These days, there are apps for everything: cleaning your house, finding a mate or even for holding a button for as long as you can (not a joke – it is called ‘Hold on!’ (Insider, 2017)). In 2014, a much lovelier option for spending your time became available: Bark’N’Borrow allows you to ‘rent’ a dog from a dog owner (Bark’N’Borrow, n.d.). The app allows dog owners to create a profile for their dog with photos and descriptions, and match their dog to potential human playmates. They can then meet and see if the dog is comfortable with the borrower. The app also includes a background check on all users for safety reasons. (123Pet, n.d.)
For the borrower, the advantages are obvious; although they do not get paid for their services, they get to spent a day with a dog of their choice without having to commit to all the responsibilities of owning a dog. In addition, the borrower can get to know dog owners in the area, if wish to launch a dog-related business later. (123Pet, n.d.) On the other side, the dog owner may use the app to make sure their dog is not left alone while they go to work. The dog will be taken care of for free and will exercise as well (123Pet, n.d.).
Because of all these benefits, the question lingers as to why it took so long for a dog ‘rental’ business to be introduced. When we look at some of the difficulties of bringing demand and supply together in a two-sided platform, as discussed by Zhang (2017), it becomes clear:
- Searching costs: these were very high before the app, as there were no easy ways to find the other party. The app facilitates matching.
- Trust: without a background screening, how would you know who to trust with the care of your dog? The app has a screening process (side note: the app would facilitate trust even more if it introduced a reviewing option, bringing user-generated feedback about other users).
- Non-standard rental procedure: ‘renting’ a dog was not commonplace before the existence of the app. As such, rental procedures were not in place, meaning high effort for both the demand and supply side to instate the process.
Considering how the app facilitates the ‘rental’ process between the dog owners and borrowers, it is important to note that the app is influenced by (positive) network externalities. This means that the value of a network increases with the number of users (Li, 2019). The larger the supplying community (i.e. dogs available), the more attractive the app becomes for borrowers. Similarly, dog owners have a larger choice of playmates if the borrowing community expands.
With these network externalities, one would expect that the app would be priced as low as possible, as to stimulate usage on both sides of the market. However, Bark’N’Borrow has chosen recently to charge both sides of the market equally, at $4.99 per month, in order to make the app more ‘exclusive’ (123Pet, n.d.). This strategy only starts to make sense, when you consider that both the service and the information stream run through the platform: owners have to pay for access to these valuable assets. Seeing as both sides of the market benefit equally from usage of the app, the company seems to have chosen not to ‘subsidise’ one side of the market. One risk of this strategy, however, is that the next exchange between a dog owner and borrower that have met, may take place off the platform. The app will then have lost its value as the match has already been made.
We will have to see how this digital pricing and business model develop in the future. For now, it seems that the entrepreneurs behind Bark’N’Borrow have come up with a solid idea to make many people and their dogs very happy. Here’s to many more exciting apps in the future!
References
123Pet, n.d. Want to Rent a Dog for Canine Cuddles? There’s an App for That! Assessed on 29 September 2019, through: <https://www.123petsoftware.com/rent-a-dog/>.
Bark’N’Borrow, n.d. Our Story. Assessed on 29 September, through: <https://barknborrow.com/about/>.
Insider, 2017. 17 ridiculous apps we can’t believe exist. Assessed on 29 September 2019, through: <https://www.insider.com/pointless-funny-iphone-and-android-apps-2017-5#pay-099-and-you-get-to-hold-this-button-for-as-long-as-you-can-6>.
Li, T. 2019. Session 6: Information Strategy – Digital Platforms. Lecture at RSM, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 26 September 2019.
Zhang, Y. 2017. Pricing: Competition. Lecture at the National University of Singapore (NUS), 7 November 2017.
