[Courtesy of Kakao Corp.]
Kakao Taxi, a mobile taxi calling app of Kakao Corp had accumulated 50 million taxi requests since its launch in March, the company announced Wednesday.
When Kakao Taxi was first released, many were skeptical about its success. Call-taxi businesses were already a red ocean in South Korea with over 580 companies competing in the industry.
To outstand among other call taxi companies, Kakao Taxi linked with a navigation app “Kimgisa” and provided its users with a simple process with just a few taps on the smartphone.
Paying for the fares was also made easy by connecting the app with Kakao Pay, Kakao Corp’s mobile payment system, along with other conventional payments such as credit cards.
Also, to ensure safe travels, a message containing information about a taxi such as its number plate and departure time, is sent to people in selected contact list. The feature brought positive responses from female users since taxi-related crimes were always a concern in Korean society.
Kakao Taxi also ran promotions for taxi drivers to adopt the app to boost distribution. The company allowed the taxi drivers to use the app for free of charge, which lead to a huge jump in numbers of drivers using the app.
Following the success of Kakao Taxi app, the company launched its premium service “Kakao Taxi Black”. It provides services with premium sedans such as Mercedes Benz E class and its drivers undergo series of lectures to provide premium service to its users.
아주경제 박세진 기자 = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
