Publications
Publications
- December 2020
- HBS Case Collection
Urban Company
Abstract
Urban Company is an India-based market platform that helps customers book home services and at home beauty services. The company differentiated itself by investing heavily in building customer trust. Rather than merely positioning itself as a lead generating platform, like many other marketplace platforms such as Uber, Airbnb, and Trip Advisor have done, the company invested in training and supporting the service providers, thus getting significantly involved in the service delivery process itself. While this approach increased the company’s costs and slowed down its growth, the company’s founders believed that its strategy would ultimately lead to a more sustainable business model. During the COVID pandemic, while the company’s business was under significant pressure, the founders proposed to double down on this approach even further to build differentiation, and to strengthen customer trust even more. Is this strategy viable? How should the company leverage its current market position as it examines expansion into new verticals, new customer segments, and new geographies?
Keywords
COVID-19 Pandemic; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Service Delivery; Trust; Technology Industry; Service Industry; India
Citation
Palepu, Krishna G. "Urban Company." Harvard Business School Case 121-041, December 2020.