Win-Win Business Strategy: Why Do “Uberised” Platforms Capture the World?

IT-technologies have been setting the tone for the world economy for several years. The possibilities of online services have formed a new successful business model, which drives the economy of the 21st century. “Uberisation” (direct connection of suppliers and customers) and the economy of shared consumption (use but don’t own) are based on online aggregators, where goods and services are available in a single interface without intermediaries. Services help companies and entrepreneurs find customers, and for customers — the optimal in price, timing and quality offer. According to PwC, in 2016 the volume of this market was about $ 15 billion, and in ten years it will reach $ 335 billion.
“Uber” pioneers
The first such aggregator was the AirBnB platform. The service allows the owners of housing to rent it without intermediaries for a short time. Tenants receive the apartment at good prices. The service was created in 2008 in San Francisco. Today it operates in almost 200 countries and is estimated at $ 25.5 billion.
In 2010 a mobile application Uber to call a taxi, which directly transfers orders to the driver was launched in the US. Thanks to the built-in geolocation system, the service connects the customer with the tow truck driver nearest to it, which allows the first to get a favorable price for the trip, and the second — to minimize its costs. The service became so popular that at the end of 2014 a neologism was formed from its name, which defines a new business model for all subsequent similar services. Many economists called “Uberisation” the main trend of 2015.
Over time, Uber started to have competitors. In Russia, these services are “Yandex.Taxi”, inTaxi and GetTaxi. The development of uberisation does not end with transportation sphere. The status of such applications are beginning to reach the state level. Within the SPIEF-2017, the president of Rostelecom Mikhail Oseevsky announced plans to create a service that unites information not only about taxis, but also about other types of transport, including unmanned, electric, suburban electric trains. “We do not want to own a car, but we want us to be transported from point A to point B for minimal money and minimum time,” RIA Novosti quotes Oseevsky.
Uber-service motorists
Analysts are unanimously inclined to believe that the automotive market will grow by 3–5% per year. So the theme to service this market based on new business models is very relevant. And we are seeing an increase in the number of popular services for drivers. So far most of them are local, that is, cover only one region. For example, there are a number of applications that aggregate car service. In 2017, CarFix expanded the number of services provided within the application framework. In addition to being able to find a car repair shop at home and save 20–40% on car maintenance, the application reminds the driver of the need for repair, takes into account the wear and tear of parts and picks up the car service on request. Among other services for drivers- “MultiGO Fuel” with detailed information about fueling (location, discounts, prices, etc.), Fast and Shine, which allows the driver to call for a car wash in needed place, etc.
Services for drivers operating in the whole world or several countries are very few. One of them is the CarTaxi application. It directly connects car towing services and drivers caught in an unpleasant situation. At the moment, the application is successfully operating in Russia. In the future Cartaxi plans reaching the most motorized markets: the US and China. Further, the service plans to expand to other countries. The interface and the system of using the service are as close as possible to Uber, it also has a built-in geolocation detection system that allows the driver to find the nearest tow truck and order the service at the best price, and car towing services and drivers find customers and optimize costs. CarTaxi service is different in such that it is based on a decentralized platform of blockchain, recognized today as the most transparent and safe platform in the world. The fact that Uber is based on a centralized platform, is considered the main weak point. A former Uber driver even developed in 2016 an anti-Uber application called Arcade City which is based on a decentralized platform. Many drivers of Uber in the United States and Australia have already switched to this platform (so far the service operates only within these two countries). Its advantage for drivers is that they can set a price for their service, in contrast to aggregators of the Uber type, which have a centralized system for setting tariffs.
Another international service for drivers is the project BlaBlaCar. It helps the driver to find fellow travelers and share with them the costs of gasoline. According to data for 2017, BlaBlaCar operates in 22 countries and has 45 million users. For this project, the Russian market has become one of its main focuses, as said by the founders of the application. And it is not surprising: for 3 years of work in Russia more than 10 million Russians joined the service, that is, almost 25% of the total number of users.
Uber-absorption of income markets
Of course, aggregator services have not bypassed many other markets. A huge niche are shopping apps. Such as Avito, where private individuals can propose their offers. Or ZenMall Shopping — an aggregator of clothes from various online stores. There are also applications that aggregate discount offers, such as Groupon, which combines stocks for goods and services, or “Foodil” — a discount navigator in grocery stores.
Many useful applications are made for travelers. In addition to the above mentioned ArnBnB, BlaBlaCar, CarTaxi there is also CouchSurfing (a platform for providing accommodation for travelers), SkyScanner and AviaSales search systems, hotel reservation services like Booking.com, etc.
Apparently, “Uberisation” conquers many markets, and this is far from the limit. So far, basically these are projects that allow for solving a problem in one click. Analyst Alexei Nikushin believes that in the future, more complex markets, such as banking, finance, high-tech services, will be Uberised. This will require the introduction of more advanced technologies, such as blockchain and smart contracts, which advanced platforms already use today.
However, is it possible to profitably Uberise all spheres, is a big question. “Uberisation is a global trend, but it is unlikely to successfully Uberise any task may not be possible from the business point of view. The market niche must correspond to a number of parameters. In particular, the pool of both customers and suppliers should be quite extensive, but the service itself should be formulated simply. For example, you can get from point A to point B or buy a plane ticket from point A to point B, “Taras Semyonov, CEO of CarTaxi, comments.

