2015 Global Digital and Sharing Economy - Transforming Governments, Consumers and Business

The Sharing and Networking Economy demonstrate the growing trust in online services

The quick acceptance of the Sharing Economy movement demonstrates the enormous trust and confidence consumers, businesses and government alike now place in online services generally. While social media was quickly accepted and became a huge worldwide phenomenon - the uptake and acceptance of services such as online and mobile shopping, B2B networks, government portals and so on was slow and met with distrust. It appears that now however, as a collective society, we are beginning to embrace the digital tools and services at out fingertips and finally use them to our advantage.

Based on the huge number of internet and mobile users worldwide - it is hardly any wonder that e-commerce and m-commerce are now thriving. The Asia Pacific region, in particular, is considered a key area for future growth and the large populations of the Middle East will also offer future opportunities. New communication and software developments are making it increasingly possible for retailers to offer a seamless shopping experience using all the available shopping channels – mobile devices, computers, bricks-and-mortar, television, radio, direct mail, catalogues, and so on.

In our existing climate of digital interaction, the concept of a ‘Sharing Economy’ is gaining momentum. New developments are following in the footsteps of those entrepreneurs who created sites where people share their houses and car spaces. While the sharing economy initially gained traction amongst citizens it is now governments and businesses which are exploring the opportunities the Sharing Economy offers.

M-commerce is one of the hottest topics globally and the market is growing at a staggering rate. While this boom will eventually taper off; m-commerce will remain one of the leading growth areas for some years driven by the younger generation and its mobile-centric lifestyle. Consumers are relying more and more on their Smartphone’s when conducting day-to-day communication and transactions and this will lead m-commerce to account for an ever-increasing proportion of the e-commerce market.

Underpinning many popular online and mobile services is the entertainment industry and in particular the vast array of mobile apps we have access to. This highly competitive industry is flourishing on the back of improved mobile and broadband infrastructure and consumers continue to embrace being entertained by gaming, social media, video streaming, VoD and digital music. Advertising models are expanding in order to capture revenue from an industry where direct revenue-generating business models are not well received by the broader public.

Key developments:

• The Sharing Economy and E-commerce sectors will benefit from any advancement in telecoms infrastructure and the continuing uptake of fixed broadband and mobile broadband.
• It is only a matter of time before disruptive sharing developments take place in other industries as well – the electricity industry is a good example.
• The sharing and networking economy is opening up a whole new range of business opportunities for personal and personalised services.
• South Korea and China are two of the leading countries e-commerce markets in Asia Pacific.
• In 2015 the number of apps available from the Apple, Google and Amazon app stores reached around 3 million.
• The revenue derived from global digital music sales today has finally equalled the amount derived from physical formats.
• While Nintendo long resisted joining the mobile gaming market it has finally bowed to competitive pressure and announced in 2015 that it would begin publishing and offering mobile games.
• North America is the largest market for digital ad spending.