'redBus To Be One-stop Platform For All Travellers'
With expansion plans in other geographies and introduction of adjacent travel segments like hotel bookings, redBus.in is gradually changing the face of Indian travel market by bringing together 2,000 bus operators across 100,000 routes, connecting cities around the world with a single click. In an interview with BW Businessworld, Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus.in talks about constant innovation and how to make consumer experience convenient and hassle-free with a host of new product features.
redBus.in is aiming to tap the relatively underserved religious travel market in India and providing an unparalleled pilgrimage experience to its users by offering a special introductory discount of 25% applicable on all packages booked to popular pilgrimages like Tirupati, Shirdi, Vaishno Devi, Guruvayur, Palani, Kollur, Rameshwaram, and Tiruchendur.
Underlining its commitment to provide the best travel experiences to its customers with bus tickets and accommodation, redBus.in allows users to customise their packages by adding extra services like booking a puja, buying extra Prasad, or booking a sightseeing tour. This end-to-end travel convenience adds another dimension to the darshan experience of pilgrims.
Prakash Sangam, CEO redBus.in says, “Despite research suggesting that 75 per cent of leisure travel in India is directed towards religious destinations, there is no reliable online destination that caters to the specific experience of pilgrimage travellers. This is why we’ve launched dedicated pilgrimage packages to 9 popular destinations. With unique facilities like booking a darshan and puja online, as well as other value-added features, we are aiming to provide our users with the best and most convenient pilgrimage experiences.”
So has the platform disrupted the Indian travel market? “redBus has been the country’s largest online bus ticketing platform with reportedly 70 per cent of the share in the industry. It has successfully changed the face of Indian travel market by bringing together approximately 2,000 bus operators across 100,000 routes and the platform connects cities around the world with a single click. With some of the exceptional features like redBus now that allow users to book the ticket of the buses that are already in transit to having bus services in East Asia, we strive to work hard and bring the best travel experience for our customers,” he adds.
By adding value to the travellers, bus travel is the most-used, convenient, and economical mode of transport in India. And also the only mode of transport that connects even the most remote corners of this country. “With an inventory that consists of some of the biggest bus operators in the country running on almost 70,000 routes across India, we are making a bus travelers’ journey easy. And to make the bus ticketing experience fast and transparent for our end user we are offering features like seat selection, ratings and reviews, zero booking fees, navigation to the boarding point, Track My Bus, rest stop information and reserved seat for women. We believe that our role does not end merely when a ticket gets booked, hence we have been constantly innovating to make consumers overall bus experience convenient and hassle-free with a host of new product features,” says Sangam.
redBus has looked to continuously evolve its technology to cater to a growing business. “The intuitive technology and user-friendly innovation ensures to stay a step ahead of the contemporaries. Post the merger with MakeMyTrip, one of the core focus would be technological innovations. We have incorporated new technologies, leaning more towards open source, and also re-architected some of our key platforms to cater to the increase in traffic and also inventory. We also focus heavily on data to help us make key design / technology decisions. With constant research and updates, we have been able to successfully handle most scaling issues that we have come across.”
The company has integrated tech into features like Track My Bus, Rest Stop Information, Reserved Seat for Women, Boarding Point navigation, live tracking, and ratings and reviews to solve the problems that travelers face during or before a bus journey.
redBus is looking to expand to other geographies and also into adjacent travel segments like hotel bookings. “We want to make redBus the one-stop platform for all travellers,” concludes Sangam.
