Tapping into the World of On-demand Business Model: 5 Ways to a Successful Business

The on-demand business model is transformative, but the real challenge lies in identifying the right business model and implementing it to drive maximum benefit for your enterprise. In this blog, we have outlined the power of on-demand business and the steps to set up the right business model! According to HBR, the on-demand business model is attracting more than 22.4 million new customers and the spending in this area has increased to $57.6 billion.

The largest category of on-demand spending is marketplaces, such as eBay & Amazon. Transportation comes second with almost 7.3 monthly consumers, followed by Food/groceries at 5.5 million monthly consumers. The on-demand economy is large and is expanding at an exponential rate, making this a suitable business model for start-ups. With that said, let’s see why enterprises are shifting their approach toward a more consumer-centric innovation;

The Power of shifting towards customer-centric innovation

With technological disruptions, your traditional business models are going to get outdated and ultimately fail. A recent example of the latest technological disruptions is Netflix’s on-demand business model and Uber’s seamless on-demand cab booking experience, which ousted the business that failed to grow with technology. Companies such as it-services start-ups must adopt a customer-centric approach to innovation. For example, when Uber saw a growing market in on-demand cab booking and disrupted the entire sector by providing high-quality transportation through their smartphones. On the same note, the on-demand economy is attracting a diverse group of consumers. According to the statistics, almost half of the on-demand consumers are millennials, which means prioritizing consumer experience becomes imperative.

For building a customer-centric approach, on-demand businesses can implement the following two practices:

• Identify the pain points of the customer’s businesses, and access how the competition is working towards elevating this pain. This practice would drive innovation, and allow the companies to grow with growing technology & market.
• Keep an eye on emerging technologies such as DevOps for rapid product development, and AI for better user experience.

For bigger challenges such as data security, cloud migration, and meet rising consumer expectations, companies should monitor carefully how large enterprises are marshaling emerging resources. That was all about the power of shifting your business approach towards an on-demand, customer-centric eCommerce product development approach. But how do we exactly do this? We have a lot of things to uncover for you in the upcoming sections!

How can business managers tap into the on-demand business model?

To shift your business’s perception, executives can start by cultivating a culture of curiosity about the growing on-demand business economy and widespread adoption. And there’s a seemingly valid reason for this; culture drives synced action from the leadership and hence asked for modeled behavior.

According to Estes, business leaders must consider “on-demand” just a trend similar to AI, cloud technology, and other mega-trend. On this note, here are a few pointers to seamlessly tap into the world of on-demand business models with the right product development strategies;

• Find your niche

There are many market players in the on-demand business, and in order to make your mark in this cut-throat competition, you would have to find your niche and start targeting the same.

• Identify your unique selling points

Once you identify your business niche, you would have to identify your unique selling point. In order to do this, you must start with collecting data, optimizing it, and analyzing it to understand whether you can survive in the market.

• Develop an efficient application

One of the best things that can be done to make a grand entry in the on-demand business is to develop an efficient application. It is a crucial ingredient to achieving long-term success for start-ups.

• Keep your customers at the center

It is the best thing to reduce the gap between your online journey for order and order fulfillment. This would help you increase your brand value for your customers and a lesser waiting time would help you hit the target market sooner than your competitors.

• Optimize your value chain

Simply adding attractive features and intuitive design would help you achieve your business goals faster. In addition to this, make sure to optimize your value chains too.

• Attract and develop your network

The end goal of on-demand business models is to attract and engage your audience. It would also be helped to attract new consumers through various social media platforms. In order to do the same, you must attract new customers through social events.

How to set up the right On-demand Business model?

By now, you would have gained a fair insight into the benefits, needs, and ways to tap into this powerful and growing business model. Here, we are going to discuss a few pointers that would help you set up the right on-demand business model for your business: 1. Commercialize your product Commercializing your product allows you to select the right business model and help you work on the right business niche. ‘Degree of commoditization’ defines the number of variables that are associated with your product. For example, Uber provides its customers with a fair degree of commoditization by allowing them to select the type of car they want to book, or MakeMyTrip allows you to choose the number of days, location, number of guests, and much more. Hence, offering a degree of freedom to your users allows them to have a seamless and an outstanding experience with the application. 2. Selecting the right platform and characteristics Selecting the right business platform from on-site, aggregator, and marketplace allows enterprises to work smoothly. It is well evident that for a start-up to remain in business, it has to aggregate the small enterprises and choke the supply of goods and services. 3. Focusing on the suitable pricing model Pricing plays an important role in setting up the on-demand business model. You should be very transparent, even with your customers about your product’s pricing model and with whom you are competing. The degree of commoditization is a big factor in deciding the price of a commodity. Because with an increased number of variables, the pricing would be directly affected. 4. Don’t forget your stakeholders The number of stakeholders in the business affects the business models. For instance, a small on-demand business model would have only two stakeholders such as in the case of Dunzo, the stakeholders would only be customers and drivers. Whereas some business models are comparatively complex and include a number of stakeholders such as Swiggy and Zomato, where-in a third stakeholder that is the restaurant owner enters. 5. Delivery models; Instant delivery Vs Scheduled delivery Alongwith the above-mentioned factors, this is also a vital factor when deciding on a business model. Instant delivery and Scheduled delivery are two frameworks that are based on delivery schedules. For example, a taxi startup that offers the option to avail of the service now, as well as the option to schedule the cab provides customers with a range of selections that one can choose from.

Closing Remarks

The on-demand business is the future of the IT industry since it is more focused on enhancing the consumer experience, and is available readily. The trait of fulfilling all the demands of the consumer, thereby providing instant gratification to all their needs. The development of a product and the existence of the app to meet every user demand provides a sense of entitlement so that the consumers can expect the services to be delivered fast and cheaper. The on-demand app development organizations face the challenge of innovating and reinventing the business to optimize their supply chains, simplifying features, and ensuring to scaling of the product. But by hiring developers for startups, you can stay worry-free.