55688, the most competitive ride-hailing platform in Taiwan, transforms into a lifestyle services super app
55688, the biggest and most popular ride-hailing platform in Taiwan, turned into a lifestyle-focused app. The credits go to its new CEO, Tracy Lin, the daughter of the previous CEO Tsun-Tien Lin. “Even though there are 6.8 million users on our platform, we haven’t fully created the value that this large user base could bring,” said Lin. As a result, Lin has been promoting the digital transformation inside 55688, turning it into a more lifestyle-focused app that includes more lifestyle services such as dry cleaning and housekeeping besides ride-hailing.
What makes 55688 the most competitive ride-hailing platform in Taiwan?
The credits of digital transformation go to its new CEO, Tracy Lin, the daughter of the previous CEO Tsun-Tien Lin. / Photograph : 蔡仁譯
Even though more and more ride-hailing platforms such as Uber have operated in Taiwan, 55688 has always dominated the market with 24% market share and 80 million trips every year. One out of four taxis in Taiwan is from 55688, which is a formidable competitor in the field. “Uber entered Taiwan in 2013, however, the number of our drivers has been growing since then; In 2017, LINE TAXI also entered the market, but the number of taxi hailing tasks at 55688 has grown even faster.” said Lin.
Facing fierce competition in taxi business, as a traditional company with a long history, 55688 has been dedicated to digital transformation with ⅕ of its annual budget invested in the internal technology department. For instance, 29 digital payment options are available at 55688. The determination to transform drew the attention of Headline Asia, one of the biggest technology-focused VC headquartered in Tokyo.
In 2022, 55688 announced that Headline Asia had invested US$5M to help 55688 to expand more services for their 6.8 million users. “I can see a huge potential of 55688,” said the partner of Headline Asia Joseph Huang, “People only perceive 55688 as a ride-hailing platform, in fact, the app has become one of the best in lifestyle service sector and there is much more services closely related to users’ daily life that we can develop.”
The key to success - innovation - optimization of the ride-hailing process for drunk passengers and valentines
55688 is now a lifestyle-focused app that includes more services such as dry cleaning and housekeeping besides ride-hailing. / Photograph : 台灣大車隊
As both the target audience and operator of 55688, Lin always pays attention to all the unmet customer needs.
For instance, Lin once found that the page design of designated driving services is too complicated to understand, especially when people are tipsy, leading to the optimization of page design. Now, when we go to the page of designated driving services, the system will automatically propose the most likely options that a user would prefer by analyzing their data of user behaviors, simplifying and optimizing the process.
Besides, 55688 also launched a “life secretary” service before Valentine’s day, which was ideated by the marketing and e-commerce manager at 55688, Huei-Jhen Yang. Through this service, users can reserve a taxi with flowers and chocolate inside and decorated with customized photos and messages.
This special service provided only 10 seats, which were sold out immediately after the launch. Thanks to the huge success, 55688 is planning to offer more diverse services for different festivals and important moments in life.
The key to success - audacity and decisiveness - launch new service in 1 day
Last year (2022), China decided to stop importing fruits from Taiwan, causing severe and negative impact on fruit farmers in Taiwan.
The digital transformation consultant for fruit farmers in south Taiwan, Yao-Kuan Huang, was struggling to find the new buyers of the fruits that were supposed to be imported in China. In the depth of despair, he contacted Lin through the introduction by the secretary of the director of information office of Kaohsiung city.
After understanding the request, Lin agreed to help solve this problem and instantly organized a temporary team to support the fruit farmers. In less than a day, the fruits products were launched on 55688.
Moreover, Lin even provided coupons for ride-hailing to attract more customers to buy fruits, and the 1000 boxes of fruits were sold out in less than 10 days. This success totally impressed the fruit farmers and broke their stereotype for taxi apps like 55688.
The key to success - thoughtfulness - drivers are the most important treasure
One of the most important business philosophies of 55688 from the previous CEO, Tsun-Tien Lin, is to care for their drivers. / Photograph : 台灣大車隊提供
According to the observation from the partner of Headline Asia, Joseph Huang, what makes 55688 outstanding among all the ride-hailing platforms is their care for the drivers. This is also one of the most important business philosophies of 55688 from the previous CEO, Tsun-Tien Lin.
As the frontline of business, drivers’ strongly influences users’ opinons. As a result, 55688 firmly believe that they have to take good care of the drivers before taking care of users. 55688 thus provides not only a wide range of services for drivers such as repairing and car-washing but also some rules such as uniforms and the tidiness in the car.
Aiming to become a super APP, 55688 has thrived to innovate.
In 2022, the annual revenue of 55688 increased by 24%, proving the ability and potential of the new young CEO. “However, we’ve only utilized 5% of the potential values brought from our large user base,” said Lin.
Lin therefore aims to turn 55688 into a super APP, which provides various lifestyle services such as cleaning and moving. However, how to cooperate with the laborers who are not familiar with digital service and how to provide a consistent and standardized service to customers would be a challenge for 55688, but at the same time, a huge opportunity.
〔Original :Meet Global〕
https://meet-global.bnext.com.tw/articles/view/47920