It's great to see people addressing the power of aggregating and sharing API's. Cross-pollination between marketplaces is becoming a reality; a reality where we'll begin to see the benefits of sharing data enhancing your customer experience and gaining access to anything from your peers. .  

First it was Uber, as reported in VentureBeat, but soon companies like Airbnb will share their API's and this shift in the market will catapult the peer economy forward. The comfort level of users using peer-to-peer companies will increase as we see this cross-pollination of companies in the sharing economy continue to morph in pursuit of one goal: enhancing your customer experience. Uber has achieved this through their partnership with United Airlines, connecting the peer-to-peer industry with one of the market’s largest airlines.

Gene Marks stated it best in his recent blog post in Forbes:

“Imagine you add in another player to this scenario: the OpenTable API (Application Programming Interface TILE +1.87%).” Barrett continued. “With this we could say ‘hey there, it’s dinnertime and you’re in a town you don’t know. There’s a great Thai food restaurant next to your hotel and Bob, another one of our users who traveled to this town, ranked this Thai restaurant 5 stars saying ‘So hot I cried!’ Do you want me to make a reservation?’ Or perhaps with GrubHub, we just order your favorite dish and have it waiting for you at the hotel. Or add in the Uber API: ‘I see you just landed, would you like a ride to the hotel? Or maybe a detour to this great Thai restaurant first?’”

“Then imagine you added a simple star-rating and review system onto the expense when you submit it. Now we have a business-travel focused Yelp, except “authenticated” via the credit card purchase (e.g. no reviewing someplace you didn’t go) and “weighted” by how much you spent there (someone who spends $100 should be more trusted than someone who spent $10).”

What do you think your customer experience will look like if other peer-to-peer marketplaces shared their API?

Here are some of our ideas to get your imagination going:

• A person can rent a dress from Style Lend, receive a recommended jewelry swap option from Swapdom and have it all delivered to their door using an Uber.

• A person can rent an RV from RVwithMe, be recommended outdoor sports gear through REI and an adventure voucher through ZOZI.

• Rent a boat from Boatbound in a new city and be recommended a home by Airbnb along with credits to use a Lyft to commute along with a Feastly meal recommendation in town.

Travel websites like Kayak, Priceline and Hipmunk have already mastered collaboration of the travel experience but this has yet to be done in the peer economy. Additionally, these companies focus on bundling the booking process in one place rather than engaging consumers in a peer-to-peer interaction. Is it time to engage peer-to-peer companies and connect the experience of booking travel and the booking process itself with real data of what you like and your peer-to-peer reputation?

One of the biggest challenges peer-to-peer companies are facing is the cost of delivery for their product. However, by sharing data, won’t this open the door for companies like Uber to partner at a hyperlocal level? Wouldn't they want to? Uber could access the data from those renting dresses, boats, swapping jewelry and more, allowing them to build outreach and develop their customer base by assisting in the delivery of such items at an agreed price. Could  your trustworthy Swapdom reputation translate to your Boatbound rental? Better yet, could your Boatbound reputation help you qualify for a new car loan to be an Uber driver?

We need to start thinking about the opportunities of this new world of interconnected peer-to-peer and traditional businesses. Especially, because it’s right around the corner and we can’t help but think that this should be at the forefront of the future of the customer experience.