Owning the platform is owning the customer – but at what price?

Transaction volumes are increasingly generated via platforms that bring providers and customers together and thus act as intermediaries. Although intermediary models are already widespread in the analogue world in the form of travel agencies or brokerages, these models only really scale on the internet and shaping the concept of the platform economy. 

For customers, platforms offer access to different providers with a one-time registration. For providers, platforms offer contact with customers without requiring their own frontend. The platform itself supposedly benefits the most – today, the quality and quantity of the customer contact determines the value of the company more than ever, and being in control of this contact is next to priceless. However, the advantage of direct contact comes with a price to pay - in particular the technical integration of multiple providers with often very different interfaces represent a complexity that is initially difficult to assess (and therefore often underestimated). Platform providers also need to define contractual relationships, orchestrate payment flows according to regulatory requirements and, arguably most importantly, establish a successful platform business model.

By combining professional competence in the conception of customer-oriented business models, technical know-how in implementation and experience in defining sustainable business models, CORE supports clients from conception and implementation to the efficient operation of platform models.