Throughout history, businesses have organised themselves according to strict structure. And while hierarchies are not disappearing, major changes in technology and the global economy has given way to a rise in new business models which thrive on community, collaboration and growing resources among groups with common interests and goals. We look at this trend and how it’s enabling more businesses to take flight…
What is the collaborative economy?
Over the last decade, ‘sharing’ has evolved from something that took place between family and friends to the basis of global businesses that are now worth billions.
The collaborative economy is in vogue right now. From Uber (valued between $60-70 billion) sparking protests by black cab drivers in London, to Airbnb (said to be worth over $25 billion) upsetting New York hoteliers in New York, this new model is disrupting all types of businesses. PwC has even claimed the collaborative economy has the potential to increase global revenues to a phenomenal $335 billion by 2025.
This new mega trend is causing many companies to re-evaluate their business models to offer more collaborative services to provide consumers with more value. There are three core reasons behind the rise of sharing in business. These are:
Why ecommerce should care about collaboration
While this trend poses some big questions for established ecommerce businesses that want to avoid as little disruption as possible, the sharing economy is too big an opportunity to miss out on. This new economic force is supporting growth in new ways by making the use of underutilised assets, resources, time and skills.
Today’s smartest companies are encouraging, rather than fighting, the hyper growth of large online communities. Even competitors are starting to collaborate on initiatives to accelerate discovery and innovation in their industries. The growing number of businesses who seize the concept of mass collaboration, will enjoy phenomenal success as a result of being able to pull new levers to cut costs, innovate sooner and co-create.
How Volo is fostering collaboration
At Volo, we’re building a strong group of customers, partners, merchants, brands and developers. It’s not just our ecommerce software that benefits you; it’s our commitment to understanding your motivations and the day-to-day challenges you face that really sets us apart. The Volo community shares the same values and mission to create transformational growth in ecommerce.
We’re continuing to build the most successful community of online marketplace sellers with our recently launched Community Hub. We’ve built the Hub as an area where you can share ideas, provide best practice tips and solve problems together. We want to help you help each other, because your success as online retailers directly impacts on our success.
With more than 40 million sales orders processed on the Volo platform annually, we are also looking at new ways of making this data more beneficial to you. We’re putting the buying and selling power in your hands to get you off to a flying start.
