During recent years, we have seen the rise of peer-to-peer, on-demand and platform businesses models disrupt established industries such as transportation, finance, hospitality, consumer goods, professional services and even food. The sharing economy is no longer just a niche, it's starting to reshape the whole economy.
Startups within the digital sharing economy are surpassing traditional businesses in scale. Uber is the world's largest taxi company and they own no vehicles and AirBnB, the world's biggest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. These two startups are probably the most recognised examples of the sharing economy, but there are lots of other great examples of innovative businesses that's based on peer-to-peer networks and on-demand access.
The toy rental company Pley is a great example of company that is changing its industry. Pley, which has been called "the Netflix of Legos", is tapping into the trend that people want to access goods rather than owning them. The company is enabling families to save money and reduce clutter by giving people the chance to rent toys instead buying them. Since the launch Pley has attracted more than 15,00 families and shipped more than 75,000 Lego sets from its warehouse.
Another interesting example of a sharing economy startup is the food delivery app Instacart which we have previously mentioned in this blog post. Another company that's currently investing in this sector is Uber who launched UberEats in August 2014.
As the digitisation will continue to upend traditional business models we will most likely see even more industries be disrupted and reshaped by small and fast-growing startups. However, change is mostly not frictionless and this has become increasingly clear for both Uber and AirBnB who have faced legal and regulatory threats.
These changes will not only impact businesses but also our daily lives. The lines between work and personal life will continue to blurr as the sharing economy is reshaping the workplace and creating an environment where temporary positions and inpendent workers are replacing traditional employment. This phenomenon is often referred to as the gig economy.
Big companies in mature industries must adapt to this development and become agile in order to thrive in the future. They must question the traditional business model and explore alternative ways of delivering value to customers. A large part of the music industry have failed to this and thus they have paved the way for Spotify and iTunes. The Swedish car manufacturer Volvo on the other hand managed to recognise the ongoing changes in time. A couple of years ago they decided to partner with the car sharing service Sunfleet in Sweden. This example proves that business-to-consumer companies have the opportunity to create their own sharing economy concepts and be a part of the new way of doing business.