Park the car, walk the aisles, bring it home. Click, track it online, bring it in off the front porch. Consumers have clearly grown accustomed to these two dominant methods of shopping. Have we perfected the art of omni-channel commerce? Not exactly, but some creative alternative models are making their way to consumers in 2014. Consumers will always make conventional decisions to buy what they need, when they need it, and, naturally, to find a place for it at home. Maybe even admire it. Let’s face it, that 80-inch TV is almost as exciting to look at when it’s turned off as it is when it’s showing the big game.
But there are alternatives to buying and owning, ranging from the digitization of physical products, to subscription and rental services, to the fundamental shift from the product itself to the service it provides. The conventional explanation is that times are tough, and big ticket items and impulse buys are rare. But another explanation is that the ongoing convergence of cloud, social, and mobile are opening some creative options that are just smarter, more convenient, and more fun. 
Creative Destruction
Disintermediation – cutting out the middle man – has been a central theme of ecommerce since the dawn of the web. Apple’s iPod and iTunes reinvented CD sales and changed the music industry. Netflix digitized DVD sales and is now changing television forever. Amazon’s Kindle is cornering Amazon’s own market on book sales. These models set the standard for digital disruption.
There has been a growing interest in communities and marketplaces where individuals can directly sell to others. Etsy is a perfect example. Others like Amazon Marketplace, eBay and now Square Market allow local businesses to get into the e-commerce space. Square has also even incorporated social by allowing users to directly share items for sale on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. This growing trend may threaten traditional retailers as all three of these giants are major players in the space. However, if you’re a small business owner, there are a lot of marketing and operational benefits to P2P platforms.
Subscription and Rental
A recent twist on buying is the subscription model: setting up recurring purchases for common items the consumer is going to buy anyway – and even a few items they wouldn’t otherwise. Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program provides discounts for recurring purchases of groceries, personal and household items. PetFlow will fetch dog and cat food and sundries. Trunk Club delivers high-end men’s apparel, hand-picked by a personal stylist, and sent to you in a signature box when you’re ready. These models and their permutations are a great spin on loyalty and personalization.
Rental opportunities are emerging across many categories. Historically, renting has been an affordable option for upscale items or simply what makes sense for one-time-use items (like the decidedly downscale post-hole digger I rented last summer.) Consumers are now finding a much broader set of choices for renting as an option to save money or as an easy way to try before they buy. In 2013, Eleven James decided it was time to offer high-end watches for two-month rentals. Rent the Runway will deliver an ensemble of dresses and accessories for women for a four-day or eight-day rental. Pleygo has built a business of renting Lego sets (about 30 years too late in my personal life but humble estimation.)
End-to-End
“If we can make sure there is always a car 5 minutes away from you, well there’s a lot of things we can make sure are 5 minutes away from you.” – Uber CEO Travis Kalanick
Another model, recently dubbed “End-to-End,” or E2E, is also evolving, led by the very disruptive Uber. More about design aesthetic than a clear-cut business model, E2E uses technology to make the off-line world work better. The technology itself is not front-and-center, but the experience doesn’t work without it. Uber is a fantastic example of how social and mobile convergence is disintermediating and disrupting an old business model, but also how to build on one. As we mentioned earlier, Uber is experimenting with delivering all sorts of items, from Christmas trees, roses, kittens, and even Mariachi bands. Airbnb is another E2E example, providing short-term rentals via a community marketplace that connects renters and owners. Both Uber and Airbnb should provoke retailers and other businesses to build better copycats, spinoffs, and mashups of these ideas.
We’re looking forward to new inspirations and more creative disruption in 2014.
