In order to truly build customer trust, businesses part of the sharing economy will first and fore-most have to both create and enforce a standardised set of rules that ensure service is safe, and that the customers health is priority. Some businesses like Uber and Airbnb have already created certain rules – for example, drivers must disinfect their cars after every ride and sublets on Airbnb should have a minimum of a 24 hour gap between stays. The crucial part, however, is to ensure that these rules are strictly adhered to. This will require routine checks, customer audits and sur-veys, and stringent consequences for those who do not follow said rules. Companies will also have to have stronger verification processes to ensure that their employees / services are not car-riers themselves. Both employing people and allowing them to come to work, as well as allowing customers to use services will be long and cumbersome processes, but it is what needs to be done to ensure that those in the sharing economy are reliable and have a certain level of integrity.
While it is unclear how fast the sharing economy will revive itself, one can reasonably predict that its recovery will depend on a number of factors – including inter alia its adaptability, the business model, the amount of human contact it requires, and the risks its use pose. However, one thing is for certain – we will eventually return to shared services, since they ultimately have embedded themselves into our daily lives, and we cannot do without them for long.