All You Need to Know About The Sharing Economy
The sharing economy is a system that connects social relationships, economic needs, and intellectual or physical resources.
For example, AirBnb and CouchSurfing are two significant companies utilizing the sharing economy systems.
The two provide digital platforms for homeowners to share their spare rooms with travelers, thus the name ‘sharing.’
The sharing economy system may still be unfamiliar to some people, so we have compiled the basics and essentials.
Let’s start with some businesses that incorporate the sharing economy system below.
Examples of Sharing Economy
The sharing economy system is applicable in many business fields, such as:
Hospitality
- AirBnb
- Couchsurfing
- LeftoverSwap
- Feastly
Automotive and Transportation
- RelayRides
- Lyft
- Uber
- Getaround
- Sidecar
- Hitch
Retail and Consumer Goods
- Snap Goods
- Poshmark
- Tradesy
Media and Entertainment
- Spotify
- Amazon Family
- Wix.com
- Earbits
- Soundcloud
The Pillars of Sharing Economy
We compiled four pillars of the sharing economy: digital platforms, transactions, collaborative consumption, and branded experiences. Let’s break them one by one.
#1. Digital Platforms
Digital platforms play a significant role in utilizing the sharing economy, as they become the host to this business model.
The sharing economy can connect spare capacity and demand precisely and in real-time through digital platforms.
#2. Transaction
The sharing economy business model has a transaction system that offers access to ownership.
Access can be in some forms, such as renting, lending, subscribing, reselling, swapping, and donating.
#3. Collaborative Forms of Consumption
Consumers are more comfortable doing a transaction with the sharing economy business model.
They can build deeper social interactions than traditional exchange methods, like the ones in AirBnb and CouchSurfing.
#4. Branded Experience
The value of a brand is linear to the social connections it fosters. In the case of sharing experience, design is vital to engendering emotional connections.
Many companies implement the sharing economy system to provide ease of use and confidence in decision-making for their customers.
In return, they move beyond a transaction-based relationship to become a platform for an experience – one that feels more like friendship.
The Pioneers of Sharing Economy
Some well-known web-based services are the pioneers of utilizing the sharing economy. The earliest year of establishment of those services is 2008. Check the list below:
- AirBnb
- TaskRabbit
- Getaround
- Poshmark
- Zaarly
- Dogvacay.com
Benefits of Sharing Economy
Sharing economy gives benefits to all parties included in the system.
83% agree that sharing economy makes life more convenient and efficient
63% agree it’s more fun than engaging with traditional companies
765% agree it’s better for the environment
86% agree it makes life more affordable
Wrapping up
The future of the sharing economy seems to keep growing in the following years, as some experts predicted.
You can also be a part of the system and earn money on the sharing economy platforms.
See the following infographic to discover more in-depth about what the experts say and how to leverage sharing economy platforms.
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