Top 20 Industries Being Disrupted by On-Demand App Solutions

You have the world at your disposal with the tap of a button, does this sound like a revolution to you? This is what the on-demand app solutions have brought to users in various verticals. The on-demand economy is growing in leaps and bounds, replacing traditional businesses at a staggering pace. The on-demand service along with on-demand apps have empowered businesses to provide goods and services instantly. 

The Basics of On-Demand Economy

Uber services have coined a new word “Uberization” where Forbes puts it as “Let us uberize the whole economy.” UBER started as the fastest way to hail a taxi and revamped the way businesses perceived the demand, provisioned the supply, and delivered the goods and services. 

• The on-demand economy leverages technological infrastructure which brings the two worlds, online and offline, together. This means that demand is aggregated online and fulfilled offline (either instantly or scheduled.)
• The on-demand supply is driven by an intuitive and efficient digital mesh that is layered on top of existing networks.
• The on-demand economy is gaining traction at a rapid rate in various enterprises and categories.
• The on-demand economy has transformed consumer behavior all around the world.
• The growth of the on-demand economy owes to the ease of delivery with instant access to media, emails, texting, and other online activities which instills a sense of instant and efficient interactions.
• The on-demand solutions which fall in hyper-growth categories are grocery, ground transportation, and restaurant industry.
• The on-demand economy applies a full-cycle approach where users can search, discover, schedule/book, consume, make payment, and review the products/services.

How On-Demand Economy Disrupts the Business World

The effect of on-demand solutions can be seen in every sector of human life. You no longer have to wait on a busy road to stop a cab, yellow pages and Craigslist are no longer the only options for those who are looking for service professionals, and there are now virtual restaurants providing instant meals at the doorstep without a storefront.

• Increase in prospects – The friction in offline purchases is no longer there in the on-demand business model. The on-demand solutions make it possible for consumers to order anything online and have them delivered to the desired location in real-time. Consumers are highly impressed and satisfied with the ease and efficiency of on-demand models and prefer those companies that provide on-demand services. This has resulted in an upsurge of on-demand solutions in many industries like healthcare, education, retail, etc.
• Emphasis on entrepreneurship – On-demand solutions are also a facilitator in bringing the corporate world and entrepreneurship together. Employees are enabled to choose their working hours and get paid for the amount of work they do. This way it has become easy for those who, along with their jobs, are looking to set up their own business or others who want to work longer hours in different jobs to make ends meet. The on-demand solution is also responsible for improving the company culture with everyone now appreciating the entrepreneurial spirit in others.
• Increase in customization – On-demand solutions like Uber, Instacart, Airbnb, VIa, etc. gather and analyze users’ data to personalize their services. Consumers have developed a taste for such customizations and prefer every organization and traditional process to give them tailored services for a highly engaging experience. 
• Flexibility in the workspace – As mentioned earlier, with employees being able to choose their working hours there is increased flexibility in the workspace. This entails everyone working at their full potential while they take holidays, attend to their daily works or study. As a result, employees are happier, and corporate experiences expansion too.
• Expansion in scalability – On-demand app solutions are highly scalable and secure. So, when you incorporate on-demand apps into your business processes you are able to meet your organization’s needs in a highly scalable fashion.

Top 20 Industries That Have Been Affected by On-Demand App Solutions

A PwC report says that the on-demand economy would reach around 335 billion USD by 2025. This statistic predicts an immense hike in on-demand apps and models. The ease with which you can now book any kind of local services such as house cleaning, beauty, electrical work, plumbing, etc. with the user-friendly on-demand apps is something that is here to stay. 

For this reason, startups have seen investments pouring into on-demand apps which are disrupting all traditional business models. On-demand solutions are reshaping all industries including manufacturing, training, supply chain, or healthcare.

