Meru Cabs, which raised $50 million from India Value Fund last month to increase its penetration in existing markets, has a few aces up its sleeves to boost its fortunes, Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Meru Cabs, told FE’s Avanish Tiwary. Here are 6 power points:
1. Meru Cabs has started to increase penetration in existing locations by augmenting supply. Sees even smaller markets getting more diverse.
2. Meru Cabs will offer price cuts, trial vouchers, surprise discounts, etc. as marketing tools.
3. Meru Cabs has already achieved 2 million app downloads, within two years, and aims to take it to 5 million by the end of the year.
4. Meru Cabs will expand into new geographies. Meru Cabs is already in 23 cities and is targetting 40 by December.
5. Meru Cabs is the only player to book cabs a week in advance. This is a very important service on Meru Cabs platform. Meru Cabs has a robust back-end technology that allows a predictive analysis of demand and supply for the next seven days. It can predict quite sharply the number of taxis that will be available at a given point and time for a week in advance.
6. Meru Cabs gives customers the option to choose how they want to pay for the ride, instead of forcing them to pay through wallet or card. It is also the only one offering intra-city rides.