The approaches to value creation have changed for most businesses. An essential component of the transforming industry architecture is the switch from product markets to horizontal platforms. Proof of these dynamics is well captured, suggesting that horizontal platform-based organizations are outrunning enterprise firms.
A decade ago, Exxon Mobil and Walmart were among the leading most valuable firms in the US. Today, this list is dominated by the likes of Apple and Amazon. Does this suggest that your business could be better off on a horizontal mobility platform than a product platform?
When you make a landscape change for your business, you are bound to find new opportunities.
Product Platform vs. Horizontal Platform
To evolve to a horizontal mobility platform, you first have to recognize what each of the platforms offers. Identifying the difference between the product and horizontal platforms may add impetus to your growth strategy. The data mobility industry, similar to any other tech industry, is changing fast. The better you understand the different models available, the higher the chances of your business succeeding.
The horizontal mobility platform is designed with a wide range of users in mind. It usually cuts across different industries. Based on its model and scope, this platform seeks to fulfill business needs instead of specific customer ones.
The product platform is fundamentally different from the horizontal platform because the service is aimed at a specific industry or niche. A provider in the product platform space doesn’t struggle to offer everything to all customers. Instead, the focus is on particular verticals. Since the product platform is built for a particular industry niche, its potential market is limited.
Usually, product platforms are built by organizations with expertise in a specific segment of the market that they target. For example, a bike-sharing app is aimed at a particular travel segment. The product platform has fewer marketing demands than the horizontal mobility platform. It requires fewer resources because it targets a single industry.
Why choose a horizontal mobility platform?
A horizontal mobility platform provider is often at a more mature level of the market compared to a provider offering a product platform. Therefore, they have already surmounted many challenges and embrace with a wider scope.
Customers are already familiar with the benefits of a good mobility platform. Being at this level means that the ability of the customer to achieve desired goals for the platform is higher. Since focus is on the idea of customer success, the horizontal mobility platform is associated with higher retention rates. Customers on this platform tend to have several options, so they can put more effort into leads generation and customer retention.
You also realize that providers in the horizontal mobility platform mostly retain their dominance in their market. For example, Cabify is an established horizontal platform, while any entrants in the mobility space will have a hard time trying to build a niche in bike-sharing, etc.
Still, a horizontal mobility platform has a much wider market reach. In other words, the room for more mobility solutions is larger, as compared to what the product platform offers. It will take more time before the horizontal mobility market gets saturated.
A standout challenge you expect to face if you choose the product platform way is that you only target a specific industry that has a conservative approach. Their work involves educating customers in manufacturing, insurance, banks, and so forth.
The product mobility platform is in a place where the horizontal platform was more than half a decade ago to offer specific solutions. One of their goals is to build a network of loyal customers. It would be difficult to identify any particular product platform that is dominant in the industry at this stage.
Net4things, the ultimate cross mobility platform provider
What’s your desire when it comes to product mobility platforms vs. horizontal mobility platforms? Probably you want to increase efficiency in your business and understand your clients better. If you yearn for complete dominance of the mobility market, then you need to be on a horizontal mobility platform.
It doesn’t matter whether you are in Telcos, insurance, car financing, or OEMs. Any structural and strategic alterations need cost-effective and efficient execution. The horizontally integrated model by Net4things gives your company a competitive edge in the implementation of applications.
The Net4things platform offers the freedom to deliver a broad range of mobility services. We know that the basic role of a mobility platform is to present users with concise and prompt information about every segment of the business. Supported by years of industry intelligence and expertise, our platform blends your mobility data and other audited sources.
Reach us for accurate details regarding essential areas that impact your profitability, from your staff to marketing costs. Start the journey towards a horizontal mobility platform.