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April 13, 2016
How Australian business views the sharing economy
The sharing economy is growing at a rapid rate, as new business models based on ‘access to’ rather than ‘ownership of’ physical and human assets like skills, time and space, continue to emerge.
Australia’s “Sharing Economy” is averaging growth of 140% per year
The sharing economy is growing at a rapid rate, as new business models based on ‘access to’ rather than ‘ownership of’ physical and human assets like skills, time and space, continue to emerge.
While the most prominent sharing services are based around accommodation, transport & cars, the sharing economy is growing across a range of goods and services – everything from clothing exchanges to private driveways for car parking.
NAB estimates (based on the turnover of a sample of larger operators in Australia) that the sharing economy is currently growing at around 140% per year.
Today NAB launches a report which looks at how Australian firms – both small and large – perceive the impact of the sharing economy on their business.
Around 1 in 10 Australian firms economy wide already believe the sharing economy had an impact on their business over the past 12 months – 6% positively and 4% negatively.
According to NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster, “interestingly, the impact of the sharing economy overall has been greatest for very large ASX300 firms, and this impact has been overwhelmingly positive”.
Around 14% of ASX300 firms believe that the sharing economy has impacted their business in the last 12 months – 12% positively and only 2% negatively. By comparison, only 6% of SMEs and firms economy-wide identify a positive impact.
“Clearly, big business is taking the sharing economy very seriously”, said Mr Oster.
While the sharing economy is not, new advances in technology has been a key enabler driving growth. As a result, some existing business models have been disrupted, but for others it has provided a cost effective platform to compete – often against much better resourced businesses.
While very large firms are most positive overall about the impact of the sharing economy, small firms in the Business Services industry are the most confident going forward over the next 12 months.
“Around 1 in 5 small firms in business services view the sharing economy as a positive for their business”, said Mr Oster.
Many businesses are still unsure, with a significant number of small firms in health services unclear as to what the impact will be for their business.
“As the sharing economy matures, it will most likely become a complement to existing business models rather than simply a competitive threat”, said Mr Oster.
“This should see the sharing economy become increasingly important for a range of business, helping to drive its growth and reach further”.
For more details, please refer to the attached document.
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