Roadtrips. Quite a lot to love about them. Interestingly, there are many in our country who think the same way making it a large underexplored opportunity for brands. We witnessed the entry of two very interesting startups, Easy Roads and ScoutMyTrip, to make it easier for those who love to explore new places from behind the wheel.
However, recognising the opportunity, a major player has decided to explore this space and this one doesn’t come from the travel industry. India’s second largest oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) is reportedly planning to enter the travel industry with its offering Happy Roads.
Livemint reports that the company is looking to launch the Happy Roads app in two months and with the app, it hopes to attract young travellers who love to take the road. The app will offer various travel options depending on one’s preferences of destinations and will help in planning the trip. The report also reveals that Happy Roads has already got multiple partners onboard including Bharti Axa general insurance and PolicyBazar for travel insurance, Zoomcar for rentals and 3M for car care. The users will be updated on the facilities available for them on their route.
This could be a fruitful proposition for the company to push this product. They can use their wide network of petrol stations to reach the right customers and as it gains popularity, leverage the app to increase loyalty for the fuel business. At this point, most customers in India don’t really have any priorities for fuel companies unless they have specific fuel requirements. However, most of them are pushing to have an edge over the others and BPCL, if successful in pushing the Happy Roads, can leverage it to drive a fraction of the buyers to its stations and push incentives to them.
It is quite plausible that for BPCL, monetising it directly, even in long term, might not be on the cards. This would be an interesting development to watch as its success could pave way for other players to look at its space and improve the experience for road travellers in future. Sign up for our newsletter below to stay updated on the developments.
Source: Livemint
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Akshay Sharma
Akshay is interested in e-commerce, mobile, gadgets, automobiles and transportation and has previously worked for different publications writing about mobile technologies. Fascinated by how technology is affecting our lives in unimaginable ways, he likes to keep a close watch on the new trends. He appreciates the beauty of technological development and writes about it to help the travel industry innovators reach the masses. He also keeps track of the rapidly growing startup ecosystem and believes that every new travel startup carries the promise to change things for the better. You can reach him at akshay.sharma@travhq.com.
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