SUMMARY

The innovations in this chapter are the latest shoots of an emergent sharing economy. While the access economy continues to thrive in its present format, these sharing innovations are likely to operate at a relatively small scale, focusing on communities rather than on market saturation.

However, two important factors indicate that the dominance enjoyed by access economy incumbents may not be as unassailable as it appears. Firstly, there are serious legislative questions that technology platforms operating in the access economy will need to get to grips with. In the UK alone, an employment tribunal found against Uber in 2016 – which prevented the company from classifying its drivers as self-employed – and this was closely followed by Airbnb’s regulatory shift to comply with UK home rental law. Where these companies have flourished in legal grey areas and enjoyed tax advantages from doing so, they are now finding that the law is gradually catching up with them.

The second factor is the rapid advancement of automation and artificial intelligence. Although a great deal of debate still surrounds the impact of AI in the future, what seems certain is that it will result in swathes of job losses, and even the disappearance of a human workforce from entire industries. (For more on this, see the Workplace chapter.) That in turn could mean that people have less disposable income from their employment – a fact that has led to discussions in many countries about introducing a universal basic Income – and will ultimately require new ways of approaching the economy. In such a world, payment in kind may gain a new popularity, and innovations such as Pumpipumpe would be seen as foreshadowing a huge opportunity.

__THE SHARING ECONOMY TAKEAWAYS

1.  Don’t get sucked into the app trap. Sharing economy services naturally lend themselves to mobile, with all the benefits of geolocation, real-time data and rating systems. However, including physical and tangible elements can inspire a sense of nostalgia and simplicity, which resonate well with the values of sharing and neighbourliness.

2.  Use peer-to-peer advertising. Word of mouth is the best form of marketing: Pumpipumpe’s stickers invite intrigue, meaning that as well as functioning as the basic mechanism through which the service operates, they are also brilliant marketing. The peer-to-peer nature of sharing economy services means that every user is a potential brand advocate. Consider how users of a sharing economy service can be made brand advocates simply by using the service.

3.  Take a step back. Sharing economy services work best when users feel as if they are genuinely connecting with one another. For this to happen, it’s often necessary for the creator of the service not to be too present in any exchanges that take place.

4.  Share to show caring. A genuine constituent of the sharing economy must do more than simply generate profit. Instead, companies in the sharing economy should aspire to create additional value, whether raising levels of community, boosting efficiency or promoting sustainability.

5.  Understand that the access economy still predominates. Uber has not become a verb because customers love its emphasis on meeting drivers and sharing rides. Its success is down to its more conventional indicators, such as convenience and price. Unless there is a dramatic shift in the law or public perception, our prediction is that Uber and its peers in the access economy will be with us for many years to come.