Win the Competition by Listening to Customer Voices: An Analysis of Ridesharing Business in Surakarta

Abstract

Ridesharing has attracted worldwide attention due to its contribution to the environment, notably in reducing the number of privately owned vehicles, alleviating traffic congestion, and mitigating air pollution arising from private transportation. Currently, Indonesia’s ridesharing platform is a prominent player within the realm of popular e-commerce businesses. The use of technology has increased public interest in adopting ridesharing services. The goal of this study is to assess the competitive landscape among ridesharing companies operating in Surakarta, Indonesia. The participants are customers with experience with three ridesharing platforms: Grab, Go-Jek, and Maxim. This study implemented the Analytic Hierarchy Process to evaluate the competitiveness of ridesharing platforms. The benchmarks for platform selection include service quality, price, and promotional activities. Within the service quality domain, Parasuraman proposed five dimensions to serve as sub-criteria. The price criteria include three sub-criteria: low price, discounts, and affordability. Meanwhile, the promotional criteria encompass advertisement, vouchers, and digital influence as the sub-criteria. This study’s findings reveal a preference hierarchy among ridesharing alternatives from the customer’s perspective as follows: Grab (0.402), Go-Jek (0.365), and Maxim (0.226). Grab ranks highest in eight sub-criteria, whereas Go-Jek ranks highest in three sub-criteria. Conversely, Maxim consistently occupies the lowest rank. Notably, service quality emerges as the foremost priority, closely followed by price and promotion. Within the service quality criteria, assurance takes precedence, affordability leads the price criteria, and vouchers have the highest priority among promotional criteria.