When you buy a t-shirt or pair of shoes from an online marketplace, the marketplace gives some information about the products, you select your size, order and pay. When your product arrives, if it doesn’t fit, you return it and get a refund.
Buying services such as a ride from a ride-hailing app requires slightly greater due diligence – not necessarily because of the money involved but you want to be sure which driver is collecting you and in which car. Millions of people have gotten used to ride-hailing apps and even travel and booking apps for booking hotel rooms, flights, event tickets, food delivery, share trading, electrician etc. The due diligence for the buyer of such services has been automated and if there are any problems, there is some form of customer service provision to sort out any issues.
Another way to look at online marketplaces is that they are, in fact, automating due diligence to the satisfaction of the customer.
The amount of due diligence required when you buy a t-shirt is minimal. But when you buy something like real estate or IPR, the due diligence required is much greater as the consequences of getting it wrong are greater. Trying to automate the due diligence for such transactions is a lot more difficult as more regulation is involved. You have online platforms where real estate is advertised for sale/rent but the due diligence is carried out not on the platform but offline - if there are any platforms which do the due diligence themselves, would love to know.
Imagine buying a flat (just as you would a t-shirt) on an ecommerce platform. Getting to the stage where people are comfortable in e.g. buying and selling real estate or a restaurant on an online marketplace, with the due diligence and the transaction being carried out on the platform itself, will require more co-operation between the marketplaces and regulators so that the due diligence necessary can be automated.
Blockchain technology may play an important role in allowing due diligence to be automated and increase the service economy.
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