RedBus: The Success Story of India’s Largest Online Bus Ticketing Platform
Redbus is an Indian online bus ticketing platform that provides ticket booking facilities through its website platform and as well as on iOS and Android mobile applications. Founded back in the year 2006 in Bengaluru, Redbus has been able to create a great impact on the bus travel industry.
The founders of the company had already visioned the idea of online ticket booking and how it was the future of the ticket booking service system. Therefore, focusing on those services Redbus was launched and has been able to gain huge customer attraction because of its impressive offers and top-quality ticket booking services at affordable prices.
Soon, Redbus collaborated with the famous Tamil actor, Allu Arjun and announced that he would become their brand ambassador. Redus has been aggressively advertising its services through different social media channels and as well as on television which is also one of the reasons for its huge success today. Let us see how reaching such success has impacted the bus travel industry in the country.
Early Challenges And The Birth Of Redbus
Challenges and difficulties are some of the things that are bound to happen for every successful business. Similarly, it was nothing new for Redbus as well. The company had started off with a mere investment of INR 5 lakhs during that point of time and had to strategically move forward with their business so that they could start earning a good amount of revenue.
At the initial stages, the company had to tie up with several travel agencies and travel agents for seat reservations through the Redbus portal which itself was one of the biggest challenges for the company at their initial stages.
Later, the challenges faced by the team of Redbus only grew. The marketing team of the company had to come up with new strategies to retain their customers. If their services have become a one-time thing then it would have been impossible for the company to sustain itself in the market.
The team put together all their efforts and then came up with suitable and effective marketing strategies so that customers could be retained. Even then the company did face several challenges and some of them were as follows.
- A high booking abandonment rate
- The company had difficulty in cross-selling their partner hotels based on the customers’ behavior
- Challenges faced in targeting customers by bringing exclusive offers based on the destination
- High checkout errors for the customers
Disrupting The Traditional Bus Ticketing System
There were several strategies made by the company that helped them grow into what they are today. The founders of the company predicted the impotence of technology in the future and how it could be utilized to bring in new services for the benefit of the people.
Redbus today has helped people book tickets easily just with the help of a few clicks either on their website or on their user-friendly application. One way or the other Redbus introduced itself to its potential customers as a unique service that could benefit everyone.
The company’s ticket booking services helped people prevent standing in long queues for ticket booking at a physical counter office. People had the power to book tickets anytime they like just with the help of their smartphone having an active internet connection.
People would just have to get themselves registered on the platform/application and then they were eligible for any kind of ticket booking services that the company was offering.
However, the uniqueness that separated Redbus from traditional methods and other companies is that the company was able to provide an opportunity for its customers to select their favorite route or destination. Additionally, the company provides its customers with varieties of attractive offers to its customers so that the company will have better engagements.
The social media strategies used by the company are designed so ideally that they always find great proposals for its audiences.
Innovations and Features That Set Redbus Apart
Redbus today is known to be the leading bus ticket booking company and they are one of the leaders in this segment only because they were able to implement a lot of innovative services for their customers. They have also brought several features that have proved to be quite beneficial for their customers.
All these things accumulated with the top quality ticket booking services have really kept Redbus apart from its competitors today. Let us have a look at some of the key services provided by Redbus.
1. Safety+
Safety+ is one of the initiatives that Redbus introduced for the health safety of their customers. By introducing this feature Redbus had to ensure that buses were clean, sanitized and all staff members inside would be wearing face masks. This initiative was taken just to ensure the safety of the customers.
2. Superior Customer Service
Redbus stood apart from its competitors and as well from the traditional way of ticket booking because of its superior quality customer service. They put their experience and relationships to good use and are always available to solve any kind of travel issues that are faced by their customers.
3. Low Prices and Great Offers
It is important to retain customers and as well as make a profit out of the ticket-booking business. It should be a win-win situation for both parties which is why the company kept their prices reasonable and to attract new customers they offered great offers which saved a lot of money from their customers’ pockets.
4. Unmatched Benefits
The company is said to take care of its customers beyond ticketing services as they provide their customers with several innovative and unique benefits. The company was able to solve a major problem that society was facing, which itself was an innovative service and benefit that any customer could utilize.
Scaling Up: Expansion and Growth Of Redbus
Growth of Redbus has been so far significant which was bound to happen because of the strategies used by the company. In their business model, the company had kept three phases and each phase was very crucial for the success of the ticket booking business. Let us have a look at each of these phases in detail.
Phase I
Phase one is also called Redbus 1.0 which is an online bus ticketing startup that we all know about. This phase started by tying up with a couple of bus operators in Bangalore. In this phase, the primary motive was to find the right product market that could attract both customers and as well as investors.
Phase II
The second phase also called 2.0 that only focused on expanding the business or the services that the company was providing to other parts of the country. In this phase, the company wanted to take their services at a higher or rather say at a national level where transactions would also be more.
