With the crazy price hikes in online ride-hailing services, who will put an end to it, Yidao or Didi?

Online ride-hailing services have gradually replaced taxis as the main means of transportation for modern people. However, at present, especially in the reality of "more passengers than cars" in big cities, people often pay extra for taxis during peak hours, or even cannot get a taxi at a specific time period or location even after paying several times the price, which has become a common situation on taxi apps.

Following the nationwide cancellation of the taxi system's recommended dispatch fee during the Spring Festival, on March 8, Didi Chuxing announced that it would implement a double cap mechanism for the dynamic pricing function of its online car-hailing service. That is, except for special circumstances, the maximum premium it would have to bear would be 29 yuan for express cars and 59 yuan for private cars.

In addition, on March 13, Yidao, the leading brand of private cars, also announced the implementation of a capping mechanism for the dynamic price adjustment function of its online car-hailing service, implementing a maximum floating price increase of 0.4 times for all orders on the platform. This is another control policy that Yidao has adopted on private car prices after promising "no price increase" in extreme weather.

When the wave of price increases is controlled, the online car-hailing market will surely present a new situation.

Crazy price hikes will be ended and the problem of "no cars available" will be alleviated

A few times the price is considered normal, and several times the price increase is not uncommon. Cities with extremely high population density like Beijing can be said to be the hardest hit areas for online ride-hailing price increases, and it is also the place where the effects of the new price policies of major online ride-hailing platforms can be best seen.

First of all, for online ride-hailing users, it is naturally a good thing that the platform's price increase is controlled. This gives online ride-hailing a better reason to integrate into daily life, rather than wondering whether to take a taxi or not by looking at the bright red price increase multiplier on the screen.

In addition, for online ride-hailing platforms and the drivers who operate them, there will no longer be exaggerated dynamic price differences, and vehicle resources can be allocated more reasonably. Online ride-hailing drivers will no longer have to appear only during peak hours or at peak locations in pursuit of the highest profits.

Some industry insiders pointed out that restrictions on dynamic price adjustment amounts and multiples will to some extent affect the ability to adjust the supply and demand balance. Drivers will also evaluate whether the costs and benefits are worth taking orders in bad weather or going to some congested roads, thereby making the distribution of online ride-hailing vehicles in the city more evenly distributed.

The relevant person in charge of Yidao also announced that the industry's centralized control of dynamic prices is ultimately aimed at better meeting consumers' travel needs and safeguarding the interests of the majority of passengers. It is also based on the social responsibility that the platform should assume, that is, when there is an imbalance between supply and demand in a certain area, the platform will calculate a reasonable recommended fare increase based on real-time traffic conditions, the number of vehicles in the area, the supply-demand ratio and other factors.

The dual adjustment of domestic and foreign policies has accelerated the development of online ride-hailing services towards a standardized path

As we enter 2017, the online ride-hailing industry, which has been developing rapidly in China for several years, is increasingly influenced by policy factors. In addition to internal platform policies such as controlling price increases, there are also external policies that affect the operating model of online ride-hailing.

Recently, there have been reports that almost at the same time as the implementation of the dynamic price adjustment double cap mechanism, Didi Chuxing has quietly closed its hitchhiking and express carpooling businesses in Tianjin. The reason is that the "Online Taxi Booking Business License" issued by Tianjin City, which it had previously obtained, clearly stated that Didi's business scope "does not engage in private carpooling business."

From Didi’s experience in Tianjin, we can see that the online car-hailing model similar to Yidao Yongche, that is, the private car model will become the mainstream legal model in the domestic online car-hailing market in the future, and it is expected to be controlled with the dynamic price increase. Online car-hailing platforms represented by Yidao Yongche are themselves designed to create high-quality user experience. They not only meet the needs of the times and relevant policies, but are also the best way for users to enjoy the online car-hailing experience.

Didi’s leading position is hard to maintain, and the industry ranking may see new changes

As we all know, Didi has become the online car-hailing platform with the largest market share in China by virtue of its early entry into the online car-hailing market and lower entry barriers for drivers and vehicles. However, in 2017, when the online car-hailing industry is facing many uncertainties, it remains a big question whether Didi can continue to maintain its advantage.

On the one hand, the trend of banning ride-sharing and express carpooling businesses in Tianjin is very likely to spread from first-tier cities to the whole country. Didi's existing differentiated online car-hailing projects will face considerable operational difficulties in the future, which will eventually lead to a head-on confrontation between Didi's traditional express and private car businesses and platforms such as Yidao Car.

However, relying on the concept of "high quality and low price" established at the beginning of its establishment and adhering to the two-way selection mechanism between users and drivers, Yidao has occupied more than 30% of the pure private car market and ranked first, and continues to maintain the first position in luxury cars, business cars, and airport pick-up services. It is undoubtedly unknown whether Didi, which has always given users and online car-hailing drivers a low-end impression, has enough strength to compete with rival platforms.

On the other hand, once the dynamic price increase trend of online ride-hailing is reasonably controlled, the frequency of user usage will naturally increase greatly. The development of online ride-hailing is expected to usher in a second spring after "burning money". How to capture more users, cultivate user stickiness and discover potential consumers will be tested at this time. The operational capabilities, vehicle base and overall quality of each online ride-hailing platform.

At present, under the influence of core factors such as Yidao's high customer unit price and high-quality users, the number of private car drivers switching from various platforms to Yidao has increased sharply. The number of registered private car drivers has exceeded 6 million, and the number of registered users has exceeded 40 million.

On the contrary, some time ago, due to the endless complaints and exposure cases about Didi drivers, Didi announced that it had "cleared" more than 25 million drivers in total to eliminate a lot of negative impressions. This can be seen as Didi paying the price for the root cause of its previous laissez-faire development. However, it will obviously take a long time to fill the gap of more than tens of millions of vehicles. This also provides platforms such as Yidao, which set high entry standards for online car-hailing drivers and vehicles from the beginning, with a favorable opportunity to break through in the market.

Of course, with more reasonable prices and more standardized vehicles, the ultimate beneficiaries are the online ride-hailing users. After the initial stage of survival of the fittest, Didi and Yidao both implemented price capping to "give users benefits", which is also a manifestation of the healthy development of the online ride-hailing industry.

In the new competitive environment, only by winning more users' support can major online car-hailing platforms explore sustainable profit models. So, whose private cars can really capture users? Obviously, the future situation is not as simple as competing for low prices.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.