If you take a step back and analyze how Shopify has managed to compete with Amazon, I think we can get a glimpse into the evolution of on-demand businesses.
Shopify is a platform. Shopify doesn’t interface with any consumers directly. Instead, they opted to power over 800,000 businesses across the world. These merchants are then responsible for acquiring their own customers.
While Amazon has taken a different approach. They have opted to own the entire end-user experience. Ben Thompson has perfectly summarized Amazon’s approach as “[Amazon] tends to internalize their network effects and commoditize their suppliers.”
Last month, Tobi Lutke, the co-founder and CEO of Shopify, was asked if ‘Shopify was the next Amazon.’ His response was incredible, and he said this: “Amazon is trying to build an empire and Shopify is trying to arm the rebels.”
If you apply this lens to the gig economy, it’s not hard to see that there is a massive opportunity to explore. The incumbents today have optimized for a winner-take-all market.
“Uber is trying to build an empire and ____ is trying to arm the rebels.”
“DoorDash is trying to build an empire and ___ is trying to arm the rebels.”
“Instacart is trying to build an empire and ___ is trying to arm the…
