to the travel ecosystem business.

When Didi was first launched, it cultivated a large number of loyal driver users and taxi users through a two-way subsidy policy, while also squeezing out and acquiring a large number of competitors; it provided strong energy for its own development and continuous growth, and also laid a solid foundation for its transformation from taxi business to travel ecology.

Before its transformation, Didi's main businesses included taxi-hailing, ride-sharing, carpooling, and chauffeur services, with solving users' travel efficiency as its core need. As the market continues to change and new innovative products and services emerge, Didi has gradually realized the limitations of its business.

for example:

• The entry of shared bicycles has solved people’s travel needs of 2-5 kilometers;
• The emergence of shared cars, short-term and long-term rentals in the market, and market demand within and across cities have led to extremely fierce competition;
• The transformation of map navigation platforms has gradually expanded to more cost-effective businesses such as taxi-hailing, carpooling, and ride-sharing;
• Car service platform, making car insurance, refueling, car maintenance and other services increasingly personalized;
• Freight truck services, such as Lalamove and Kuaigou Taxi, have dominated the market for many years;
• …

Based on the demand research and analysis of the above businesses and services, Didi Chuxing finally began its transformation after 2019, gradually incorporating route riding, car rental and purchase, route navigation, car services, and freight, expanding its new territory; at the same time, it also added real-time bus services, errands (logistics), financial services and other businesses, further improving the travel ecosystem.

The improvement of the ecological chain has made up for Didi’s shortcomings in the travel business, enabling it to penetrate more quickly into the newly established business through the user groups of its advantageous businesses, thereby improving its market competitiveness.

3. Didi from the perspective of operations

A mature APP must have a complete operation system to support user acquisition, retention and activation, and ultimately serve conversion.

A complete user system needs to be built on a user base with a certain degree of stickiness, and based on different product groups, group attributes, and user behavior analysis, jointly create good user services.

Didi Chuxing APP is no exception. Below we will look at how Didi builds its own operating system from three aspects: membership system, points system, and other systems & services.

1. Membership system

Didi has a total of 6 membership levels, from low to high, namely Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Black Gold, and Black Gold PLUS, and the corresponding Orange Long values ​​are 100-149 points, 150-299 points, 300-799 points, 800-1799 points, 1800-3799 points, 3800 points and above respectively.

The membership level changes accordingly in different cycles, and the Orange Value score is composed of basic points, consumption points, and reward points.

1) Orange value: It consists of three parts: basic points, consumption points and reward points.

2) Membership level validity period

• The current membership level is determined by the Orange Long value at the end of the previous month;
• If the accumulated orange length value reaches the upgrade target this month, the upgrade will be made immediately and will be valid until the end of the next month;

3) How to increase the orange length value

• Method 1: Basic points: obtained by completing itinerary sharing, completing real-name authentication, and setting up emergency contacts for the first time;
• Method 2: Consumption points: earned through consumption on express trains, private cars, luxury cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and designated drivers;
• Method 3: Bonus points: Obtained by receiving and completing tasks that issue bonus points.

4) Members’ rights and interests: mainly include birthday gift packages, exclusive accident insurance services, member lottery services, bicycle riding discount services, VIP priority services, preferential mall discount services, free upgrade to express trains, quick response special cars, premium protection special cars, free waiting for designated drivers, slow pick-up compensation services, and extremely fast response special cars.

5) Joint benefits: including 15% off on selected hotels and homestays worldwide, Wanda Hotel’s preferential check-in and late check-out service, ultra-low price service at designated boutique hotels, free breakfast service at designated hotels, etc.

The establishment of a membership system will classify users' activity and consumption capacity, and through classification, users are encouraged to move up layer by layer; thereby indirectly promoting user activity and retention of the entire platform to achieve the ultimate conversion goal.

The establishment of levels also matches corresponding rights and services, allowing users at the corresponding levels to enjoy different services; the higher the membership level, the higher the rights and services enjoyed, which also promotes the consumption and conversion of other products and services associated with the membership system.

2. Points system

Points generally refer to reward programs launched based on the use of various services according to the rules, and have attributes such as accumulative, valid, usable, and non-transferable.

It is different from any tokens, tickets, or any other services other than value-added services; the usage scenario of points is the points mall, so platforms with a points system will also create their own points mall to facilitate cross-border cooperation.

