Value Shifts … how markets and customers, business and strategy, are rapidly evolving … transforming the means of value creation for customers, and value capture for business

February 27, 2026

In today’s rapidly evolving global economy, businesses are facing unprecedented pressures to rethink how they create and capture value. The forces of digitisation, platformisation, globalisation, and sustainability are not merely shaping products or services; they are fundamentally reshaping the logic of competitive advantage. Companies that fail to grasp these shifts risk being marginalised, while those that anticipate and embrace them can redefine entire industries.

Central to this discussion is the distinction between

Value Creation — how companies generate value for customers, or benefits.
Value Capture — how companies turn this into value for them, or profits.

While the two are interconnected, they often move at different speeds, creating both opportunity and risk.

We explore the five most common types of shifts in value creation and value capture, illustrated with examples from around the world. Understanding these shifts allows firms to diagnose their industries, anticipate disruption, and design strategies that ensure they remain both relevant and profitable.

Shifts in “Value Creation” for Customers

Value creation is, fundamentally, about improving the experience, outcomes, or utility that customers receive. Over the past two decades, several global trends have dramatically altered what customers consider valuable. These shifts are particularly visible in sectors such as technology, transport, media, healthcare, and consumer services.

1. From Products to Outcomes

Historically, companies sold tangible products or standardised services. Today, customers increasingly seek outcomes, rather than the items themselves – what they can do, rather than what they have. This shift is evident in industries where the end result — performance, uptime, or convenience — is more important than the physical object.

Examples:

Rolls-Royce Holdings sells “Power by the Hour,” charging airlines for engine performance rather than the engines themselves.
Netflix shifted from DVD rentals to streaming, focusing on seamless access to content and binge-worthy experiencesrather than ownership.
Peloton combines connected fitness hardware with subscription-based classes, delivering measurable health outcomes.

The customer benefits from reduced risk, greater predictability, and simpler decision-making. For businesses, this requires investing in operational capabilities, data analytics, and service delivery to guarantee outcomes.

2. From Ownership to Access

Access-based models represent a profound shift in customer priorities. Rather than owning assets outright, users increasingly prefer temporary access or usage rights, which reduces upfront costs and maintenance burdens.

Examples:

Airbnb enables travellers to access homes worldwide without property ownership.
Grab bundles ride-hailing, deliveries, and payments, letting users consume services on demand.
Vinted lets users buy, sell, or swap second-hand fashion, monetising trust and network effects rather than owning inventory.

Customers gain flexibility, affordability, and convenience, while firms must orchestrate platforms, manage trust, and ensure seamless access.

3. From Standardisation to Personalisation

Consumers increasingly demand tailored experiences. Mass-produced, one-size-fits-all offerings are giving way to products and services designed to suit individual preferences, behaviours, or needs.

Examples:

Spotify curates personalised playlists and recommendations using listening data.
Ant Group customises lending, insurance, and investment products through AI-driven insights.
NikeID allows customers to design bespoke footwear, combining personal expression with brand engagement.

Personalisation increases relevance and loyalty, but requires sophisticated data management and analytics capabilities.

4. From Information Scarcity to Transparency

The digital era has empowered consumers with unprecedented access to information. Price comparison, reviews, and product ratings reduce asymmetry and shift bargaining power towards the customer.

Examples:

Booking.com aggregates pricing, reviews, and availability for informed travel choices.
Glovo provides real-time tracking and multi-service comparisons for urban deliveries.
CarDekho gives detailed automotive reviews and dealer ratings, reducing uncertainty in purchases.

Transparency reduces search costs and perceived risk, while encouraging firms to compete on quality, experience, and trust rather than hidden advantages.

5. From Transaction to Experience

Increasingly, customers value holistic experiences over isolated transactions. Products must integrate functionality, convenience, and emotional satisfaction, creating loyalty and brand advocacy.