We are giving you a roundup of twenty industries that are amongst the top ones to be affected and disrupted by on-demand apps:

1. Travel and transport – Thanks to Uber, Airbnb, and other on-demand apps which provide convenient on-ground transport, most venture capitalists are investing in this industry. As per surveys, more than 75% have been invested in 5 on-demand apps where four of which belong to the transport and travel industry. The success of on-demand apps in ground transportation can be gauged from Uber’s growth to 40 billion USD in the span of a few years. Almost all cabs and taxis have shifted to an on-demand model with many taxi companies launching their own on-demand app solutions. Apart from cabs and taxis, other ground transportation markets have not yet been tapped by on-demand apps. 
2. Beauty services – The busy schedules of modern life make it tough for people to take out time for self-care. Though all of us wish to maintain a stylish look, very few have the luxury of fulfilling it. This is where on-demand salon services have stepped in and carved a niche for themselves. Now you have on-demand apps owned by salons where customers can get hair, beauty, and other services done from the comfort of their homes. With this ability of salon services to provide all facilities at great convenience, more and more on-demand app solutions for the salons are picking up. An added advantage of on-demand apps for salons is businesses do not need to spend money on buying or renting a shop and hiring lots of staff.
3. Food delivery – When you are driving back from work the last thing you want to do is wait at the takeaway counter to get your dinner. With doorstep food delivery possible with on-demand apps for food, you can now order from your phone and relax and wait for your dinner to come home. One of the desirable features of these apps is that they let you track your delivery with the status of where your food is at any given time.  The food industry is an ever-growing business that has arisen many opportunities for on-demand app solutions around food. Now you no longer have to call a restaurant and wait to give your orders. The entire menu of different restaurants and cuisines is available on your phone through these on-demand food apps.
4. Grocery industry – Don’t we all want to step into a grocery store and receive personal recommendations? This has now been made possible with on-demand apps which deliver all your daily groceries right at your home. The need for grocery shopping will never end hence top-notch mobile development companies are engaged in creating apps that provide enhanced grocery buying experience to their users. 
5. Healthcare industry – The development of on-demand apps in the healthcare domain has made it possible to diagnose a disease at an early stage by identifying its symptoms. There are also a few apps that keep track of a patient’s blood pressure and heart rate so that you can have a check at these crucial parameters while carrying out your daily chores. Due to this app, people do not need to visit a doctor for every small ailment. These on-demand app solutions also prove to be beneficial to the doctors as it provides all the information of a patient on their smart devices. On-demand healthcare apps provide a common platform for patients and doctors to communicate. The statistics reveal that in 2010 there were mere 4 on-demand apps in the healthcare industry that rose to 42 apps in 2014 (with a CAGR of 224%).)
6. Education – While earlier people thought of smartphones as a distraction for their kids, it is now a source of information. The education sector has been influenced in a big way by the on-demand apps. eLearning has seen tremendous growth in the last few years and is deemed to progress more with better accessibility. The inability of students in remote areas to access quality education, or gain more knowledge on a subject is now possible with these on-demand apps. The global online education market is expected to reach 319.167 billion USD by 2025.
7. Professional services industry – Your burden of finding cleaners for household chores is now addressed easily by on-demand apps that allow customers to sign up and search for any kind of service they are looking for. These apps also provide many customizable options to users where users get access to all sorts of information and can sort their services conveniently. Customers can also schedule their services for a later point in time through these on-demand app solutions for household chores. The gamut of services that users can avail of through on-demand apps for professional services is carpentry, electrical work, household chores, mechanical work, pest control, plumbing, babysitting, and more.
8. B2B services – Through apps for B2B services organizations can focus on their core business and outsource peripheral or background jobs to others. By doing so businesses can run lean while getting their ancillary services done without hiring full-time staff. The on-demand apps for B2B services offer services like hiring staff members, logistics, organizing corporate events, and many other professional services. The fragmented middlemen services are completely removed through the use of such on-demand apps. Some of the verticals where B2B on-demand app solutions have seen great success are temporary staffing (TaskRabbit, Shiftgig), Corporate travel (Rocket Travel), corporate events (venuebook), outsourced consulting (HourlyNerd), and corporate catering (Grubhub).
9. Logistics – Logistics is another industry that is being transformed heavily by the advent of the on-demand economy. Many traditional challenges in logistics like the hassle of booking, issues in warehouse and fleet management, difficulty in tracking delivery, etc. have been addressed by on-demand logistics apps like Convoy, Uber freight, and Fastvan. Earlier it was only the courier companies that could be relied upon by individuals and organizations for shipping goods. Now with the on-demand apps, corporates can book a truck for cargo and track them starting from dispatch till delivery.
