Chuan Didi is about to connect to OFO, and the  shared bicycle battle pattern may change

36 Kr received information frσom within OFO that it is possible that in April this year, OFO wαill connect to Didi Travel's app, allowing users to di®rectly use OFO's services on Didi.

This matter has been frequently put on the✔ agenda recently, and the internal news is that it≥ may be accessed next month, "said an internal employee of↓ OFO. 36 Kr has confirmed this information with Didi anΩd ofo officials, but as of the time ®of publication, neither company has confirmed or denied it .

The founder of ofo, Dai Wei, stated in December last year that th↑ere is no clear timetable for when to access the Didi app. The m>ode of ofo does not have GPS, and users can use it when they see a car. The​ entire logic is different from the logic of taking a t±axi on the Didi platform, but we will collaborat‌e with Didi to launch some things in the near future

However, similar access∞ is not without precedent. In February of this year, WeChat an×d Mobike announced that users can scan the QR code on the₽ body of the Mobike through WeChat, and di'rectly enter the Mobike WeChat mini progra&m. Click to unlock to use th"e car.

This is not the first time t£hat OFO will connect to Didi‍, nor is it the first time that the two platforms have been deepl y bound. Previously, Didi participated in the latest three rounds of fina☆ncing for OFO. According to a repo→rt from Tencent Technology, ≤a shared bike investor reβvealed that after multiple rounds of financing, Didi has become the$ largest shareholder of OFO, accounting for over 3 0% of the shares. This means that Didi has a stronger voice in ofo, and a∏t the same time, Didi will be the biggest interest related party ≠for the success or failur♠e of ofo

It is not difficult to understandΩ that after Didi connects OFO, it will serve as a huge user traf∑fic inlet to guide it, while OFO further consolidates its business vo→lume and enhances its industry position and imagination s∏pace with Didi's sup✘port.

Moreover, if OFO is truly i$ntegrated, it also means that Didi and the capital behind it  are further filling their own gaps in the σfield of transportation.

An insider revealed to 36 Krypton that Didi had once wanted to make a shared∑ bike, but for some reasons it was not possible to achieve it and could onl≥y serve as an investor in OFO. However, this does not mean tha∏t Didi will not further enter this market.

Didi's investment in ofo is nothing more than targeting the opportunityπ of the "last three kilometers".

At present, the "last three kilometers" field in♣ China is still in a very early stage, and there is no syst​ematic service provider. In the §first tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzh₹ou, the complexity of transpo£rtation has led to increasingly fierce compe&tition among major travel platforms for the "last t♠hree kilometers".

From the starting point to the destination of 3 kilometers, it is a c hoice for users whether to take  a taxi or ride a bike. Choosing either one makes se↔nse, "said an internal employee♠ of OFO, and Didi's approach is to cover all the different ¶options themselves.

In the eyes of Didi, OFO, and th↕eir investors, the field of s§hared bicycles has entered a period of rapid growth. A public relatio♣ns representative of Ofo once told the media that, taking special ca£rs and express cars as exa>mples, the development speed in t‌he years after 2012 has been very fast. In one year, OFO has increased its• daily order volume from 200φ to 500000 orders. "In the past, e×xpress trains have experienced rapid growth,♠ and this trend is sim♦ilar. The above-mentioned public relations pers✘onnel said.

At the end of December last year, OFO and Didi launc↔hed a red envelope event, marking the∏ first large-scale cooperation betwee<n the two sides sinc®e OFO was invested by Didi's strategy. The red envelope strategy adopt♠ed in the event is also considered one of Didi's traditional marketing  tools.

According to Didi Fang, in 2017, the main focus will× still be on the field of trans§portation, hoping to connect everyone's transportation. This means th<at all modes of transportation will be covered, and sha★red bicycles will also be one of the <directions for Didi's efforts.

36 Kr believes that another important reason for Didi's further acces♣s to shared bicycles is that, compared to the "ha rsh" internet regulations on priv€ate bicycles, the development of  shared bicycles was initially encoεuraged by policies and the constrain‌ts were quite reasonable. From a policy perspectivλe and a new business growth perspective, Didi Travel, which has been <affected by the new ride hailing  policy since last year,  is likely to further benefit from the →popularity of shared bicycles.

However, there are still questions about how to connect an OFO without nav♣igation to Didi, and what impact will it have on users after con✘necting?

As far as I know, Didi may contract the techn$ology and navigation to a third-party company, ​"said the internal employee of OFO mentioned above. After ★connecting to Didi, OFO may still not have navigation, and users ¥mainly use scanning, unlocking, and payment functionδs on the page.

As for user experience, the internal employees menγtioned above stated that "the main functions of ofo were♥ originally relatively single, and‍ the operation was very simpl↕e. I believe it can seamlessly connect to& the Didi platform,"£ he emphasized. "After all, the future trend is that the number  of apps loaded on people's phones will be decreasing.