Let’s take a look at the points rules of Didi Chuxing APP:

1) Obtaining points

• Order bonus points: You can get bonus points by completing designated orders. The number of bonus points is calculated based on the actual payment amount of the order (i.e., the amount deducted by coupons is not included); Express orders: every 2 yuan = 1 point, the upper limit is 50 points per order, and the daily limit is 7 orders (no bonus points will be given for orders exceeding 7 orders); Private car orders: every 5 yuan = 1 point, the upper limit is 50 points per order, and the daily limit is 7 orders (no bonus points will be given for orders exceeding 7 orders);
• Activity reward points: You can earn points by participating in/completing activities such as sign-in, lottery, tasks, member day, etc. according to the rules. The specific number of points needs to refer to the specific activity rules.

2) Use of points

• When using Didi to hail a car, you have the opportunity to redeem points for [Fast Pass], which allows you to hail a car faster.
• We will occasionally launch points exchange coupons online, where you can exchange various taxi coupons in the points mall, and you can get more discounts by using coupons.
• Redeem goods/benefits in the points mall, such as discounts for favorite goods;
• Use your points to enter sweepstakes for high-value prizes.

3) Points viewing portal

The emergence of points as a system function and the connectivity between the points viewing entrance and usage scenarios are also very important and are an important part of improving product experience.

To check points on Didi, go to the Didi Chuxing APP/Mini Program - Personal Center - My Wallet - Points.

4) Points Rules

• Points generally have a validity period, after which they will become invalid;
• Integrals are not interchangeable, that is, the integrals of different attributes cannot be converted;
• Points cannot be converted or transferred between accounts.

The points system and the membership system jointly serve to promote product activation and retention. The two complement each other, are both independent and cooperative, and are one of the core pillars supporting the platform operation system.

The points system needs to be accompanied by scientific and reasonable rules to promote a points reward plan, so that users will be more motivated to use the current product on the basis that the product has a good user experience.

The rationality of the points rules also needs to be constantly verified through data. Since the final rewards will be linked to costs, a well-designed points system can promote and improve conversions. If it is unreasonable, it may increase overall operating costs and prevent it from serving the product for a long time, thus losing its original meaning.

3. Other systems & services

1) Financial system

The financial system generally refers to the services related to the "My Wallet" function of each APP, which are mainly used to create its own capital circulation ecosystem and convenient consumption methods.

Didi also has all the sections and functions that a financial system should have, including asset overview, coupons, loans, financial management, and other complete products.

2) Security system

After experiencing many travel safety accidents, Didi has made an all-round upgrade to its safety system, bringing user safety to a new level, and striving to provide more comfortable and high-quality experience services while ensuring passenger safety.

Didi’s safety system bundles safety education and safety monitoring functions together. The overall module functions include safety education and Q&A, emergency contact settings, real-name authentication, real-time location protection, trip recording protection, privacy number protection, and Care Bao.

3) Customer Service Center

The customer service system is an indispensable system of the platform. It is a section that explains and answers problems that arise during the operation of all services or products on the platform - the so-called window for solving difficult and complicated problems.

4) Platform rules and legal terms system

Platform rules and legal terms mainly regulate the platform's business operations and improve service quality; for example, Didi's rules are divided into rule overview, safety rules, platform order, cancellation rules, fee rules, pricing rules, driver access, functional scenarios, and exclusive rules.

The legal terms include software usage agreement, personal information and privacy policy, taxi user agreement, and designated driver service tripartite agreement.

5) Derivative services

Didi’s derivative services mainly include discount mall, points mall, mobile phone card application, Didi charity, special recharge, discounted gas, mobile phone recharge, merchant alliance, surrounding mall, etc.

4. Summary

From Didi Chuxing's operating system, we can see that segmented businesses and products are matched with precise groups of people and provide differentiated services to make users more sticky.

For all users, tiered operations are required with the goal of introducing the lowest-cost membership system and points system to promote activation and retention.

The most important thing in operations is to provide users with more services that provide peace of mind and security. It would be best if this could be reflected in some function so that users’ trust in you continues to increase.

The most important thing for the purpose of conversion is to build a complete financial ecological system, with funds flowing preferentially on one's own platform, so that the internal capital flow of the platform remains stable.

Operations carry product experience on one side and user needs on the other. Pursuing the highest level of operations is a humanized art.

Author: Minghang Talks about Operations

Source: Minghang Operations