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Digitization 11#

This pattern relies on the ability to turn existing products or services into digital variants, and thus offer advantages over tangible products, e.g., easier and faster distribution. Ideally, the digitization of a product or service is realized without harnessing the value proposition which is offered to the customer. In other words: efficiency and multiplication by means of digitization does not reduce the perceived customer value.


Apply this pattern to your own business and create your next innovative business model!

Examples: Iconic Cases

How they do it: Amazon’s first product category was books. The value proposition of having an online book store is the possibility to offer the customer a greater choice than any book store.
Learn more about Amazon Store →

How they do it: Traditionally, encyclopedias were publications spanning many invididual book volumes, and were out of date within a short time after publication. Wikipedia contributed to the demise of Britannica’s publishing model and medium: The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition; digital content and distribution has continued since then. In 2005, Nature published a peer review comparing 42 science articles from Encyclopædia Britannica and Wikipedia and found that Wikipedia’s level of accuracy approached that of Britannica.
Learn more about Wikipedia →

How they do it: SAP pioneered ERP software, the integrated management of core business processes via software. Historically, ERP processes – such as finance, accounting, payroll or CRM-related processes – were done manually. With the advent of computing, SAP signed its first client in 1972, a German chemical company, for which it developed cutting-edge mainframe programs for payroll and accounting.
Learn more about SAP →

How they do it: For consumers, Dropbox made owning a local, physical harddrive for file storage and backup obsolete. The data storage capacity offered by Dropbox’s Cloud replaces the traditional paradigm of saving files on a system in customer’s offices or homes.
Learn more about Dropbox →

How they do it: Cewe digitized the process of creating and ordering individualized products, utilizing your own fotos. Through their website, customers can create their products remotely at anytime and have them shipped to their home.
Learn more about CEWE Color →



Apply this pattern to your own business and create your next innovative business model!