10. On-demand fuel delivery – The fuel industry is also stepping out of its traditional shoes and mounting the on-demand apps bandwagon. Lots of startups have emerged in the last few years in different parts of the world that allow customers to refill their vehicles with just a few taps on their smartphones. These startups that provide on-demand app solutions for fuel delivery have gained a lot of popularity in the urban areas as they enable consumers to refill at any location like home, gym, parking lots, office, or in the middle of nowhere when their vehicles run out of gas. The pain of waiting in the long queues of gas stations has been taken away by these on-demand fuel-filling apps. Some of the leading on-demand apps for fuel filling are Booster fuels, Yoshi, and Fild.
11. Real Estate On-demand – The on-demand economy’s humongous growth has the real estate industry also as one of its contributors. The real estate agents and customers are reaping the benefits of on-demand apps in many ways. For instance, no need for brokers, time-efficiency, lower cost, diminishing need for onsite agents, ease of selling products, and a digitized model of submitting offers. 
12. On-demand delivery of cooking gas – The cooking gas industry has also seen a major turn of events after the big bang of on-demand apps disrupted the economy. The cooking gas delivery vertical has successfully implemented an on-demand model where the customers do not have to undergo tonnes of documentation and procedures as in traditional services. Startups are offering a rich gas booking and delivery experience to their consumers by allowing them easy options for a new booking or a refill booking. 
13. Laundry on-demand apps – The fast generation of today has no time for chores like laundry. They want more time to spend on socializing activities or pursuing their hobbies. This has given rise to the on-demand laundry apps where users can schedule the pickup of their dirty clothes and the laundry service would deliver it to their doorsteps within the stipulated time.
14. Apps for the Entertainment industry – The entertainment industry’s landscape is also changed by the on-demand economy. With on-demand video apps and music streaming platforms, users can enjoy a variety of tracks, movies, shows, and many other media resources from across the globe. These apps are making traditional TV programs a pass. 
15. Car wash on-demand apps – Though we all would love our cars to be shiny all the time, we squirm at the idea of taking our cars to a car wash or washing it ourselves. With on-demand apps in the car wash segment, users no longer have to wait in line to get their cars washed. Customers can book a superfast car wash service with a few clicks on their smartphones and get the service at their preferred location in a stipulated time. With this service customers with busy schedules are able to set a time slot for their car wash based on their comfortable time.
16. eCommerce industry – On-demand app solutions are the ones to give birth of eCOmmerce industry. Unlike other verticals, there was no concept of eCommerce before the on-demand apps invaded the market. The success of both eCommerce and on-demand services are interlinked. eCommerce lets you sell and buy everything online and it has empowered users and retailers equally. Some of the most renowned eCommerce businesses are Amazon, Walmart, and The Home Depot. When the retail industry was operating offline there were many challenges like high time consumption, fewer products available, slow processes, and inefficient processes. The on-demand apps have integrated with the business model of retail to provide higher security, lower rates, and faster timeframes.
17. Recruitment – The recruitment industry has surely accelerated the on-demand market’s pace of growth. Employees are more and more leaning towards self-employment and are looking for jobs that allow them to work from their preferred locations and their comfortable time slots. 
18. On-demand bookselling apps – To buy a book of your choice you have to take out time from busy schedules, travel to the store in traffic, look for parking, and consider many other things. But with on-demand apps for buying books, people are able to do this from their workplace or while they are enjoying a lazy holiday. 
19. Liquor retail industry – There are many on-demand wine and liquor stores that are doing amazingly well in their regions. So if your business is still selling liquor offline then it is time to make the bottles available on demand.
20. Furniture wholesale business – Buying of furniture is no longer restricted to traditional ways. Families now prefer hand-picking their furniture online as it makes all the needed information available to them on their smartphones. The on-demand app for furniture sale offers a wide variety of products without having customers visit multiple stores. Some of the apps that are flourishing in their online furniture business are Pepperfry, Wayfair, and FabFurnish.

Do You Want to Start an On-Demand Service Business?

Summing Up

Despite the regulatory hurdles associated with the on-demand business model, the on-demand market is geared towards removing all the challenges with their strong fundamentals on both sides of the market. The biggest benefit of on-demand apps is that products and services are offered at the doorstep of customers. Undoubtedly the surge in on-demand app development will continue to rise since businesses are now focusing their expertise in developing on-demand apps for almost all of their services.