How Grab collaborates with driver-partners to elevate their driving experience

While downtime at work is typically a break from the daily grind for most people, it’s a different story for Grab driver-partners like Mr Jasmin Zulkiflee. 

On the Grab driver app, idle time refers to the period when a driver-partner is online but without an active passenger booking. This often leads to wasted fuel and time as the driver-partners cruise the roads awaiting their next passenger.

This is why Mr Zulkiflee finds the Auto Accept option on the app dashboard particularly handy – the feature instantly confirms incoming trip bookings on behalf of driver-partners, thus minimising the risk of missed opportunities. 

“Additionally, Auto Accept increases the number of rides driver-partners can complete within an hour online. This directly translates to a higher earnings-to-road-time ratio,” said Mr Prashant Kumar, Grab’s head of product and fulfilment.

For individuals like 61-year-old Mr Zulkiflee, who need to balance work and caregiving responsibilities, every minute counts. “Keeping the Auto Accept function enabled ensures a continuous stream of jobs,” he shared. “It also allows me to concentrate solely on driving without the need to manually accept bookings through the app.” 

TRANSFORMING FEEDBACK INTO USEFUL FEATURES

Auto Accept is just one of the many tech-based solutions developed in collaboration with Grab’s driver-partners, shaped by insights collected from a diverse array of feedback channels, such as the Grab driver app, closed social media groups, in-person coffee sessions, focus groups and monthly surveys.

From the feedback pool, recurring themes are identified by the operations team and channelled to the product team for in-depth discussion.

In the solutions development process, experts come together to conduct user studies and concept tests to shortlist solutions. “When we have a first version of the solution built, we will invite some of our driver-partners or delivery-partners to road-test it in real-world scenarios,” said Mr Kumar. 

During the co-creation phase, product features are further refined based on feedback obtained during beta testing. Bugs that are detected are fixed in a closed-loop process that is repeated until all stakeholders are confident that the solution is ready for launch.

Thereafter, when the solution is made available to all driver-partners, the feedback loop remains active, with Grab’s tech and engineering teams on hand to further fine-tune and optimise the feature. 

DRIVING HIGHER BOOKING RATES AND EARNINGS

This collaborative process has honed popular Grab driver app features such as Heatmap, which predicts demand hotspots nearest to a driver-partner based on historical data and real-time insights as well as Hotspot Navigation, which navigates driver-partners to a hotspot based on real-time demand data. 

“Since introducing Hotspot Navigation, we have observed that 85 per cent of driver-partners secure a booking within five minutes of navigating towards the high-demand area,” shared Mr Kumar.

GrabCar Premium driver-partner Darren Chew, 43, estimates that he has made around 10 per cent more since leveraging the Heatmap and Auto Accept functions. “When I’m in a hotspot, the waiting time in between jobs is usually shorter,” he said.

Another popular new feature developed in conjunction with driver-partners is Zones, which enables driver-partners to work in their chosen pre-defined geographical areas for a fixed period of time. The resulting shorter trip distances within the zones lead to more completed trips per hour online and higher earnings.

HOLISTIC DRIVER-PARTNER SUPPORT 

In his early days as a driver-partner, Mr Chew grappled with understanding passenger travel patterns, which resulted in earnings uncertainty.

He turned to the forum feature on the Grab driver app, where he found guidance within a community of peers who shared their experiences and strategies to maximise earning opportunities. 

For drivers seeking a personal touch, Mr Chew recommends visiting the Grab Service Centre. “Support staff are available to help you with any questions or challenges you may encounter,” he shared. 

To reach its aim of being a reliable platform that offers users rides and deliveries precisely, Grab rolls out product improvements and optimisations as well as new features throughout the year. 

For example, earlier this year, Grab launched a series of enhancements, including the expansion of GrabShare BETA and updates to the Grab consumer app. Services have been renamed to clearly specify the number of passengers allowed on the ride, so as to minimise misunderstandings and ride cancellations.

Soon, driver-partners will have the ability to monitor their real-time queue status at airports, allowing them to make informed decisions about whether to continue waiting in line or explore booking opportunities further afield.

“By consistently refining technology based on our driver-partners’ feedback, we enable them to efficiently handle more bookings per hour on the platform while also meeting the needs of consumers,” said Mr Kumar.