David Card, Michael Wolf

Flash analysis: Collaborative consumption – a first look at the new web-sharing economy

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Survey results and analysis
  3. Tactics to address potential misuse
  4. About David Card
  5. About Michael Wolf
  6. Appendix: Readers’ views on web sharing
    1. Web sharing: the bulls’ case
    2. Web sharing: the bears’ case
    3. Web sharing user types
    4. Web sharing categories
    5. Impact of news of web-sharing misuse
    6. Tactics to prevent or alleviate misuse
    7. Market evolution

1. Summary

Collaborative consumption refers to a class of new services that use the web to enable the sharing and bartering of goods and services — from cars to apartments to office space. The market evolved out of the first generation of general-purpose P2P marketplaces such as Craigslist and eBay and is now tied to the way we use the Internet and cell phones. Companies currently participating in this growing movement include consumer services such as Airbnb and RelayRides, baby clothing and toy rental companies thredUP and Toygaroo, community site Park At My House, and Zipcar, who recently filed an IPO.

GigaOM Pro conducted a survey of GigaOM readers to gauge the popularity of the collaborative consumption movement, which services are most being used and the impact certain security concerns will have on the growth of industry. This research note examines the survey’s results and provides analysis on the current state and future of the web-sharing market.

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