The term platform model is particularly at home in the areas of digital marketplaces, digital transformation, and e-commerce and digital trade. A platform model describes a digital structure that directly connects providers and demanders. Companies, service providers, or even private individuals can thus offer and find products or services via a common platform.
Instead of selling goods itself, the platform provides the right environment for others to become active. Large examples of the platform model are companies like Amazon or Airbnb. Amazon not only sells its own products but, above all, offers many other retailers a platform to sell their goods. Airbnb, on the other hand, connects travellers with people who offer accommodation.
The great advantage of a platform model is its ability to grow very quickly and provide many people with access to new markets. This structure can therefore be particularly exciting for companies: they can expand or modernise their business model by offering a platform and benefiting from the convergence of many different users. This creates a dynamic network from which all parties benefit – without the platform itself always having to offer its own products.
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