Throughout the past years, collaborative economy has become the main form of social innovation. By bringing forward socio-economic mechanisms that are more than ever, the aid for common access to goods and services, this type of economy has managed to maximize the actual percentage of added value in an efficient way, a value that the classic economy would consider to be an implicit loss. 

Before the rise of platforms that function solely on this system - like in the case of AirBnB - the owner of a residential space would find it very hard to cover the total rent potential of his property. Throughout the exploitation of the property, challenges would mainly appear in cases where short term renting or covering of several days in between lease agreement would be needed.

With time, the market witnessed evolving demand that requested a more efficient collaboration, a greater autonomy, transparency and especially, a better cost optimization and a correct management of resources.

It is at this pace and in this scenario, that AirBnB became one of the strongest digital platforms worldwide, gathering millions of users everywhere and challenging each day the classical concepts of the hospitality industry and travel behaviors alike: by taking the bet on the main benefits that collaborative economy brings to the table. 

Access, not ownership          Free and transparent information

Mutual trust       Cost optimization through efficient management

Adapting to such a different economic climate can take various shapes. Out of the most relevant, one is that of reusing excess capacity of both infrastructure and assets and another equally important is that of redefining unused space capacity as an opportunity to redistribute and capitalize.

Today, the expected result can be seen from afar, in a very simple and optimistic approach: companies pursue sustainability in using their resources, as viable and strong communities are created.  

Collaborative Economy - The Solution

In the warehousing industry alike, the principle used by AirBnB proves to be an incredibly successful bet as well. Nowadays, storage spaces can be listed and capitalized in the same way a house, an apartment or any asset would be.

An obvious example would be that of tenants binded by long term leasing agreements who have the possibility of listing their existing excess space as an opportunity for anyone interested in a facility that checks the right criteria.

Before this model came to life, the temporary lease of  a warehouse would imply strong agreements and long periods of negotiations for the sublet, which in most cases, lasted longer than the requested period of lease itself, resulting in an unnecessary waste of energy and time.

More than this, owners and brokers are still reluctant to offer such deals in which the lease term is shorter than 6 months or on areas smaller than 500 sqm, as their overall interest focuses on long term usage of the warehouse.

With this in mind, companies faced with the challenge of finding lease for a period of one to three months or for a transitory storage solution, will look to rent, build or even buy significantly more storage space than needed, just to cover a potential short term rental need. A solution that ultimately, takes out the whole initial idea of efficiency as well as optimizing budgets and expenses.

Therefore, the classical approach comes with loss on both sides of the game.

On one hand, the logistics operator or the distribution entity cannot fully capitalize their owned space and on the other, the retailer or provider cannot find a fast and viable option for them to efficiently manage their storage needs and costs, no matter the scenario the road they choose to take.

However, both of them are in need of autonomy and flexibility in deciding how, when and where goods are stored.  

On-demand warehousing eliminates such blockers that excess space brings by stimulating anyone in this position to start generating income from it in the fastest way possible.

And there you have it, at a simple bird’s eye view, we can see a high potential in the industry that is currently not reached, nor used in Romania.

A potential that logistics professionals in FMCG and not only, can definitely use in creating a supply chain that is resistant, agile, flexible and nonetheless, more fit to answer the demands of a market that becomes, each day, more dynamic and unpredictable.