It’s been a busy year for ride-sharing services in Nigeria. We wrote about two of them in quick succession this year; Jekalo, and GoMyWay. We were also quite excited because, it was a vertical no one had explored until then.
However, we have a new entrant in that space; Ridebliss.
Ridebliss offers the same services as Jekalo and GoMyWay, and in the same manner too – register with both Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, search for rides (or list rides if you are driving) and take the rides.
It also appears to have been around much earlier too. Ridebliss’ WhoIs record shows that the domain was registered in 2013, before either Jekalo or GoMyWay ( which is backed by Sim Shagaya). Perhaps it’s been in stealth mode all this time. Who knows?
This driver review (below) on Ridebliss from 2014 also suggests it’s been around much earlier, but also, these reviews could easily be in-house mock-ups by the Ridebliss staff.
Whatever the case. Ride-sharing seems to be catching on in Nigeria, fast. Jekalo and GoMyWay who led that renaissance appear to be doing fine (if their Twitter feed and the amounts of ride on offer on their websites are anything go by).
Speaking of design and usability. Ridebliss comes up short in both departments. The interface is the same one as on the other ridesharing sites, but it’s markedly of less quality. Ridebliss also left out one important component in the design; time of ride.
Hypecheck
I’ll give this a 6/10. It works. And I must emphasize that it works fine. Sign up was a breeze and I was able to request rides in mere seconds . But for now, it’s only a functioning clone of the existing platforms. It needs unique propositions, and for now, they got none.
