Meru Cabs and Ola Cabs are two major transportation network companies in India. Meru Cabs was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Mumbai, while Ola Cabs was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Bengaluru. Both companies allow customers to book rides through their mobile apps, websites, and other channels. However, Ola Cabs has expanded to more cities and has a larger fleet and more funding, while Meru Cabs focuses on reliable airport transportation and advanced booking. The document provides a detailed comparison of the business models, strategies, products and performance of the two leading cab aggregator companies in India.

1. Introduction to the
Company
UpGrad Product Management
Competitor Analysis
Student Name: AMIT KATYAYAN

2. Competitive Analysis:
Meru Cabs Vs Ola Cabs

3. Contents
• Competitor Identification
• Background Analysis
• Business Model Analysis
• Strengths & Weaknesses
• Product Analysis
• Future Initiatives

4. Competitor Identification
Direct Competitors
• MERU has direct competition with
companies like: Ola Cabs, Uber, Easy Cabs,
Mega Cabs who have same or similar
business models
Indirect Competitors
• Shared Commute Services
• Zipgo – creating a traceable private bus
network and users to book a seat
• BlaBlaCar – Intercity carpooling services
connecting people travelling to the same
destinations
• Self-Drive Car Rental Services
• Zoomcar, Revv – Many self-drive Car rentals
pose to be very competitive as they are well
priced and super convenient

5. Background Analysis
MERU
• Meru Cabs is a transportation network company
headquartered in Mumbai, India.
• Founders - Neeraj Gupta & Nilesh Sangoi
• Launch Year – 2007
• Investors - True North, Brand capital
• Number of employees - 500–1001
• Brands - Meru, MeruFlexi, Hatchback, Sedan, Suv.
• Operating cities – 24
• Facilities and payment option - Cab booking
facilities through calls, website, Messenger bot on
Facebook, Google Maps or through a mobile app. It
accepts payments through cash or multiple wallet
options.
• Revenue - $42Mn
• Website - www.meru.in
OLA
• Ola Cabs is a transportation network company
headquartered in Bengaluru, India.Ola is a Spanish
termwhich means hello!
• Founders - BhavishAggarwal, Ankit Bhati
• Launch Year – 2010
• Investors - Ola is funded by 38 investors. Kia motors
and Hyundai motors company are recent investors.
• Number of employees – 6000
• Brands - Vehicle for hire, Food Delivery (Foodpanda)
• Operating cities – 169
• Facilities and payment option - Cab booking facilities
through calls, website, Messenger bot on Facebook,
Google Maps or through a mobile app. It accepts
payments through cash or multiple wallet options.
• Revenue - $201.4Mn
• Website - Ola Cabs.in

6. i. Company Vision & Goal
MERU
• Meru wants to be an organization that
will touch the one billion population in
India and ensure that we provide a
safe, reliable and transparent transport
solution to the people for a daily
purpose. Delivering quality service at
all touch points— booking, while
travelling, and post travel—in all the
areas of our country is the vision and
mission
OLA
• “With Olacabs, we’re trying to bring
quality and predictability to car rental
services online.” – Bhavish Aggarwal,
CEO
• At Olacabs, the goal is to bring
convenience, price transparency and
standardization to consumers booking
car rentals and cab services. They offer
instant confirmation for car rental
bookings.

7. ii. Strategy
MERU
• Meru was the first radio taxi provider in the country
• Built brand image as the No.1 airport taxi and most reliable for solo woman passengers
• Created trust and loyal customer base by providing great service and well trained drivers
• Improved employee stickiness by providing incentives like loans, insurance and
scholarships for them and their families
• Expanding to Tier2/3 cities slow and steadily
• Continue to thrive in the advanced booking space
• Very customer friendly even for the non-techsavy who can book cabs via call centre
• Genie cabs have been a flagship product segment of economical cabs my Meru
• Earning revenue through “Cabvertisements”
• Only provider to have Taxi Aggregator license in India

8. ii. Strategy contd…
OLA
• Built the brand as the “To go” app for any kind of cab booking with their
“ChaloNiklo” ad campaign
• Always kept focus on being an online platform for aggregation and reach
• Launch of new innovative products and offers very frequently keeping the customer
base excited and hooked
• Acquired TaxiForSure in March 2015, for $200MN USD, making it the largest fleet
size and market share
• Providing drivers with very attractive and lucrative monetary incentive schemes
• Recently slashed fares by 20-30% in Tier2&3 cities
• Started Ola Fleet Technologies over a year ago whose focus is building its own fleet,
skilling drivers and creating a comprehensive ecosystem

9. iii. Funding
Series Who
Funded
Date Amount
Initial India
Value
Fund
March –
15
$50
Million
First
Series
Bennett,
Coleman
and Co.
Ltd.
June – 16 $25
Million
Series Date Amount
Corporate Round -
Ola Mar-19 $300M
Series J - Ola Feb-19 $92M
Series J - Ola Jan-19 $141 M
Venture Round -
Ola Sep-18 $50M
Secondary Market -
Ola Aug-18 $225 M
Private Equity
Round - Ola Oct-17 $1.1B
Debt Financing Ola Sep-17 $14M
Private Equity
Round - Ola Aug-17 $36M

10. iv. Products
MERU
• It supports multiple mobile wallet.
• By selecting the Fare Exactometer feature, passengers can know the exact price
to be paid even before the start of the ride. This avoids any unforeseen costs
and provides peace of mind to passengers.
OLA
• Passengers can book rides ranging from economy rides on a rickshaw to luxury cars.
• An “Ola Select” membership gives access to various privileges like no peak pricing, free
Wi-Fi, airport lounge access etc.
• Ola Share Pass is subscription feature that allows riders to travel anywhere at a fixed rate
in an Ola share cab.
• Ola Money – Payment wallet that allows cashless payments.
• Ola in association with Foodpanda also delivers food.

