The Rise of On-Demand Mobile Services (ODMS)

On demand mobile services have become increasingly popular over last few years. With companies such as Uber and Instacart raising huge amount of money and expanding at a supernova pace, it has become evident that ODMS based startups will continue to attract the VC’s and Users.

ODMS are mobile based applications which aggregates demand and serve it at users’s desired location. Few examples are: Calling a cab, getting grocery, food or laundry done by placing a request.

The incredible integration of smartphone and LTE has empowered users with an accessibility to a number of services at a “tap”. Now at a single tap, one can access a cab, food, laundry or grocery. Another major reason contributing to the popularity of on demand services in the startup arena, is the fact that it doesn’t need millions of users to generate revenue. If the service touches the pain point, users are always willing to pay for it unlike the social apps where once you have raised millions of $$, the company has to figure out ways monetize the application.

I personally have used on demand cab service Uber/Lfyt, cleaning service Homejoy, laundry service wash.io and food /grocery delivery service such as Doordash and Instacart and all of them have served me well.

My wife recently went to Salt Lake City, for Adobe summit which was attended by 5–7k people for a week long. During high demand(morning and evening), the local cab services, and Uber were not available or had 45 minutes wait which demonstrates their untap potential, especially in the situations when there is a sudden surge in demand. This is a good problem for a company to have.

I see that increase in demands of on demand services have huge advantages. Also, these services have its own societal benefits- especially in upliftment !

It definitely contributes in increasing employment. Uber/Lfyt drivers claim that one could earn 30–40$/hr, which is becoming the full-time jobs for many experienced professionals. Such jobs can also add great value for part time workers who are looking to earn some extra cash when needed. These services add value to working professionals too as they can save time spent in running errands, which can be utilized more efficiently. All luxuries comes with a price, which means encouraging people to spend more and generating more revenue for government.

It’s interesting to see that most of the services are currently present in US, not many applications have started expanding internationally. I strongly feel that, potential to scale in international market will become one of the favorite domain of interest for many. Eventually, we will also see more such services and as the market gets competitive it will be bring more options for the consumers.

Here are list of ODMS I am aware of :

Cab services : Uber, Lyft, Sidecar

Food delivery: Doordash, GrubHub, Fluc, WunWun, SpoonRocket

Home cleaning: Homejoy, Exec, Handy

Alcohol delivery : Saucey, minbar

Grocery delivery: Instacart, google express, amazon fresh

Shipping Delivery: Shyp, Doorman, Roadie, Shipster

On-demand logistics: Postmates

Cash Delivery: Nimbl

Valet Parking: Luxe Valet, Zirx

BabyCare : Mahmee

Personal Trainer: HandStand, Fitmob

Dog care : Dogvacay, Zingy