“Reduce, reuse and recycle” – The 3 R’s chant that everybody were taught to know and are familiar with since going to school as a child. It’s definitely a great way to save the environment! But what if we bring that mantra to a whole new level? In the business world, it’s likened to sharing economy – a collaborative consumption referring to peer-to-peer-based sharing of access to goods and services.
The generation of today loves to share, particularly on the Internet – pictures of their food, friends, activities, well basically whatever that’s going on in their lives. And they’re very open to the idea of sharing and leveraging on underutilized resources such as their private cars or a spare room in their homes, in making that extra cash.
If you have Uber and Airbnb in your mind by now, you’re definitely on the right track. All of these are made possible with the advent of technology, Internet and social media whereby people are connected anywhere and anytime, allowing them to gain access to these facilities.
Malaysia too, has caught up with the business model of sharing economy and quite a number of companies have turned out to be very successful because of that. Here’s a list of our awesome homegrown startups, which we would love to share it with you!
Kfit
Kfit is a fitness app launched in May 2015 by Joel Neoh, who’s also the founder of Groupon Malaysia. The app goes by monthly subscription, which gives people access to hundreds of gyms, fitness studios as well as fun classes such as martial arts, boot camps, yoga…the list is endless! Kfit is currently operating in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Sydney and Auckland, among many others in the Asia Pacific region.
PlateCulture
If you already know what Airbnb is about, PlateCulture would be the equivalent of Airbnb for food. PlateCulture is a platform that allows guests to eat home-cooked meals at a local host’s home. It was founded by two Lithuanian ladies, Reda Stare and Audra Pakalnyte in July 2013 targeting on tourists in Malaysia. To make profits, the company gets 20 percent each time the hosts charge for the food. As of date, PlateCulture serves in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Kaodim
Kaodim, in Cantonese, means, “getting it done” and it’s exactly what Kaodim aims to offer consumers. In November 2014, two former lawyers Choong Fui-Yu and Jeffri Cheong founded Kaodim after noticing that Malaysians spent too much time finding service professionals. It acts as a site that connects businesses or service providers to local consumers and is available in Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines. Whether you’re looking for a plumber, interior designer or a photographer, Kaodim can match you up with a corresponding provider and they will “kaodim” for you! Aren’t we glad that the days of flipping through the Yellow Pages are finally over?
Sharing economy is here to stay and is growing rapidly. If you look at it simply, it benefits three parties; the app owner, service providers and consumers. Using Kaodim as an example, Kaodim is the mediator between service providers and customers. Businesses get to have presence by being listed on the app while customers save time when searching for a service.
There are many ways brands can participate in the sharing economy. The key to this is to provide values that did not previously existed to consumers, which would ultimately improve their experience.
Would you consider joining the sharing economy boom and what value would your brand create?
Don’t want to miss out on the weekly shots of branding? .
How would your brand participate in the golden age of the geek?
Don’t want to miss out on the weekly shots of branding? Subscribe to our e-newsletter.