Sharing to Long-Term Caring

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Six months ago, while traveling alone in the city, what would you have booked go, micro, mini, share, or pool? I can hear the majority of you saying share or pool. Well, till six months back, many companies were looking at the sharing economy as the way forward, making resources available for everyone at a reasonable price. It also created quite an asset-light model for everyone, even for the consumers, as they do not have to buy a car and spend on maintenance when they can travel to their offices at ease without the hefty down payments, subsequent EMIs and maintenance bills. Everyone was very optimistic about the shared economy model; many companies build their businesses around it right from the likes of Airbnb to Bounce (ride-sharing start-up). Everything was going hunky-dory, customers were getting their needs fulfilled, and companies were generating revenue. But suddenly mankind got hit by the worst pandemic of the all-time changing our perception about the shared economy over-night.
Today, the sharing economy is a distant thought in our minds, and companies also realized this fact. Now companies are trying to re-formulate their business models entirely while some are working towards the re-alignment of their operations. Ridesharing start-ups like Bounce and ONN bikes are switching to lease to own model as everyone wants to keep the distance from the word “sharing.” This new business model opens up a lot of opportunities for the business and makes the firm asset-light. But it will be an uphill task for the companies as they need to draw the complete map keeping in mind several factors like finance, re-sales, sales, and servicing.
Moreover, this will pit them directly against the dealerships making them landscape little bit cumbersome. It will be interesting to see how things will evolve in this case while Bounce and ONN bikes planned to revamp their business model. Grab a Jakarta based start-up came up with an innovative idea. They created a glass that separates the rider and driver—thereby eliminating the possibility of any kind of contact. However, still, it will be difficult to convince the customer that it’s safe when the fear of contamination has deeply gripped everyone.  

What do you think will be the future of the sharing economy? What could be another way forward for the companies whose business model is primarily based on the shared economy concept? Do let me know in the comment below.

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