Dubai, UAE-based ride-hailing unicorn Careem has reportedly launched its Super App and invested $50 million in the same. The company has launched the app across 13 markets and planning to spend more overtime for its expansion.
The company announced the launch via Twitter,
Commenting on the development and sharing details about the Super App, Careem’s CEO, Mudassir Sheikha in a statement said,
“The Super App is going to make the unit economics for Careem a lot more efficient. All in all, while the Super App is a significant investment for us, we do believe that this will help us emerge as a more sustainable platform with much better economics than the ones we’ve had in the past.”
Careem said it also plans to introduce more services on the app such as bicycle-rental service and is in talks with several service providers.
“We’ll also be improving our engagement of the user by offering [several] services on the Super App … so we expect our retention rate to go up and that will also help our bottom line.”
The company has also stated that its business has started to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and by providing the broader range of services on its Super App, its revenues will be elevated substantially.
On similar lines, Sheikha stated,
“Business began recovering last month, from a plunge of more than 80 per cent in March and April, to register a slower pace of decline in the range of 50 and 60 per cent year on year. The rides business had the fastest recovery because it was down the most; things started opening up and, all of a sudden, a lot of the traffic started pouring back in. We’re still down significantly, nowhere close to our previous levels, but from a very low base we’re growing in the double-digit [range] week on week.”
Careem in May laid off 31 percent of its workforce, that is equivalent to 536 employees in a wake of COVID-19 crisis, due to which the company’s ride-hailing business fell by 90 percent and the delivery business by 60 percent.
Sheikha also affirmed that no further job cuts are expected during the pandemic, and the company is recording a double-digit week-on-week growth now.
“For example, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were very sharp in their [restrictions and] our business disappeared in those markets. In other markets, the [restrictions] were not as rigid. So, for example, in Egypt there was always some activity,” said Sheikha
The National has reported that Careem is also supporting small restaurants in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan by offering them discounts.
