August 30, 2023
Harvard Business Review recently published an article co-authored by Marshall Van Alstyne, Professor in Information Systems, on the problems that arise when users leave their platforms.
Often times, a customer pulls away from a platform if a company isn’t adding as much value as they believe they are. To combat this, companies should consider 6 key factors: urgency, rake, risk, skill, frequency, and modularity, while creating more value than they take.
Van Alstyne adds that, “Most buyers and sellers don’t cut out the middleman entirely, but rather find a new provider that cuts transaction costs or adds more value so that switching is a natural choice.”
To prevent disintermediation, companies must add value to their platforms for keeping interactions on the consumer side.
