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It’s not hard to draw a direct par-
allel between this brief history and
the future of what’s been dubbed the
“sharing economy.” Just like e-com-
merce around the turn of the century,
the hype around sharing, or collabora-
tive consumption, is whirling furiously
about, and a few industries (notably
taxi drivers and hotels) already are
under direct attack. Some very smart
people even believe that the role of
the established retail value chain even-
tually will be greatly diminished.
Back to the present, it’s estimated
that sharing, or peer-to-peer econom-
ics, is displacing about 1 to 2 percent
of retail sales, according to surveys by
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), while
about 19 percent of U.S. adults have
engaged in sharing economy transac-
tions. But just as e-commerce changed
the way consumers shop, sharing
has the potential to fundamentally
change the way people consume. In
other words, it’s no longer a question
of whether or not sharing is a lasting
trend or if it fits within the outdoor
industry. Those questions have been
all but answered. The questions for
forward-thinking companies now be-
come: where do the threats and op-
portunities exist within collaborative
consumption, and how can various
contestants adapt to the changes in
consumer mentality and behavior?
“Whatever your organization looks
like today, the sharing economy is
too big an opportunity to miss – or
too big a risk not to mitigate,” argue
analysts at PwC.
The first thing to understand is
that peer-to-peer or resource shar-
ing are far from novel concepts. Such
practices are as old as the World
Wide Web itself, tracing back at
least as far as the early days of eBay,
Limewire, Wikipedia and Napster. Even
before the likes of Uber and Airbnb,
the practice of tapping into a commu-
nity of users to save money, improve
selection or share underutilized as-
sets was already widely practiced in
places such as craigslist, YouTube or
even Skpe, which operated by essen-
tially sharing subscribers’ computing
resources in lieu of a private phone
network. The practice of sharing and
consumer collaboration are elemental
to popular apps such as Facebook,
Snapchat and Kickstarter.
On the other hand, the first six
months of 2015 brought an explosion of
new ways and places to access products
and services. (And in turn, new ways to
sell access to underutilized assets.) Think
of it as VRBO-style consumption for all
sorts of product categories – from moun-
tain bikes (Spinlister) to high-end jewelry
(Rocksbox) to kid’s clothes (Kidizen) to
insurance (PeerCover) to construction
equipment (Getable) to household chores
(TaskRabbitt). Need a fancy dress for a
ceremony but know you’ll only wear it
one time? Why not rent a dress for the
night at Rent the Runway? Need meet-
ing space in Denver for one afternoon
meeting? Save a few bucks searching
available space at local businesses
through LiquidSpace. The list literally
goes on and on.
What this growing slate of sites
provides is the opportunity to choose
“access over ownership,” and, make
no mistake, this can be a compelling
choice. Ownership, after all, has its
disadvantages. It entails upfront invest-
ments, storage, maintenance and up-
keep. In fact, 43 percent of U.S. adults
Percentage of U.S. Adult Who Have Engaged
in Sharing Transactions
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Entertainment
and Media
ages 65
and older
ages 18
to 24
ages 25
to 34
ages 55
to 64
ages 45
to 54
ages 35
to 44
Automotive
and
Transportation
Hospitality
and Dining
Retail
19
%
%
%
9%
8%
6%
2%
Age Breakdown of Providers in Sharing Economy
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers
16%
14%
24%
24%
14%
8%
Sharing in the Outdoors
Often, the categories that first feel the impacts of disruptive technologies and business models are the
categories in which the new models randomly happen to work the best. Peer-to-peer or sharing economics,
quite simply, “work” within the outdoor market and ethos. To see how, let’s look at a few major tenets of the
sharing economy and collaborative consumption.
For starters, the sharing economy is all about providing temporary access to the experience a product
enables over ownership of that particular product. “I don’t need a car; I need a ride.” Indeed, collaborative
consumption is part of the larger “experience economy.” For years, outdoor brands have viewed themselves as
not just selling gear and apparel but “selling the outdoors.” In many ways, the outdoor specialty industry is the
original “experience economy.”
Sharing is also eco-friendly. It puts underu ilized resources in play and injects value into what otherwise
would be discarded assets. For an industry that advocates recycling, eco-responsibility and conscientious
consumption, sharing is a natural fit.
Lastly, it’s widely argued that peer-to-peer economics make the most sense in categories where products
and services involve high up-front costs and are underutilized. About 40 percent of outdoor enthusiasts, OIA
figures show, head outside 20 or less times a year. That means lots of nice tents, kayaks, bikes, waterproof
shells, camp stoves and air mattresses sit idle in closets for a good chunk of the year. At the same time, entry
level price points on certain gear and apparel can be significant. It’s largely why ski and bike rental shops and
canoe liveries are in business.
Still wondering if your customers are aligned with the sharing model?
Outdoor Brands Active in the Sharing Economy
GearCommons
Peer-to-peer outdoor gear rental
GetOutfitted
Gear rental and outdoor excursion exchange
Review One
“Demo gear before you buy”
HipCamp
Camp site finder and peer reviews
Spinlister
Peer-to-peer bike and board rental
Ayoopa
Peer-to-peer outdoor gear rental
Adventure Projects
Network of crowd-sourced outdoor sites and forums (REI owned)
RootsRated
Peer-reviewed outdoor destinations
Shurfing
Global surf gear and board sharing
Kelty
Rental program through GetOutfitted
Patagonia
Reselling used items, including through Yerdle
Inside
Outdoor
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Summer
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