Sharing economy is a concept that has found wide ground thanks to digitalization and has become very popular in recent years. In this article, I would like to talk about this concept, which I think will increase rapidly and create great opportunities in the economy in the near future.
Sharing economy, also known as solidarity economy or solidarity consumption, refers to a flexible economic network based on inter-individual product or service exchange. Basically, it allows someone else to use the surplus product that someone has. For example, renting a room that we do not use in our home to someone else who needs accommodation is an example of the sharing economy model. Apart from that, hundreds of examples can be given from shared offices to car sharing.
Economic Benefits of Sharing Economy
In the context of economic efficiency, this model has many benefits. For the supplier, the surplus product he has is commercially evaluated. The person who gets the service meets his need at an affordable price. In addition, the sharing economy also increases competitiveness in the shopping related sectors. For example, accommodation overlay increases competition in the hotel industry; affects the hotel prices and service quality in favor of the customer.
The Effect of Digitalization on Sharing Economy
The digital platforms that have emerged in recent years are preparing the ground for the dissemination of the sharing economy by providing solutions to two main problems that make this model difficult and even impossible to apply before. One of these problems was that it was very difficult for people who used to request service and who were available to provide that service could find each other. Today, thanks to digital platforms, the parties can easily find and negotiate each other. Security is the second problem that can be overcome by digitization. Although sharing a certain product or service is advantageous for the two parties, mutual trust has been difficult in the past. This was a major obstacle to the spread of the sharing economy in the past.
But today, thanks to the media such as digital platforms, membership conditions and scoring, they are able to provide a great deal of quality of service. This situation leads to a rapid increase in the demand for shopping based on the sharing economy model.
The fact that the rules and regulations required by this model have not been fully implemented yet, is one of the factors that slow the spread of the sharing economy. I think that the model will spread rapidly in the near future where deadlocks like this will be overcome.
