Careem in MENA, Pakistan grows as economy recovers

Careem, the region’s leading multi-service platform, released its 2021 customer and business trends from across its rides, intercity travel, Careem Bike, food and grocery delivery, Careem Express, and Careem Pay services.

The economic recovery boosted the growth of Careem services in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. Mobility of People transactions grew by 2.6 times compared to Dec. 2020, while Mobility of Things and Mobility of Money grew 2.4 times and two times respectively. The total number of rides completed across Careem’s 13 markets reached 109 million. Seven markets recorded more trips than the previous year including the UAE where completed rides increased by 28 percent from 2020.

In 2021, one in seven customers in Saudi Arabia used multiple services on the app, and the most popular combination of services was ride hailing and food delivery.

Mudassir Sheikha, CEO and co-Founder at Careem, said: “This year, we started simplifying the lives of people in more ways than just seamless transportation. More and more customers used Careem for multiple different daily needs, proving that the opportunity to simplify people’s lives with the convenience of one app is huge and we are just at the beginning of our journey.”

The airports with the most Careem journeys in 2021 were Jeddah with 57,000 trips, Karachi with 211,000 trips, and Dubai with 207,000 trips. Around 218,000 customers used Careem’s city-to-city service, which expanded in early 2021 to include Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Al Ain. The longest trip recorded in 2021 covered 1,020 km from Jubail to Riyadh and back.

In Q1 2021, Careem revealed a new, disruptive food delivery business model that replaced traditional high-percentage aggregator commissions with a 0 percent commission, giving restaurants of all sizes fair and transparent pricing to grow profitably. It reduced delivery bills by nearly 50 percent and increased the number of orders by up to 20 percent in some restaurants.

The number of the new restaurant outlets that joined Careem in 2021 increased by 58 percent over 2020.

Al Baik retained the title as Careem’s most popular restaurant in 2021, and the Saudi chain’s Chicken Nuggets Meal was also the most popular meal for the second time running. The most frequent food combination was a burger with fries and Coke, and garlic sauce was the most frequently requested side order.

The “laziest” market was Pakistan, with one in every six food orders less than 1 km away. Grocery orders were healthier with most orders coming from the fruits and vegetables category. Cat food sold four times more than dog food, bringing the cat vs dog debate to a close in 2021.

Al Baik retained the title as Careem’s most popular restaurant in 2021 followed by Mcdonald’s, Al Tazaj and KFC. Al Baik Chicken Nuggets Meal was also the most popular meal for the second time running. Careem’s last mile delivery service for businesses experienced 150 percent growth in daily deliveries from Jan. to Nov. 2021 with eCommerce growing 250 percent year-on-year, the fastest growing segment of Careem Express.

Black Friday week was the peak period with daily deliveries crossing 45,000 per day. With more than 4,000 daily active Captains across the UAE, KSA and Egypt, Careem Express guaranteed instant or same-day delivery to customers for businesses, enabling captains to earn consistently even out of peak hours.

Careem Pay registered over 66 million transactions across six core markets in 2021. Pakistan had the highest use of peer-to-peer payments and mobile recharge, with over 443,000 transactions. Careem Captains topped-up their phones 32.6 million times in 2021, amounting to a total of $1.5 billion.

In 2021, Careem’s 1,200+ Care agents across ten locations received an average of 40,650 customer service queries per day, and the most frequently asked question on social media was: “How do I become a Captain?” Careem’s Care agents were supported by 14 chatbots in three languages and five different dialects. 12,000 COVID-19-related concerns were resolved, including sick pay compensations for Careem Captains. The most unique item lost and recovered was a bag of AED 900,000 cash, while the most frequently lost items were sunglasses, keys and mobile phones.

In 2021, Careem customers donated $370,000 towards social causes via the Careem Rewards program with the highest donations coming from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The highest value of donation went to the World Food Program’s Share the Meal campaign.