Zareou are the latest ride sharing app to enter the ever expanding london market and its the one that has got me excited the most.
When I first started driving private hire, Uber where the only available option for drivers and riders. Then came via van, followed by kapten, Bolt, imminently Ola and now Zareou.
All of Ubers competitors essential took their model and made a few tweeks to their app to make it their own, but essential they all work the same way.
As a driver, you complete a journey on the app. The riders payment is taken automatically through a pre authorized payment, then the driver gets paid, minus the commission ranging from 15% with Bolt to 25% with Uber. As a driver, the more trips you complete the more money you will earn.
Zareou are introducing a unique concept to the rideshare industry based around a referral affiliate programme where drivers can earn more money but without having to put in extra hours and taking more rides.
Zareou have cleverly sat back and observed the market and looked for ways to make maximum profit while also keep riders and drivers happy. Zareou’s founder and CEO Micahel Jareou even went as far as to interview 600 private hire rivers from around the world to find out what their complaints where and how to address them.
With Uber reportedly making a 4 Billion dollar lose in 2019 with a large chunk of that going on advertising and marketing, Zareou have decided to go the Tesla route and leave that job to its loyal followers.
Advertising has been around forever and it clearly works but why spend 100s of millions in advertising to reach an audience who is unlikely to be interested in what you have to offer. There’s no better advocate than a family member or friend giving you their own personal recommendation and importantly for free.
How Does The Zareou Affiliate Programme work?
The Zareou affiliate programme is not only for drivers but for riders as well.
A driver can refer drivers and riders and riders can refer drivers and riders also.
If a rider refers someone they will enter a loyalty points scheme and get money of rides but when a driver refers someone they will get a percentage of each ride.
What Percentage will you get from every referred driver or rider?
The driver is charged 25% commission. The referer of the driver will get 10% of the 20% shared commission and the referee of the rider will receive the remaining 10% of the shared commission.
In simple terms the referrer will receive 2% of every ride taken by the referred driver or rider.
How Much Extra Income Can You Earn with Zareou?
On a £10 ride completed by your referred driver you will receive 20p, which initially doesn’t seem like a lot. Based on a conservative figure of a driver doing 5 trips a day, that is £1 commission for you. If that same driver does 5 trips a day over 5 days that’s £5 commission a week in your pocket. Now if you recruit 10 drivers, that could easily become £50 a week. Recrute 20 drivers then that becomes £100. You can now see how that 20p can easily become £100 if you get a bit entreprenarial and build up a network of drivers.
You then have the option to make additional income by referring riders. If your multi apping which you should be, then every rider you pick up on a rival app, is potential another rider you can refer to Zareou. You will then earn every time the rider take a ride.
In an interview with driverapplondon Mr Jareou said, “This business is like riding a bicycle. We must have a balance between the driver on one side and the customer on the other side. If we focus only on the drivers, we will lose balance and crash. If we focus only on the customers and not the drivers, we will crash. So we created a very unique loyalty system for the customers that was never done before. We pay on the family and friends they refer to us. We also pay on the drivers they refer to us. The idea is to keep the loyalty of the customer.”
If Zareous founder and CEO Michael Jareou is correct and this unique affiliate scheme creates a strong loyalty not found in the other apps and drivers and riders use the Zareou app exclusively, then the potential additional affiliate earnings could be much more.
What will The Base Fare Be?
Zareou’s base fare will align with the competition at £1.25 per mile, 0.15 per minute and a base fare of £2.50.
The drivers though will be charge a 25% commission which is at the higher end of the scale. This is based on 20% shared commission and a 5% administration fee.
Why would I Drive For Zareou At 25% When Other Apps Are Charging 15%?
This is a fair question and one which will be a sticking point with a lot of drivers.
The biggest gripe drivers have with Uber is that they charge too much commission at 25%. This brings a lot of resentment among drivers despite Uber being the biggest platform and generally their biggest money maker.
These drivers will therefore be unwilling to drive for a new, unknown company which is understandable, but a little short sighted.
If your going to drive for Zareou, you need to be able to look at the bigger picture and get you head around the concept of how a referral affiliate scheme works.
Your goal as a Zareou driver is to build up a network of drivers and riders, big enough to provide you with a passive income. You’re essentially building a business within a business. An additional source of income that you don’t actually have to work for, meaning you can work less but earn more.
What are the Other Ways you Can Earn With Zareou?
With Zareou, there are 6 different ways to earn money.
1– You have the traditional way every private hire driver makes a living and that is driving. Complete more trips and earn more money.
2 – Referring drivers to your driver network to earn money every time they complete a trip.
3 – Referring riders to your riders network to earn money, every time they complete a ride.
4 – Earning tips in cash or through the app by giving great service.
5 – Earn higher fares with scheduled rides.
6 – Earn Higher income when passengers request you by the hour.
As I initially mentioned, I am really excited about the prospect of Zareou entering the competitive rideshare market in London, and so should you.
The referral affiliate scheme is a unique concept in the rideshare market, with London being the guinea pig. Affiliate schemes though are proven concept and have the potential to be a huge success when done correctly.
Loyalty schemes are also used in some form by most major businesses to keep their customers coming back and I’m sure you use them in your day to day life also.
I personally only buy my daily coffee from a popular high street coffee shop because I get a free coffee after every seven through the loyalty scheme. I know this only a small saving but psychologically, the reward scheme does keep you hooked.
If riders have the opportunity to save money and get free rides by staying loyal to one app, then I think they will.
To really benefit from the affiliate referral scheme, you will need to be actively recruiting drivers and riders and look for ways to refer them at every opportunity you can.
Make a concerted effort to build up your affiliate network and you will earn an additional income from it. This could mean a constant residual income giving you a pay rise or the opportunity to work less while still earning the same money or potentially more.
Working less and earning more sounds great to me, and for this reason I’m backing Zareou and hoping that they become a big player in the London rideshare market and a huge success.
