BUSINESS MODELS WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

BY ROBIN GHOSH

KOLKATA, 29 MARCH 2023:

We are in the digital era.
Every day something or other is happening in the digital space .This technological turbulence in the digital world is changing many codes and theorems of business practices.
The truth is abundantly clear. Winds of change are blowing. Big or small , if you have to survive and grow – you have to keep pivoting , keep realigning and keep inventing.
Take the case of Wipro, the IT company. Recently , the company announced a new Global Business Line model to lift up the company amid slowdown in the IT sector.
Read what Wipro says” Creating four lines aligned to our client’s business priorities will create a more agile and client centric organizational structure allowing us to better capitalize on the growth opportunities in each of these areas and enable us to deliver faster, better and more concentrated capabilities and solutions to our clients. ”
The launching of the new model is a result of changing dynamics of IT business and development of digital technology at a cracking speed.
One important quest for any business unit big or small is – which business models should you choose in this era of digital revolution?
Yes. There is .We shall explore this now.
There are many models – let us take one by one:
1 .E- Commerce Model
* Companies offer products and services online directly to the customers.
* Companies sell directly to the customers themselves but also play as a market place.
* E- commerce offers a cheaper way to start a business by opening a store in the marketplace and getting ad support through Google and Facebook.
* Example Amazon or Flipkart or Spencer’s.
2 .Freemium Business Model.
* Offers a basic , no frill version of a product or service for free.
* Charging users a fee to access premium features.
* Example: Spotify ( limits on how users can listen to music unless they are subscribers) Zoom ( limits the length of meetings and the numbers of participants for free users).
* Games publishers use a free version to get players hooked before enticing them to take a subscription.
3. Marketplace Model.
* E- market place where anyone can set up a shop. Example Amazon or Alibaba.
*Specialized Platform like eBay, Uber, AirBnB.
*Market place owner’s benefits are : they do not even have to provide a product or service themselves- and – they can simply take a cut from every business that sells through them.
*Market models also include gig economy sites like Freelancer , Fiverr and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk where individuals can offer their services.
4 . Subscription Model
* This business model charges customers a regular payment.
*Example : Netflix offering movies , Adobe offering Creative Cloud package.
Amazon covers all spectrum- digital services, cloud computing, and delivers physical goods to customers’ doorstep.
* This business model enables organizations to generate a regular income while developing customer relationships.
5 . Aggregator Business Model
This business model is unique. You search the web for companies offering products and services and then aggregate them into a handy portal where customers can compare prices, features and benefits. Example: Price Runner, PriceGrabber, and Shopping Com.
*Here, businesses pay to the aggregator a fee on the revenue generated through the aggregator’ s site.
6 .Crowdfunding Model.
This business model offers opportunities to raise funds through small donations from a large number of individuals. Example: Kickstarter, indiegogo and GoFundMe.
The message at the end is : the choice of the business model in a digital world depends on the products and services you intend to market, the customer segment you have identified and maturity of the customer for digital transactions.