Convenience as a Source of Competitive Advantage in the Collaborative Economy

In the on-demand, peer-to-peer movement called the collaborative economy, many rising startups are offering convenience to attract new users and customers. In this new economy, Uber and Lyft provide rides with just a few quick clicks on a mobile app–no credit cards or cash to fuss with. Buying on eBay today is often easier than going down to the consignment store to find pre-owned goods. Finding a professional on TaskRabbit is more convenient than the traditional way of hiring full-time staff.

As we revealed in The New Rules of the Collaborative Economy, a report I co-authored with tech strategist Alexandra Samuel, convenience is the number one factor cited by people for their latest participation in the collaborative economy. More than three-quarters of the people we engaged with said convenience was the reason they used a sharing service–beating price and product or service quality.

the most popular reasons for using sharing services

In the report, based on a study by Vision Critical, the leading customer intelligence platform provider, we also revealed that about a third of would-be buyers are swayed to consider sharing services that make it easier and more seamless to access goods and services.

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On the flip side, however, fewer people are interested in conveniences that could come from buying (services like a home furnishings or gift store that offer personal shopping and delivery). In other words, adding extra services to traditional ways of buying might not suffice. In the long-term, rethinking your infrastructure to enable on-demand and instant access to your products and services is a necessary step to competing in the collaborative economy.

In the short-term, established companies that want to offer convenience for sharers have a few strategies:

  1. Emphasize convenience for your affluent, professional customers. These people place a premium on their time and are more likely to switch to sharing if it’s more convenient to do so.
  2. Leverage sharing startups to offer convenience. Many sharing startups already have the structure to offer web-enabled instant access to products and services. Partnerships with startups could be an easy for companies to offer the convenience that today’s empowered customers are looking for.
  3. Bring local and customer-made products to your store experience. At our upcoming webinar, we’ll share some examples of big retailers that are bringing maker goods from sharing companies like Etsy to make it convenient for customers to buy unique products with a local flavor.

To learn how established enterprises are using convenience to compete in the collaborative economy, please join me for a live Vision Critical webinar on December 1.

3 Replies to “Convenience as a Source of Competitive Advantage in the Collaborative Economy”

  1. In the on-demand, peer-to-peer movement called the collaborative economy, many rising startups are offering convenience to attract new users and customers. In this new economy, Uber and Lyft provide rides with just a few quick clicks on a mobile app”no credit cards or cash to fuss with. Buying on eBay today is often easier than going down to the consignment store to find pre-owned goods. Finding a professional on TaskRabbit is more convenient than the traditional way of hiring full-time staff.

    As we revealed in The New Rules of the Collaborative Economy, a report I co-authored with tech strategist Alexandra Samuel, convenience is the number one factor cited by people for their latest participation in the collaborative economy. More than three-quarters of the people we engaged with said convenience was the reason they used a sharing service”beating price and product or service quality.

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