11. v. Social Media Analysis
• Ola Cabs is on the top of the social media. It has more than 1M fans
on Facebook and more than 222K followers on Twitter
• Facebook has designed a customized mobile-specific methodology
by the name of ‘App Analytics’, that enables apps to track and
measure performance. It enabled Ola to track its performance and
make informed decisions about reaching their customers..
• Meru cabs have 182K fans on Facebook and 20K followers on
Twitter.

12. Business Model Analysis
A. Revenue Models:
OLA Began with OLA Moved to
▪ Marketplace model X %
commission from trip fare.
▪ Car Type, On-Boarding Fee, On-
Cab Ads
▪ Part-Inventory model to gain
exclusivity. Buying cabs for leasing
to the drivers.
▪ Ola Money, Ola Corporate, Peak
time charges
MERU Began with MERU Moved to
▪ In contrast to Ola, Meru began
with complete inventory model
& owned all its fleet.
▪ Drivers were required to pay per
day rentals (INR 1200-INR 1300).
▪ Driver strikes in 2012 has forced
Meru to take the part-Inventory
route too.
▪ Today 50% of its fleet is owned by
drivers.
▪ It also earns around 10% of
revenue from On-cab
advertisements.

13. B.Target Market
Brand
OLA MERU
It believes that the entire mobility space is the target
market. Anyone who needs a online, point to point or
outstation transport according to their budget, Ola has
a category for them.
Meru targets the users who want to get a cab instantly
and reliably. Women customers form a good target
area for Meru due to well behaved drivers, clean AC
cars and ‘Trust Factor’.

14. OLA C. Inventory D.User Segment
Had no Inventory to begin with. Anyone who wants to book an economical cab from
Smartphone
IT related product functions. Youngsters, working class and elderly who need a point to
point travel.
Recently bought cars form inventory
MERU Began with Inventory mode Users looking for instant-reliable cab
Entire fleet owned makes up the inventory Users looking for airport ca
Devices fit in the vehicle Users looking to pay a premium price for better service

15. Strengths & Weaknesses
Brand Strengths Weaknesses
MERU First radio taxi provider. Present only in 24 cities
Cost effective. No surge pricing. Not a very huge cab fleet compared to Ola
Only aggregator to actually be making a profit. Very low branding compared to Ola
Leading in advanced booking space. Received low funding
Very advanced back-end technology High Training cost
OLA Widespread marketing of the brand. High
customer awareness.
High surge prices
Present in 100+ cities. Despite of all funding the company is not
making profits
New products and features for every segment of
the customer base.
Drivers are usually signed up with Uber also,
decreasing driver stickness
Huge cab fleet ensures high cab availability. Ola drivers have bad feedback.

16. Product Performance Analysis –
MERUcabs
Specific iOS Android Windows
App downloads Not available 10-50 Million Not available
App rating 1 star 3.8 stars 3.8 stars
App Reviews Not enough data availabl 44% reviews are 5stars. 41% reviews are 5stars
Download size 40MB 25MB 6MB
Basic Features Book, track cabs and get notifications, ICE , pay through 4 different wallets
New Features One touch booking, Fare Exactometer, ride a Meru airport taxi and pay thru Meru
app. (cab not booked thru app but picked from the airport directly)
App user experience Launch of app is very slow. Availability of cabs is very low. The SUV, Sedan, Meru eve
categories have not been launched in all cities yet.

17. Product Performance Analysis – OLA
Cabs
Specific iOS Android Windows
App downloads Not available 10-50 Million Not available
App rating 4+ 4 stars 3.4 stars
App Reviews Not enough data available 53% of reviews are 5stars. 38% of reviews are 5 stars.
Lots of app crash
complaints.
Download size 158MB 40MB 25MB
Basic Features See availability, book and track cabs and get notified, recharge wallet, SOS
New Features Pay mobile and utility bills Ola money, transfer money to friends
App user experience Launch of app is very quick with accurate GPS location

18. Future Initiatives
MERU
• Meru Cabs to focus on corporate
employee transportation.
• Start Meru Eve operations in other
cities. Currently its operated only in
Delhi.
OLA
• Ola Announces Plans to Enter UK, Offers
Compelling Choice in the Ride Hailing
Market.
• Ola plans to reach 50 global cities by
2019; hunts for investors to raise more
funds.
• Partnered with Maruti Suzuki to train 50
lakh drivers in Soft and hard skills by
2020.
• Focus on generating profits from new
revenue generating schemes

19. Resources OLA
• http://www.businessofapps.com/eight-uber-competitors-
reinventing-taxi-apps/
• http://unicornomy.com/how-does-ola-make-money/
• https://blog.olacabs.com/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ola_Cabs

20. Resources MERU
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Meru-Cabs
• https://www.meru.in/about-us/our-philosophy
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meru_Cabs
• http://www.businessinsider.in/This-is-how-Meru-Cabs-plans-to-give-
Ola-and-Uber-a-run-for-theirmoney/articleshow/46622043.cms
• http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/meru-cabs-expects-
30-35-revenue-from-genie-by-2017-18114032100962_1.html
• https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ola/funding_rounds/funding_r
ounds_list#section-funding-rounds