Introduction

E-commerce or electronic commerce has become very popular in recent years. It refers to

using the internet for commercial or business transactions. There many examples of e-

commerce companies which includes Google, eBay, Airbnb and Uber. This assignment

focuses mainly on Uber. Uber is a multinational ride-hailing app, which is currently ranked as

the best ridesharing app in 2020 (Coomes and Revilla, 2020). Below, I will share my opinion

about this e-commerce app along with the positive and negative consequences that may

surface from using it.

Thoughts and Ideas

In my point of view, Uber and other on-demand service apps are shaping the future and are

making our community more civilized as it adapts with the ongoing technology. In Saudi

Arabia, the app Uber is well-known, but it is not as popular as Careem, which is an app

similar to Uber where customers can request a ride and it will arrive in few minutes. I am

using this app regularly to go to university or to meet my friends. It is particularly useful for

us, girls, as the majority of us are unable to drive or do not have a car yet. In addition to this,

a good idea to implement in Saudi Arabia would be to introduce a service that allows only

females to ride with a female driver.

Positive Aspects

One of the most appealing aspects of these apps, whether it is Uber or Careem, is that they

also have a carpooling service. This feature allows other passengers to join the ride and as a

result, the price of the journey could be reduced by half. The carpooling service can also be

used while ordering a normal taxi. Another interesting aspect is that those Uber taxi drivers

are usually better behaved compared to traditional ones that are found roaming in the streets.

Moreover, their cars are generally cleaner, newer and their fare is cheaper.
In addition to Uber, another e-commerce company is rising very fast, Airbnb. People are

mainly attracted to the discounts and low prices that are offered by both of these on-demand

services. For instance, Airbnb and Uber use the same strategy to gain more users. This

strategy consists of offering free credits that can be used within the application. Users can

take advantage of the discounts and credits within the app when they use the app for the first

time or when they invite other individuals to use to the app.

Negative aspects

On the other hand, Airbnb is not so common in KSA due to the country regulations and

culture. Although Uber is allowed in Saudi Arabia, many taxi drivers are calling for it to get

banned as it directly affects their business by forcing them to reduce their prices as they have

lost many passengers. In fact, Uber is already banned in many countries such as China,

Hungary and Denmark (Orton, 2018). This is because most of the drivers are working

without an official taxi license.

Conclusion

In conclusion, e-commerce is a modern way of trading that makes our lives easier. New

applications and tech start-ups are evolving every day, and it would not be possible to go

back to using the traditional way of commerce in just a few years from now. Uber is a great

example of such an e-commerce that has resulted in an evolution to the way of hailing a ride.

Soon it will demolish the old-fashioned way that had people waiting on the side of the road in

hope for a taxi to pass by.

Reference

Coomes, K. and Revilla, A. (2020). The best ridesharing apps for 2020. [online] Digital

Trends. Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-ride-sharing-apps/

[Accessed 14 Feb. 2020].

Orton, T. (2018). 7 Places Around the World Where Uber Is Banned. [online] Oyster.

Available at: https://www.oyster.com/articles/where-is-uber-banned-around-the-world/

[Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].