How to Get Customers for a Taxi Business: Promo Codes, Loyalty, Bonuses and Referrals
How to get customers for a taxi business: give new passengers a reason to try you (a first-ride promo code, advertising with a clear offer), and give regulars a reason to come back (a loyalty program, bonuses, rewards) and to bring a friend (a referral program). All of this only works if the basics are in place: the car arrives quickly, the price is clear, and ordering is easy. Below are the tools for attracting and retaining customers, how to set them up, the pitfalls and a 90-day plan to promote your taxi business.
How to get customers for a taxi business: start with the basics
Any promotion brings a customer in once. Whether they come back depends on the service. Before spending money on promotion, check:
- pickup times in your main districts;
- a clear price the customer sees before ordering;
- an easy way to order, by phone and in your own app;
- clean cars and polite drivers.
If there are gaps here, advertising will only speed up churn: more people will find out that your service is poor.
Customer acquisition tools compared
| Tool | Goal | What the customer gets | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promo code | Attract new customers, measure a channel | A discount on the ride | The company and, if set, the driver |
| Loyalty program | Retain regulars | A discount on the Nth ride or on all rides | The company and, if set, the driver |
| Bonus program | Retain, win back | Bonuses on their account for future rides | The company |
| Referral program | Attract through friends | A bonus for the newcomer and the referrer | The company |
| Discount card program | Recognise regular customers | A discount number, access to special terms | — |
| Rewards | Gamification | A reward with a notification | — |
| Bulk messaging | Win back lapsed customers, announce a promotion | A message with an offer | The company (cost of messages) |
All of these tools are in the "Customer acquisition" section in Tonotel. Let's go through each.
Taxi promo codes: how to launch them
A taxi promo code is the best tool for the first ride and for measuring advertising: each channel gets its own code, and you know exactly where the customer came from.
What you can configure:
- a fixed discount or a percentage;
- a discount cap, the ceiling for a percentage discount: "20%, but no more than a set amount";
- a validity period ("active until");
- a total activation limit and a per-customer limit;
- driver compensation: what share of the discount the company reimburses to the driver.
How the customer enters the code. In the passenger app, the "Payment methods" section has an "Add promo code" button. It also shows the active promo code: discount size, cap, how many orders it covers and until what date. The same field accepts both promo codes and a friend's referral code.
Bulk distribution. A promo code can be assigned to many customers at once by uploading a file with a list of phone numbers, up to 10,000 rows. This is handy for winning back customers who haven't ridden in a while: export them from the database, assign a personal code and tell them about it.
Tips:
- keep codes short and readable:
CITY20,FIRST; - always set a validity period and an activation limit, otherwise a code from an ad will circulate on coupon sites for years;
- for percentage discounts, set a cap so that a long ride doesn't turn into a loss;
- make sure the code text is unique.
Taxi loyalty program
A taxi loyalty program gives a discount based on the number of rides. A rule is defined by a condition, a number of orders, a period and a discount size. Six conditions are available:
| Condition | Example use |
|---|---|
| Greater than or equal to | A discount on all rides after the 20th in the last 90 days |
| Every Nth | Every 10th ride discounted |
| Equal to | A discount on exactly the 2nd ride, so newcomers come back |
| Equal to (existing customers only) | The same, but excluding newcomers |
| All orders | A permanent discount on a specific order type |
| Order on the customer's birthday | A birthday gift |
A rule can be limited to order types and customer groups: everyone, only those with a discount number, or only those without one.
What's important to know:
- only completed orders are counted;
- for loyalty rules the current order is already counted, so "every 10th" really means the tenth;
- a "Period" value of 0 means not "unlimited" but the last two years;
- for a birthday discount, the date of birth must be filled in on the customer's profile.
Bonuses for taxi passengers
The bonus program works like loyalty, but instead of a discount it credits bonuses to the customer's account. The passenger sees the balance in the app and, when ordering, can use part of the bonuses with a slider in the payment method window, within the minimum and maximum amounts set by the company.
Why bonuses beat discounts for retention: a customer with bonuses on their account is more likely to order from you than from a competitor, otherwise the bonuses go to waste. The driver still receives the full fare, and the company bears the cost.
One detail: for bonuses, the current order isn't counted. The same value "6" means the sixth ride in the loyalty program but the seventh in the bonus program. Keep this in mind when writing promotion terms.
Taxi referral program
A taxi referral program is the fairest way to grow: you only pay for a customer who has already taken a ride.
How it works. A regular customer with a discount number (the referrer) gives their code to a friend. The newcomer (the referral) enters it in the app or tells the operator before their first order. The company can then credit:
- the referral: an initial bonus at sign-up;
- the referrer: a bonus after the friend's first completed ride;
- the referrer: an amount or percentage of each of the friend's rides, for a set number of orders.
After the first ride, the referral can immediately be given their own discount number, so they can invite friends too.
