Can I share your coffin when I die?
It’s called collaborative consumption. If you haven’t heard of the words ‘the sharing economy’ then you probably will before the year is out. In 2011, collaborative consumption was named one of TIME Magazine’s 10 ideas that will change the world. In the UK’s 2015 Budget it set out objectives to improve economic growth including to make Britain the “…best place in the world to start, invest in, and grow a business, including through a package of measures to help unlock the potential of the sharing economy…”
We can share almost anything that high in capital cost, is used only occasionally or temporarily, and can be used by multiple users only slightly worse for wear. The consumer peer-to-peer rental market is valued at $26bn, with new services and platforms popping up all the time.[6] Companies that have formed the sharing economy are growing faster than ever before and it isn’t going to stop. Want to go on holidays? AirBnB. Can’t get a taxi? Try Uber. Want to borrow a dress for that special occasion? Rent the Runway or Little Borrowed Dress. Need to borrow that expensive camera? Snapgood. Need a loan? Then The Lending Club or the SocietyOne is for you.
So what is it that makes the sharing economy a growing global phenomenon?
Trust
Over the years, we have all developed a mistrust of the middle man. Whether it is the real estate agent selling your house, or putting your dog in a kennel (check out Dogvacay), or going into a short term holiday accommodation we just don’t like feeling as if we are just a number. Just another customer, just another sale. It feels more personal when you get welcomed by your AirBnB host into your new holiday home and knowing they are just a phone call away. They care about your enjoyment and you in turn, care that you look after their house as if it was their own. Trust grows, and you both come away satisfied.
Peer to peer service companies typically have a rating and review system such as eBay so both people on the sides of the transaction can trust each other. The march of technology allows you to Google people first, read reviews by previous guests and can make an online payment that is at arms length and is only transacted once both sides are satisfied.
Why buy when you can rent
Environment. Sustainability. Convenience.
Key words that drive key government decisions because consumers care. The sharing economy feeds on such sentiment. However the benefits are undeniable. The sharing economy:
- reduces consumption of resources and reduces individual carbon footprint
- saves on costs by borrowing and recycling items
- provides people with access to goods who can’t afford to buy them or have no interest in long term usage
- increases participatory democracy
- removes entry barriers and increases independence by decentralisation.
Even though there will always be some people who are happy to own just about everything they use, there are even more people who want greater access and their goods RIGHT NOW, not ownership.
Technology enabled
The growth of mobile technology provides a platform to enable location-based GPS technology and to also provide real-time sharing. Sharers need to communicate,often several times a day, from anywhere. If you are the host or the lender, then you want to be able to track your goods, protect them and connect them to customers continuously. There were bikeshares in the 1990s, but they failed because they couldn’t charge users or track and secure bikes.
Now that technology has caught up, collaborative consumption can only grow.
Increased longing for community
This may seem left field but whilst we are more connected than ever before, we yearn even more to meet people and build communities around us. In fact many of these sharing services build on that feeling of joining a community of sharers. We all feel loyal and cared for, and we keep going back for more. As Mr Walsh explained in the 2011 TIME article, “we yearn to trust and be trusted — one researcher has found that people get a spike of the pleasant neurotransmitter oxytocin when they’re entrusted with another’s goods. That’s the beauty of a sharing society…”
In fact, it is probably red tape that is slowing down the growth of the sharing economy. Uber isn’t allowed in my home town because of the current legislation. No doubt the legislation will eventually change, because it can’t stop the momentum of the sharing economy.
So it begs the question. How far can sharing go? Will I be sharing my coffin with you one day? Maybe.
