The volume of product-related information available today can overwhelm consumers. They sense a need for a consistent buying experience which will ensure satisfactory decision making and successful transactions. Most technological innovations throughout history have been designed to simplify work and reduce dependence on human labor. Digital “platforms” are the most recent innovations attempting to coordinate and simplify daily business transactions.
Network-based platforms do not replace, they support customary methods of information access and transaction authorization. Well designed platforms can be comprehended immediately and provide simplified communication and coordination of countless complex activities. The centralized accumulation of data renders previously opaque transactions transparent.
Business transaction platforms benefit both buyers and sellers by offering:
Quality interactions with increased volume capacity
- Flexibility in application with increased precision of execution
- Individualized accounts with greater interconnectivity
- Maximized operational reliability while maintaining low cost
- Resolution of sharing and ownership issues
Knowledge of the whole picture while addressing any part of it - Being in one place while being in touch with everyplace
- Serving one at essentially the same cost of serving a million
The transaction, which has become all encompassing, distrusted, burdensome and expensive, will shift into an environment of being transparent, seamless and effortless at minimal cost. Eliminating duplicative efforts and unsatisfying customer service experiences will increase the value of transactions with companies adopting platform technologies.
As Adam Smith stated:
“The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition is so powerful a principle that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions”.
Today there are very powerful forces that are driving all of us, in both our business and individual lives, to make changes in how we transact business.