The on-demand economy is big and getting bigger. Brands such as Uber and Airbnb dominate the U.S. sharing scene right now, but the number of companies launching in this industry grows by the day. The trend has even gone global -- by 2020, the sharing economy will make up 10 percent of China’s gross domestic product.
Now that people are accustomed to buying online, they want instant access to goods and services. Vertical marketplaces are better suited than horizontal ones to meet this demand. They work in niche fields and therefore offer faster, more efficient matching algorithms. They also provide more detailed product information, delivering better options to consumers and higher-quality conversion rates to companies.
Here’s what lies ahead in the age of vertical.