Company History
Careem provides private car services. This business serves customers who require a ride and who cannot or do not want to use a taxi or public transportation. The business operates through a mobile application that allows one to book a car quickly, “using GPS technology, the app finds the customer’s location and calculates an approximate price for the ride”, and a website that provides an opportunity to pay for the services (Hamid par. 6; Rego par. 2). Careem is a rather new business. It was founded only three years ago in 2012 (“About Us” par. 1). That is why its history is relatively short, which does not make it any less eventful. Over the first two years of its existence, the business that was initially founded in Dubai managed to expand to 14 different cities of the Middle East such as Karachi, Doha Beirut, and Cairo (Hamid par. 2).
Senior Management Chart
Mission and Vision
Careem is a local business and has a regional vision. The leaders of the company realize that “transport is the lifeline to everything” (“About Us” par. 1). The mission of Careem is to provide the best connection between people and locations in the region. That is why the leaders, managers, and workers of the company apply the best talent and the latest technologies combined with the highest level of professionalism to their operations. Careem is a business-oriented at people both internally and externally. The leaders of the company ensure that only the best professionals in the field are employed in Careem to provide the services of the highest quality to the clients. Careem focuses on innovations and expansion ensuring fast and responsive service and dense coverage of various regions.
Marketing Strategy
Careem operates in a market with a lot of competition for similar businesses. As a result, the company has to battle all of these competitors for the client base. That is why Careem is very determined about its differentiation in the market. Careem’s marketing strategy is founded on the accessibility of the company’s services. Innovations play a significant part in the marketing strategy of this business. This orientation signifies Careem’s orientation to the future and readiness to embrace all the newest opportunities fearlessly and to improve their image. Besides, rapid expansion facilitates the fast growth of the client base and higher recognition in the market. In that way, a relatively new business has turned itself into one of the most powerful and known private care service deliverers in the market of the Middle East filled with similar companies.
Market Positioning
Careem’s market positioning is based on the emphasis on the quality of services. In other words, apart from making itself available to a large number of clients by means of expansion and wide coverage, Careem also differentiates itself from the competitors attempting to provide the highest level of comfort and convenience to the clients. This advantage is achieved by means of outsourcing of various processes and operations. For instance, using a regular taxi service, a client would have to call them on the phone, wait for the car to arrive, and then, possibly show the way or explain the route without knowing how much the journey would cost. Careem’s reliance on the latest technologies allows this business to use a qualitatively different approach. The clients of Careem place their orders online using the mobile application or a website.
The clients choose their route, and the program instantly calculates the price of the journey and allows the client to pay for it beforehand. Besides, the people who travel with Careem have the opportunity of choosing a car. Even though the business has been operating for just a few years, it has already positioned itself as one of the leaders of the regional market. The key to the popularity of Careem is the thoroughness of service, responsiveness, accessibility, and very fast growth. In fact, one of the co-founders of Careem, Magnus Olsson, has made a statement that the business’ leaders intend to maintain a 30 % growth of Careem every month within the next several years (“UAE Chauffeur Car App Careem Acquires Moroccon Start-Up Taxiii: par. 12; Cherrayil par. 6).
What Makes Careem Unique
Every business that operated in a densely populated market has to compete with a large number of rivals. Some of Careem’s competitors are older and more experienced; some have better recognition. For example, Careem is often compared with Uber, another car booking service supported by a mobile application. That is why Careem leaders are to constantly ensure that the progress of their service, that their company provides something that others do not have on their list of offers. Non-stop self-improvement is the key to success for Careem. Currently, the company offers car rides that a client can book very quickly using the mobile application of the company. Besides, using a credit card one may buy credits so that the future bookings could be accomplished even faster.
The service that differentiates Caeem from Uber is that the former provides the customers with an opportunity of booking a car not only for a ride that is about to happen but also for one that is set in the future. This option is very convenient and allows the clients to secure future rides when something important is planned so that there will be no need to lose time looking for a taxi (“Dubai Luxury Car Service – Careem vs. Uber” par. 6). The prices of Careem are not much different from those of Uber, which means that the company’s intention is to win the clients by means of providing better services for a similar price as well as incorporating more and more large cities of the Middle East into its network. The rapid expansion and versatile and accessible services are the features that make the business stand out.
Problems and Solutions
The company’s most important need is resources, the problem of financing was solved by means of attraction of the most powerful investors. The problem of accessibility is solved by the provision of flexible payment opportunities (the clients of Careem may pay online using their cards, buy credits beforehand, or pay with cash). The most recent issues the business faces are of technological character. The application Careem is supported by requires the frequent update of maps, and sometimes fails to process the customers’ data. These challenges are addressed by means of the involvement of the team of the best IT professionals a company can access.
Works Cited
About Us 2015 Web.
Cherrayil, Naushad. Careem raising $10m to strengthen Mideast operations. Web.
Dubai Luxury Car Service – Careem vs. Uber 2015 Web.
Hamid, Triska. Car-booking app Careem lands $10m in funding. Web.
Rego, Nick. Careem vs. Uber. 2013. Web.
UAE Chauffeur Car App Careem Acquires Moroccon Start-Up Taxiii 2015. Web.