{"id":22639,"date":"2016-06-15T18:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T23:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=22639"},"modified":"2016-06-15T02:32:07","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T07:32:07","slug":"frazier-allen-the-sharing-economy-matures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2016\/06\/15\/frazier-allen-the-sharing-economy-matures\/","title":{"rendered":"Frazier Allen: The Sharing Economy Matures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"F&M<\/span>Clarksville, TN<\/strong> – The sharing economy \u2013 made up of peer-to-peer, access-driven businesses \u2013 is growing up quickly.<\/p>\n

Just seven years ago, Airbnb began an online platform connecting people with extra space with travelers looking for a room; now it\u2019s a juggernaut recently valued at $25 billion with an average of 425,000 guests per night, 22% more than Hilton Worldwide.<\/p>\n

\"Frazier<\/a>

Frazier Allen<\/p><\/div>\n

Ridesharing company Uber, founded in 2009, has a similar story \u2013 it was valued at $51 billion in the summer of 2015, more than the market cap of Delta Airlines.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of all U.S. consumers \u2013 44% \u2013 are familiar with the sharing economy, and 19% have firsthand experience with these businesses, according to a 2015 report from professional services firm PwC. And this phenomenon continues to spread as more people share underused assets directly with peers willing to pay.<\/p>\n

Expansion and Speed Bumps<\/h3>\n

Take healthcare for example. There are now several startups that marry high-tech platforms with old-fashioned house calls, such as Heal, Pager and MedZed, though they\u2019re mainly in big cities. And Uber is testing the waters again, launching a pilot program that delivers flu shots to customers on demand.<\/p>\n

While the convenience these businesses provide has won over consumers, safety and uncertain quality remain concerns. Of those surveyed by PwC, 69% said they would not use a sharing economy company until it was recommended by a trusted friend.<\/p>\n

Courting Older Generations<\/h3>\n

That fact has motivated these businesses to actively reach outside their base of tech-savvy millennials to sway older generations. Currently, 16% of service providers in the sharing economy are 65 or older, PwC reports, and startups want to grow that number.<\/p>\n

Uber recently announced an alliance with AARP\u2019s Life Reimagined as part of its strategy to hire drivers to meet surging demand, and Airbnb released \u201cCelebrating Airbnb\u2019s 60+ Host Community,\u201d a report showing that 10% of its hosts are older than 60. Both companies say older drivers and hosts are finding financial and social benefits by participating in the sharing economy.<\/p>\n

\n

16% of service providers in the sharing economy are 65 or older.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that these companies are targeting retirees. After all, they are matching part-time workers who have plenty of time with affluent customers who have more money than time, and in the process creating opportunities for those who want flexibility and autonomy.<\/p>\n

There have been a few growing pains for sharing economy firms, especially in highly regulated industries, but it seems this business model is here to stay.<\/p>\n

A Sampling of Sharing Economy Startups<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Hospitality\/Dining: <\/strong>CouchSurfing, Airbnb, DogVacay, Feastly, LeftoverSwap<\/li>\n
  • Transportation:<\/strong> Turo, Uber, Lyft, Getaround, Zipcar<\/li>\n
  • Retail\/Consumer Goods:<\/strong> Neighborgoods, Poshmark, Tradesy, Etsy<\/li>\n
  • Entertainment:<\/strong> Spotify, SoundCloud, Earbits, Amazon Family Library<\/li>\n
  • Healthcare:<\/strong> RetraceHealth, Honor, Heal, Pager, MedZed<\/li>\n
  • Logistics: <\/strong>Uber Rush, Postmates, Instacart<\/li>\n
  • Odd Jobs: <\/strong>TaskRabbit, Fiverr, Handy <\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Source:<\/strong> 2015 PwC report, \u201cThe Sharing Economy\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Clarksville, TN – The sharing economy \u2013 made up of peer-to-peer, access-driven businesses \u2013 is growing up quickly. Just seven years ago, Airbnb began an online platform connecting people with extra space with travelers looking for a room; now it\u2019s a juggernaut recently valued at $25 billion with an average of 425,000 guests per night, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[28444,28440,825,28443,11584,3065,28441,28442],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-5T9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22640,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22639\/revisions\/22640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}