Coke vs Pepsi are different. Same basic category (cola soft drink) but they taste different. Same with McDonalds vs Burger King. There are differences, you’re buying different products in the same category.
But if I take Lyft, Uber, or use a taxi app it’s all the sane in the end. Start at point A, get out at point B.
It may be a different car. One driver may be better. The only REAL difference is the price. In fact we know a lot of drivers drive for multiple services, so your experience may literally be identical!
> Coke vs Pepsi are different. Same basic category (cola soft drink) but they taste different
There was a study that actually concluded most people can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. And there are similar examples across many product lines: Sprite vs 7up, Dasani vs Aquafina, etc. All of these beverage companies are similar, and cost of switching between brands for colas or bottled water is zero. So why aren't we talking about how COKE is oh so bad of a stock to own? IMHO, it's because switching cost isn't zero, and things like market dominance and brand play a non-zero role.
My point is mostly that COKE doesn't need to monopolize the market to be profitable, and neither does Jarritos, and that similarly, there's no reason to think Uber requires global scale to be profitable when taxis were doing just fine before.
But if I take Lyft, Uber, or use a taxi app it’s all the sane in the end. Start at point A, get out at point B.
It may be a different car. One driver may be better. The only REAL difference is the price. In fact we know a lot of drivers drive for multiple services, so your experience may literally be identical!