After having bought out Uber"s operations in China as part of its market exit in that region, Didi Chuxing has taken a cue from its fallen rival.
Today, Microsoft and DiDi announced a new partnership with the release of a new add-in for Outlook which will allow employees in the enterprise to quickly and easily book a ride. All an employee will need to do is login with a DiDi Enterprise account, choose a preferred car and then nominate a time for pick up. The financial aspect of the booking will be handled behind the scenes between DiDi and the business.
DiDi"s add-in bears some similarity to Uber"s Outlook add-in released last year which allowed users to set an Uber ride reminder for any calendar event and then initiate a booking with a single swipe when reminded to leave.
Employees using the DiDi Enterprise add-in will benefit from the elimination of upfront expenses and the associated reimbursement paperwork. At the same time, drivers are freed from having to generate receipts and handle cash given that credit cards are not generally accepted as a form of payment for taxi services in China.
The DiDi Enterprise add-in is available to users in China using Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016 in addition to those using Outlook on the web with Office 365, Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2016.
Source: Microsoft | DiDi app image via South China Morning Post