Rules you need to know: a referral code can only be entered before the first order, and a customer has one referrer for good. So say it plainly in your ads: "Enter your friend's code before your first ride." The program's results are shown in a separate report. Don't forget to turn the program on: it's off by default.
Discount card program and rewards
The discount card program gives regular customers a discount number, automatically after a set number of completed orders or a set total spend, with an SMS notification. The number is needed for the referral program and for loyalty rules "for customers with a discount number only". If you enable automatic issuing, be sure to set thresholds, otherwise everyone will get a number.
Rewards are gamification: a customer gets a reward for certain behaviour, such as a ride to the airport, 10 rides with a promo code or a total distance above a set value. An SMS can be linked to a reward. A new reward condition is off by default, so it has to be turned on after setup. Issued rewards are shown in a report.
Bulk messaging: how to win back lapsed customers
For mass messages there is a "Customer messaging" module, enabled separately. You upload a file with phone numbers, set the text (you can add several variants; the system rotates them and counts how many times each was sent) and a sending window: the days of the week and hours when messages may be sent. Messages go out through the company's SMS gateway.
In addition, the passenger app has a news section where it's convenient to publish promotion terms. Keep your message short: one offer, a promo code, a validity period and a number to order.
Taxi discounts for regular customers: two economic rules
1. Discounts don't stack. Exactly one discount is applied to an order, by priority: promo code → personal discount from the customer's profile → loyalty rule. If a customer's profile has a personal discount, the loyalty program no longer applies to them. This is the most common reason for the question "why didn't the promotion work for this customer?"
2. Decide who pays. Promo codes and loyalty rules have a "Driver compensation" field. If you leave it empty, the driver effectively pays for the discount out of their fare. That's an unpleasant surprise for drivers, so decide in advance: do you compensate the discount in full, in part, or does the driver share the promotion equally with the company? Bonuses, on the other hand, are always paid by the company.
How to promote a taxi business: a 90-day plan
Days 1–30. Launch. 1. Check the basics: pickup, price, app. 2. Create a first-ride promo code for each advertising channel, with a limit and a validity period. 3. Turn on the referral program with a bonus for both sides. 4. Set up a "2nd ride discounted" loyalty rule so newcomers come back. 5. Launch advertising in 2–3 channels.
Days 31–60. Retention. 1. Turn on the bonus program for regular customers. 2. Add a birthday discount. 3. See which promo codes brought the most orders and reallocate the budget.
Days 61–90. Growth. 1. Export customers who haven't ridden for 30 days and assign them a personal promo code. 2. Send a message campaign to that list. 3. Launch 1–2 rewards for the behaviour you want, such as off-peak rides. 4. Compare the number of orders, the share of repeat rides and discount spending.
If you operate in a small town where everyone knows everyone, the referral program and working with your customer base will do more than advertising. The same is true if you're moving away from ride-hailing aggregators and building your own customer base: every customer who orders directly is your asset.
How to measure results
- Orders by promo code: the orders report has a "Promo code" filter.
- Bonus trends: the "Customer bonus balance history" report.
- Referrals: the "Referral program" report shows who referred whom and how much they've ridden.
- Rewards: the "Customer rewards" report.
- Share of repeat customers: from the customer database: successful orders, first and last order dates.
Frequently asked questions
How can a taxi business get customers on a small budget?
Start with what costs almost nothing: a referral program ("bring a friend"), a first-ride promo code for each advertising channel, a birthday discount and working with the database of customers who have already ridden with you. The referral bonus is paid only for results, which makes it the safest way to grow.
Which is better for a taxi service: discounts or bonuses?
A discount lowers the price of the current ride immediately and works well for attracting customers. Bonuses are credited to an account and spent on future rides, so they are better at retaining customers. Most companies do best with a combination: discounts for new customers, bonuses for regulars.
Do taxi discounts stack?
Not in Tonotel: only one discount is applied to an order, by priority: promo code, then the personal discount from the customer's profile, then the loyalty program rule. This protects the company from customers collecting several discounts and riding almost for free.
Who pays for a customer's discount: the company or the driver?
The company decides. For each promo code and loyalty rule you can set a percentage of compensation to the driver. If it isn't set, the driver effectively pays for the discount, so this setting needs to be thought through in advance and explained to drivers.
How do I promote a taxi business in a new city?
First make sure pickups are fast in several districts, then launch advertising with a separate first-ride promo code for each channel. At the same time, turn on the referral program and the loyalty program so your first customers come back and bring their friends.
Conclusion
Getting customers for a taxi business takes a combination: a service you're not embarrassed to advertise, a promo code for the first ride, loyalty and bonuses to bring people back, and a referral program to grow through friends. Remember that discounts don't stack, and decide in advance who pays for them. Measure each channel with its own promo code, and within three months you'll know exactly where to invest your money.