Phase III
In the third phase, the company was acquired by a South African media giant named Naspers through its Indian subsidiary, ibiboGroup in the year 2018. The acquisition was made for a whopping amount of $135 million. Ever since this acquisition the company has developed quickly and established itself as a virtual monopoly in India’s bus ticketing system.
The company has plans to expand its business because they are aiming to launch its operations in at least four South and South Asian countries. Redbus is also planning to expand its global footprint. The company has a presence in countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Colombia, and Peru.
Building Trust And Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
Redbus had to make their ticket booking service quality so that they could build the trust of their users/customers. In the initial stages, most people were hesitant to utilize its services which was also one of the biggest challenges that the company had to face. They needed to ensure that customers were satisfied with their services which could only happen if they were able to offer something different to them.
This is where the company started coming up with attractive offers and easy ticket booking experience. People were rewarded for using the platform again and again because every time they booked a ticket on their platform they received several cashback offers and discounts. People did not have to move an inch from the comfort of their houses to book a ticket because Redbus’ easy-to-use user interface has made things easier for their customers.
All these things helped the company build trust among its customers. People who have used its services were left satisfied with its smooth ticket booking experience. This is why the company has been able to expand to several international countries and has been a standout ticket-booking company in India today.
Redbus Tech-Driven Approach To Bus Ticketing
Redbus’ tech-driven approach to bus ticketing has changed the way of ticket booking in India and as well as in several other countries where the company is operating its business. The primary intention of rolling out this kind of service was to help people prevent standing in long queues.
The company advertised its services in the same way which was why the majority of its targeted audience utilized its services whenever they booked a bus ticket.
Apart from that the checkout and payment method was also super easy. People did have a lot of options to pay for their ticket booking after which their ticket would get confirmed. The company allowed different payment methods like online payment, debit cards, credit cards, and many such payment methods to make things convenient for the bus ticketing experience on their platform.
One of the other major reasons for Redbus' tech-driven approach was to come up with attractive offers so that traveling becomes pocket friendly. People utilizing its services could have the opportunity to travel on premium buses at cheaper and affordable prices.
Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations
Redbus has partnered with several reputed companies in India to function in its ticket-booking business. Some of the most notable partnerships are with IRCTC, MakeMyTrip, and Amazon. By partnering with these companies the company has increased its user base because it will be getting higher exposure to its potential customers and therefore this strategy will help the company gain more users.
Expansion Beyond India: Redbus Goes Global
Redbus was acquired back in the year 2018 by a South African media giant. This acquisition was one of the reasons for the company to go international as it got a good amount of funding from its investors to start its operations in other countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Columbia, and Peru. they also have got their operations working in India at a national level with millions of customers.
The company is also planning to expand its business in the upcoming years where it will be targeting to open up several of its operations in countries in the South and South Asian region. The CEO of the company confirmed this statement.
Redbus’ Contribution To The Digital Transformation To The Travel Industry
Redbus was able to stand out from its competitors as well as from the traditional method of ticket booking only because it created a separate online platform for ticket booking. This was a massive digital transformation in the travel industry because sooner or later existing companies had to do the same to sustain themselves in the market.
Redbus was one of the companies that realized the importance of transforming ticket booking into a digital system. The Digital ticket booking system made the booking process simpler, easier, effortless, and as well as time effective. Customers did not have to visit a brand to make a payment or even receive the hard copy of their tickets because a soft copy of their ticket on their smartphone would just do the job as a hard copy.
This was the real contribution by Redbus which attracted a lot of the crowd’s attention and therefore contributed to the digital transformation of the travel industry. Nowadays, there will be only a few people who will be using the traditional method for booking a ticket.
Redbus Awards and Recognitions
Awards:
- 2012: Named as a Fast Company amongst the world’s 50 most innovative companies in 2012.
- 2014: Global Mobile Innovation In Travel Award By Eyefortravel.
- 2014: the Most Innovative Company of the Year Award by Business Standard
- 2015; The Most Trusted Brand By IBC InfoMedia in 2015.
Recognitions:
- The most trusted brand from the brand trust report
- Phanindra was appointed as the CIO of TSIC on 10th Nov 2017
- Top 5 startups in 2010 by Forbes magazine.
Future Outlook and Continued Success Of Redbus
The future of Redbus seems promising as they have got major plans to expand their business internationally. They have already set up their operations in different countries and will be expanding to a few more in the upcoming years making ticket booking smoother for people in those countries.
This will only increase the revenue earning of the company and thus the company will be one of the most highly successful companies in the world.
Conclusion
The journey of Redbus has been inspiring several entrepreneurs for their startups. It is one of those companies that started out during the introductory stages of the Internet. Today, the company has built a good reputation in the market which has helped the company gain a good customer base and as well as profit.
They have partnered up with several reputed companies which has only boosted their overall outreach to potential new markets. Therefore, in the end, we can say that the future of Redbus company seems promising as they strive to enhance the ticket booking experience for their customers.