HCMCity (VNS/VNA) – More and more ride-hailing services are enteringthe market despite the dominance of the pioneers Grab and Gojek, formerly knownas GoViet.

Local firm VISERVICE Application Development Joint Stock Company Vietnameselaunched viApp earlier this month, with both taximeters and the usual fixedfares commonly offered by ride-hailing services.

Customers can also flag viApp vehicles on the road just like traditional taxisand motorbike taxis and book rides without mentioning a destination beforehand.

InDriver, the Russian ride-hailing service now in more than 30 countries, waslaunched in September in Da Nang, Hai Phong, Can Tho, and Hue cities.

It uses a real time deal model that allows customers to declare the fare theywould like to pay, and drivers can accept the order or negotiate for a betterfare.

Others offer attractive policies to their drivers such as MeGo notcollecting fees from struggling drivers.

Hoang Quang Mạnh, director of GV Asia Joint Stock Company, which launched GVTaxi in July, said there are still opportunities in the ride-hailing market forlate entrants if they have a good understanding of the market and offerreasonable fares.

A report by Google, Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek and US managementconsultancy Bain said the Vietnamese market could grow by 40 percent a year onaverage to 4 billion USD by 2025.

According to a study by ABI Research, new entrants still have opportunitiesbecause demand growth remains high.

Nguyen Văn Sang, general director of T.Net Joint Stock Company, which ownsride-hailing service T.Net, was quoted by Người Lao Động newspaper as sayingthough there are more and more new services, businesses with large marketshares are barely impacted by them.

New entrants without deep pockets often have to be satisfied with smallermarkets as opposed to large cities, he said, adding that many smaller playershave withdrawn from the market.

Nguyen Huu Tuat, general director of Fastgo Joint Stock Company, said since themarket is still affected by COVID-19, new entrants could struggle to grow andhis company is not trying out new strategies at the moment either.

Customers’ behaviour could change rapidly, and so careful market research isimportant, he added./.