Share Apps: A Different Kind of Travelling Experience

Accompanying economic globalization, the“Share Economy”, these two words, are becoming a popular concept of the current era. The Share Economy model has become increasingly popular among consumers. More and more of these consumers are registering with various platforms of the sharing economy such as car-sharing apps like ZipCar, Uber, and DidiChuxing, accommodation-sharing apps like Airbnb, HomeAway, and Piggy Duanzu(*1), and food-sharing apps like Eatwith, OpenTable, and Mishi(*2). In addition, the Share Economy model is quietly changing our notions and way of life.

Car-sharing

Zipcar—Founded in 2000, Zipcar is one of the earliest sharing economy platforms with regards to traveling. An online American vehicle-leasing company functions on as the service platform for leasing Zipcar automobiles and relies on the sharing of vehicles for its business model. Zipcar operates by accepting memberships and issuing membership cards. The company arranges for a system monitor to be installed in every vehicle that utilizes the information contained in the membership card and the real-time location of the vehicle. Zipcar vehicles are parked in residential areas and members can either directly search for their required vehicle on the Zipcar website or directly call Zipcar. Based on the distance between the Zipcar vehicles and the member, the website displays a list of vehicles as well as their corresponding condition and prices on an electronic map. The member then selects a vehicle and proceeds to making a reservation.

Uber—Uber is an American based technology company from Silicon Valley that became famous with their taxi app of the same name. On the homepage of the application platform users can input both their starting point and final destination. After filling in this information and pressing the vehicle call button, the application will begin to formulate a list of nearby vehicles and notify the drivers of the quickest route to the user’s location. The application will also adjust the price based on circumstances such as the number of nearby vehicles and the time of day, whether it is peak-time or down-time.

DidiChuxing—DidiChuxing and Uber both use application platforms to call vehicles and notify the driver of the quickest route. However, Didi has many other industrial services that include taxies private cars(*3), express-rides, ride-sharing, substitute drivers, and tour busses. With all these features Didi is currently one of the most popular travel apps in the Chinese market.

Accommodation-sharing

Airbnb—When talking about shared spaces Airbnb is an absolute must. Airbnb is a combination of “air” and “bed and breakfast”. Founded in August of 2008, the headquarters of Airbnb are located in San Francisco, California of the United States. Airbnb is a travel rental community where landlords place information pertaining to housing vacancies on the platform. Using the Internet or mobile application, users can post and search information related to vacation rentals as well as complete the reservation process online.

HomeAway—HomeAway is an online platform that provides access to vacation home rentals. The biggest difference between HomeAway and Airbnb is that HomeAway mainly targets relatively older customers who want to go on holidays in the suburbs. Travelers only need to fill out their holiday destination (or room ID) and lease dates on the homepage in order to obtain customized search results from the entire database. HomeAway then displays a list of available properties that match the traveler’s requirements. After the traveler selects a room that is suitable for them, they can reserve that room through HomeAway by contacting the landlord or property management via telephone or email. Compared to mainstream hotels, the advantages of the holiday rental market are not only reflected in the economic cost, but more importantly in the fact that the holiday rental market can meet the individual needs of travelers.

Piggy Duanzu—Piggy Duanzu is a relatively popular application in the current Chinese market amongst young travelers. Piggy Duanzu is China’s representative enterprise when it comes to providing users with short term rental and accommodation services. Piggy Duanzu provides users with a high quality-price ratio and day-day accommodation services.Through using Piggy Duanzu, youth can make more friends and learn about the local transportation, attractions, and food, which is much more interesting than living in a hotel.

Food-sharing

EatWith—When travelling food is definitely something that many travelers are concerned about. Founded in 2010, Eatwith is known by some media outlets as the Airbnb of food. Eatwith is a private kitchen food sharing platform that was initially designed for tourists looking for authentic local cuisine. In the Eatwith application, you can choose —to become an owner, design the menu and table layout, open a dinning space, and accept customer orders. The owner of the dinner can be a Michelin-starred chef, or even a housewife that specializes in cooking. You can also choose to be a diner and freely select any private dinner around the world.

OpenTable—OpenTable is a San Francisco-based supplier of software specializing in food and beverage ordering, table management, and customer management for the hospitality industry. The system automates both order and table management. In addition, OpenTable also provides diners with a fast and efficient way to find a table that meets their requirements, budget, and location at a given time. Service is provided 24 hours and bookings are free.

Mishi—Mishi is a trading platform that focuses on Chinese folk culinary. Since ancient times people have forged for food, with experts appearing in different regions throughout the country and revealing the characteristics of foods in their areas. These people carefully craft local delicacies which could be considered as must-haves for foodies. The features of these delicacies include Chinese and Western specialties, baked desserts, snacks, specialty ingredients, handmade tea, and locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables. Furthermore there are very unique and private dinners to choose from. People can enjoy the privately handcrafted delicacies from the comfort of their own home with the delivery option that is available. (Author: Ying Ying)

Note:

*1. Editor’s Note: “Duanzu” is the pronunciation of the Chinese characters 短租, which means“short term rental”.
*2. “Mishi” is the pronunciation of the Chinese characters 觅食, which means searching for delicacies.
*3. A private car is a vehicle that is used as a taxi and booked via a smartphone App.