Innovative Business Models:- In today’s article we will look at some of the more complex business trends and models that have emerged from the development of web technologies and changes in consumer behavior. The idea is that this information is a reference to encourage you to think about new innovative business models.
Online Innovative Business Models for Entrepreneurs
Below is the list of 10 innovative business models, which as entrepreneurs should be in your mind.
- Collaborative Economics
The Collaborative Economics ( sharing economy ) is a cultural and economic change in consumption habits marked by migration scenario individualized consumerism to new models enhanced by social media and platforms for peer-to-peer (network-between -pare or network-between-equals).
Airbnb (shared hosting) and Uber (shared transport) are two of the best-known examples of collaborative economy platforms, however, there are now platforms that allow finding from private chauffeurs and dry cleaners to household employees and pet groomers. Through them, millions of users around the world can share and exchange goods and services of all kinds.
In fact, sharing of goods and services with other people is not something new, but if it is something that has been enhanced in digital media thanks to user profiles, ratings, comments and other tools that reduce the barriers of mistrust and encourage More and more people to be part of this trend.
- Crowdsourcing or Mass Outsourcing
The term Crowdsourcing is composed of the conjunction of the Anglo-Saxon words “crowd” and “source”, and is usually translated into Spanish as “massive outsourcing”.
Crowdsourcing refers to a new business model over the Internet, whereby specific work, such as content production, is not delegated to a person or a company, but to a mass audience.
One of the most outstanding examples of Crowdsourcing is Wikipedia, the collaborative encyclopedia in which millions of Internet users contribute content. Had it not been for the same users, Wikipedia today would not be the largest encyclopedia ever created and would not have the amount of information we can find in it.
Currently this business model has been successfully implemented by companies such as Threadless , an online store of personalized t-shirts; Duolingo , a language learning platform; 99designs , a graphic design platform; And Waze , the world’s largest traffic and navigation application.
- Shopping 2.0 o Social Shopping
Initially it was thought that social networks were not the right scenario to sell, however, the evolution of them has allowed them to be essential within the dynamics of electronic commerce.
On the one hand, we see that ecommerce sites integrate different tools of social networks (groups, friends, votes, opinions, etc.) to build trust and boost the desire to buy into your potential customers. And, on the other hand, the same social networks have developed new tools that already make possible to realize sales within them.
Already from social networks it is possible to create catalogs, georeferencing businesses, launch promotions, create lists of products, etc. The next big step, which we will probably see soon, is the direct integration of payment gateways, which will allow commercial transactions without the need to leave the social network.
- Cloud Computing or Cloud Computing
The massification of mobile devices with Internet access has allowed the development of all kinds of applications and tools that function completely from online servers, facilitating their access and generating benefits such as automatic and real-time synchronization of the information contained in them.
Thanks to Cloud Computing companies can significantly increase their productivity and optimize information flows.
With respect to the business model, applications in the cloud usually generate revenue through plans in which they charge according to the customer’s requirements in terms of the number of users that can be created, technical characteristics, time of use, etc. Some others work under an advertising model.
Here are some of the Cloud Computing applications we have previously recommended: Dropbox, a storage and file management tool; Google Drive, for managing files and documents; Zoho CRM, for customer management; Alegra, management software; And, Bitrix24, a collaborative work suite.
- Lifestyle as Service
The goal of this business model is to allow users to delegate tasks from their day to day.
Thanks to these services you can outsource people who take care of those daily tasks that consume your time and energy: cooking, washing clothes, paying receipts, doing market, etc.
Generally, this Lifestyle as Service platforms works hand in hand with the collaborative economy, allowing connecting bidders with demanders of those services.
Platforms such as Rappi (addresses), Urban Messengers (shipments and commissions) and Hogaru (services for the home) are some examples of this business model.
- Online Comparison
Online comparators are platforms that aim to help consumers make purchasing decisions in an easier, safer and more efficient way.
Previously, learning to purchase a product or service could take hours to visit stores and compare prices and features manually. Then, thanks to the Internet, it was already a matter of browsing different websites and searching for the required information before buying. But online comparators went a little further and simplified the process so that it only takes us a few minutes to have all the relevant information presented in an easy-to-compare way.
As an example of this business model we can mention Trivago (comparator of hotel rooms), Rocket (comparator of credit cards), aseguromiauto.mx (comparator of auto insurance) and Despegar (comparator of tickets and travel packages).
The most common ways to monetize these comparison platforms is through advertising or referenced sales commissions.
- Subscription Models
Subscription models are not really new, but it is interesting to see the number of services that have successfully migrated from individual sales models to online subscription models.
One of the most representative examples is Netflix, which completely reinvented the way to enjoy series and movies from home. Before Netflix, the industry was dominated by Blockbuster and the service worked under a rental model, but Netflix decided to try charging users a monthly fee per entitlement to enjoy unlimited content.
Another example of this model is Kindle Unlimited, an Amazon service that charges users a subscription for unlimited access to more than one million digital books.
The model is also being tested in different industries such as food, music, professional services, software, training, etc.
- Conversational Commerce and Chatbots
One of the most important business trends that we will see grow in the next few years is artificial intelligence, and with it will come all kinds of tools and innovations for business.
Nowadays, thanks to tools like Messenger Platform, it is already possible for a business to create a Chatbot that automatically attends to its clients. In the following video we can see an example of a commercial Chatbot in operation for an Italian restaurant:
The potential of Chatbots for e-commerce is tremendous and is already being used by airlines, online clothing stores, restaurants and hotels.
- Gamification
More than a business model, it is another trend that is being successfully implemented in different industries such as education, ecommerce and travel.
Gamification consists of applying video game techniques to different areas or activities that people perform in their daily lives. A great example of the potential of Gamification is Duolingo, a platform in which learning languages is easy and fun.
Another interesting example is booking, an online platform to book hotel rooms where you get benefits after a certain amount of reservations.
These mechanics, in which the users obtain rewards in exchange for their actions, tend to increase the levels of engagement and loyalty between consumers and brands.
- Business that breaks the barrier between the online and offline world
With the development of wearables and mobile technologies, the barriers between the online and offline world are disappearing.
Amazon Go, for example, is a physical store retailer with self-checkout and no queues in which buyers take the products they need and the payment process is done automatically from the user’s account.
Another example of this trend is an application offered by the musician Dan Deacon that allows him to control the smartphones of those who attend his concerts. Once the application is installed and executed, the musician will be able to control the color of the screen and emit sounds in his followers’ smartphones, thus taking advantage of mobile devices as a tool of the musician.
Pokémon Go is another application that successfully broke the barriers between the virtual world and the real world, causing millions of people to take to the streets to capture pokemones from their smartphones.
The challenge for businesses is to take advantage of the online scenarios in an integrated way with offline scenarios to provide meaningful experiences to their customers.
Do you have a project in which you take advantage of the trends and business models mentioned here? What other interesting trend or innovation do you know about online business? Leave your comments and contributions.
Hello everyone! This is Richard Daniels, a full-time passionate researcher & blogger. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics. He loves to write about economics, e-commerce, and business-related topics for students to assist them in their studies. That's the sole purpose of Business Study Notes.
Love my efforts? Don't forget to share this blog.
