Rozee.pk recently conducted a survey on the ride hailing services in Pakistan. The “Ride Sharing Trends” survey tries to answer some common questions about the likes of Uber, Careem and other similar services in Pakistan.
A total of 7,391 individuals participated in the survey through an online questionnaire. The survey itself was conducted at Rozee.pk and was sent out to 1.2 million professional members on the website.
People from Lahore and Karachi participated in the survey.
It focused on answering the question “which ride sharing apps are preferred by the Pakistani society and why?”
Main findings of the survey included:
Despite making efforts to make the survey as unbiased as possible in terms of gender equality, the responses were male dominated with only 17% female participants responding to the survey.
73% of respondents who own a smartphone use a ride sharing app, which is a pretty high number.
Based on general voting however, the stats were a little different. Users were presented with 5 choices: Uber, Careem, MetroCab, GoRickshaw and Other. The users were allowed to choose multiple options. Here are the results based on general voting:
Ride sharing app usage based on general voting
In terms of frequency of usage, most of the users occasionally use a ride-sharing app. 74% of the respondents use a ride sharing service 1-3 times per month. Here are the detailed stats:
Frequency of usage
As the previously mentioned statistics indicate, Uber and Careem are almost on par with each other in terms of popularity. Do note, however, that the survey participants were from Karachi and Lahore so it may not be indicative of these apps popularity in other cities or regions.
Most popular ride sharing apps
Narrowing down the results for the users who used both Careem and Uber, the former had the lead in Karachi while the latter had the lead in Lahore:
The difference isn’t too big between the popularity of the two apps. Careem has better coverage in Karachi as compared to Lahore, which explains these results.
Another interesting finding was that users with higher tier incomes prefer Careem over Uber in both Karachi and Lahore. Uber was more popular among users in Lahore who weren’t earning.
Uber and Careem users by income
In terms of frequency of usage, casual users (74% of respondents) that use the services 1-3 times per month preferred to use Uber in Lahore and Careem in Karachi.
Regular users that use the services more than 4 times per month preferred to Careem in both Lahore and Karachi.
The survey asked the responders to choose from a list of reasons as to why they use their preferred ride-hailing service. Here’s a list of common reasons:
Less wait time for vehicles to arrive
This was the most commonly chosen option. Careem received 47% of the total votes here and Uber got 53%. Although the actual difference in arrival times is not very different, Uber was preferred over Careem.
In Karachi the preferred service was Careem with 56% of users voting for it compared to Uber’s 44%. As mentioned earlier, Careem has a larger coverage area in Karachi than in Lahore.
In Lahore 62% of the survey participants voted for Uber.
App is well designed and user friendly
Overall, Uber users were more pleased with the app’s designed than Careem users. Breaking down the data by city the results seem odd but understandable.
68% of respondents from Karachi liked Careem’s app better than Uber. In Lahore however, Uber was more liked with 60% of users opting for it.
Personal preference for a particular service may be influencing the users’ decisions. As Uber is more dominant in Lahore and the same is true for Careem in Karachi, the results are understandable.
Cost is lower
The results were clear for this option with Uber gaining an overwhelming majority of votes. 70% of users voted for Uber while 30% voted for Careem.
Drivers are reliable and professional
Careem had the upperhand in this case, winning against Uber in both Karachi and Lahore. Overall 74% of users preferred Careem over Uber.
In Karachi the number was higher at 78% while in Lahore Careem had a significant advantage at 69% over Uber.
Vehicles are in better condition
Careem had the advantage over Uber in this regard as well. 70% the users (from both Karachi and Lahore) are of the opinion that Careem’s vehicles are in better condition than Uber.
Offer good discounts and promotions
Uber lost to Careem on this front as well. Careem users responded at 71% for this option compared with Uber’s 29%.
Despite Uber offering lower rates compared with Careem, the latter continued to offer good discounts and promotions from time to time suggesting that Careem lowers its cost more often and has the edge on Uber in this regard.
Check out the complete report here.
Which service do you prefer and why? Share your opinion in the comments.
