Didi’s newest feature: booking cars for other people

Image credit: TIA.

Didi Chuxing, now the undisputed king of China’s ride-hailing market, isn’t resting on its laurels after its recent acquisition of competitor Uber China. The company has just rolled out a new feature in response (it says) to consumer demand: booking rides for other people.

Say, for example, your elderly mother needs a ride across town. She could book one easily via Didi, but she’s not very tech savvy, and she doesn’t have the app. Now, you can book a ride for her – instead of using your own info, the app will let you choose to insert your mom’s address, phone number, and name so it can dispatch a car directly to her.

It’s worth remembering that half of China’s population isn’t using the mobile web yet

Once you’ve booked the car, Didi can contact her directly via text, QQ, or WeChat, and you can also share ride information with her easily so that she can see details like the driver’s name, the license number, car location, and arrival time without having to download the Didi app. Then, when the car comes, she can pay for the ride in cash. You’ll want to be careful to only book rides for people you trust, though, because if the passenger doesn’t pay in cash within a certain timeframe, the user who booked the car (you) will be charged for the ride.

Thankfully, you can schedule rides for others in real-time or in advance, and you can book a ride for yourself at the same time as booking one for someone else too. So if, for example, after a movie you and a friend both need rides to your respective homes, you can book her a car via Didi and grab a different car for yourself at the same time. Convenient!

Although China’s tech industry has developed fast, it’s worth remembering that half of China’s population isn’t using the mobile web yet. Didi may be top dog in China’s ride-hailing market, but it has a ton of room to grow when it comes to acquiring new users, and allowing existing users to book rides for non-users could be a great way to bring some of those non-users into the fold… or at least make a little quick cash off of them.