The consumption-based model is constantly evolving, especially since technology plays a leading role in exponential growth and progress. As a result, these changes have led to countless repercussions in access to information, communications, consumption, work, or leisure.
At the consumer level, technology development has reduced the barriers to accessing products and services from anywhere in the world. However, it also requires a much more frequent renewal of the media, including computers, tablets, and smartphones. As a result, consumers are opting for a pay-per-use model. Thanks to entertainment platforms, they already know this model.
More demanding consumers
New technologies and the Internet bring greater access to information and facilitate user communication, improving consumer skills and favoring qualified decisions. Consequently, consumers are aware of the characteristics and prices of products and services in great detail and the opinions of other consumers who have already tried them, making them more demanding to choose what to buy.
Climate change and the planet’s limited resources are also incorporated into the purchasing decision. Consumers’ awareness of these social issues leads to value for the sustainability of companies, products, and services.
The keys to demanding consumers
- Well-structured and accessible information they can access quickly and easily at any time.
- The opinion of other consumers on products and services is free from the control or influence of brands, as they are discriminated against by their objectivity.
- Ease of the purchasing process, rewarding companies that provide a positive shopping experience.
- The speed of access to your purchase. Almost immediate delivery is rewarded.
New consumers and technology
Technology directly influences the consumption of all products. However, there is always an essential base in technology applied to communication, especially for millennials and Generation Z, who have characteristic behavior concerning the consumption of new technologies. These generations place great value on immediacy, meaning that the launch of a new model or version on the market means that they demand it “immediately”.
Another variable that influences the purchase decision is the cultural environment. The current society encourages consumption, converting products that satisfy security, social, or recognition needs into basic needs within the context established in Maslow’s Pyramid.
Consumers live in an era of unlimited connection, where technology features are the protagonists of the decisions made by the user, smartphones being a clear example. In 1990, the number of mobile users was around 11 million. In 2020, the number increased to 2.5 billion people.
One of the reasons why consumers change their smartphones frequently is because of the speed with which technology incorporates new features and the latest versions of the most resource-intensive software.
Technology advances exponentially, making computer, phone, and tablet models obsolete in months. Among the solutions proposed by the market to meet the need for the latest versions is leasing, allowing consumers to pay a monthly fee and renew the product periodically for a new version.
Leasing: a solution to new consumer habits
Teleworking, online training, and changes in consumption patterns have demonstrated the dependence of users on new technologies and the importance of having the latest developments. One can have new technology for the first time without buying it or making an outlay through the leasing model.
Renting is a contract for the rental of a movable asset. Thanks to this contract, the user can use and enjoy goods for a fee during the period established. Once the contract has expired, you can renew the asset for a more current one or cancel it.
The leasing concept dates back to 1920. Bell Telephone System’s first telephones were leased in the USA since they were not sold due to their high cost. Other large companies imitated this operation in different sectors. This new product rental model changed the concept and the need for ownership as we knew it. In the 1960s, the great revolution of this model was applied to the purchase of vehicles.
Although leasing is a concept linked to cars and machinery, technology leasing is gaining a relevant role at the consumer level in recent years. Users are accustomed to pay-per-use of all kinds of services, for example, audiovisual platforms such as Netflix.
IT leasing allows companies and individuals to keep their IT equipment up to date and renew it periodically, depending on their needs, without the need for major initial investments.
According to a study by the consultancy firm IO Investigación, almost 38% of Spanish users are willing to switch to this device rental model, which offers to rent to private consumers.
Rentall
At Fellow Funders, we have opened a funding round with Rentall, Spain’s leading platform for leasing solutions for technology products, mobility, and beyond. It provides its customers to subscribe to their favorite products through a reduced monthly fixed cost and renew it as many times as they want. The process is fully digital with immediate approval.
Rentall’s funding round aims to raise €1,000,000, which is earmarked for marketing, communication, strengthening its team, and the company’s international expansion, starting with France and Italy. Investing in its future is meeting the growing demand for new consumption.