Examples:

Apple integrates devices, software, and retail for a seamless ecosystem.
Disney blends films, parks, and streaming for immersive storytelling.
Hermès elevates retail into lifestyle experiences that foster loyalty.

Experience-focused value fosters differentiation and stickiness, particularly in commoditised markets.

Shifts in “Value Capture” by Business

While value creation concerns the customer, value capture is about ensuring the company translates that value into economic profit. Shifts in capture reflect changes in revenue models, cost structures, control points, and sources of profit. They are increasingly evident in digital platforms, subscription businesses, and global ecosystems.

1. From Selling to Partnering

Or, from one-off sales to recurring revenues. The traditional model of one-off transactions is giving way to subscription, usage-based, or recurring revenue streams, enhancing predictability and lifetime value.

Examples:

Adobe Creative Cloud transitioned from software licences to subscriptions.
Microsoft 365 monetises ongoing engagement rather than one-off Office sales.
Netflix and Spotify convert usage and engagement into recurring revenue.

2. From Ownership to Ecosystems

Modern firms increasingly capture value by orchestrating others’ assets rather than owning them directly. This reduces capital intensity while controlling access to economic flows.

Examples:

Airbnb leverages hosts’ properties without owning real estate.
Uber and Ola mobilise driver-partners’ vehicles for transport services.
Rappi orchestrates gig labour and logistics without owning warehouses or fleets.

Control over the network, trust mechanisms, and platform algorithms becomes the key profit lever.

3. From Production to Connection

Economic rents increasingly flow to those who control platforms, marketplaces, or digital interfaces, even when they do not produce the underlying goods or services.

Examples:

Apple collects App Store commissions while developers create apps.
Tencent monetises social, gaming, and fintech platforms without owning content directly.
Google profits from search advertising and Android’s ecosystem.

Ownership of the platform or interface secures economic rents independent of production.

4. From Profitability to Value Creation

Profitability increasingly depends on maintaining customers over the long term rather than extracting high margins from individual transactions.

Examples:

Grab cross-sells rides, payments, and delivery services to enhance lifetime value.
Netflix focuses on retention and tiered subscriptions.
Spotify converts free users into paying subscribers while monetising ads.

Lifetime value optimisation strengthens loyalty, retention, and ecosystem profitability.

5. From Tangible to Intangible Assets

Profit increasingly derives from data, IP, brand, and network effects rather than physical products.

Examples:

Google monetises search and advertising data rather than hardware.
Tencent captures value from content, social networks, and digital payments.
M-Pesa generates revenue from transaction fees while enabling financial inclusion.

Intangible assets offer scalability, resilience, and defensibility in competitive markets.

Strategic implications

An important insight is that value creation and value capture do not always shift in synchrony. Companies can create enormous customer value without capturing commensurate profits, or they can capture value from ecosystems without creating the primary end-user value themselves.

Examples:

App developers create utility within the Apple ecosystem but Apple captures the bulk of economic rent.
Traditional taxis created mobility but lost profit to Uber and other ride-hailing platforms.
Newspapers produced content, but Google and Facebook captured the majority of digital advertising revenue.

Understanding this decoupling is essential for anticipating disruption and designing resilient business models.

Value in modern markets is no longer simply embedded in products or services. Customers now seek outcomes, access, personalisation, transparency, and holistic experiences.

Businesses that fail to recognise these shifts risk commoditisation and margin erosion. Meanwhile, firms that understand how value capture is evolving — through recurring revenue, asset orchestration, platform control, lifetime value optimisation, and intangible assets — can secure sustainable profit and industry leadership.

Map Creation and Capture Separately: Identify shifts in customer value versus economic control.
Prioritise Control Points: Data, interfaces, and network effects increasingly determine who captures profits.
Reinvent Business Models: Subscription, outcome-based pricing, and platform orchestration are essential levers.
Invest in Capabilities: Data analytics, AI, and service delivery must complement traditional product excellence.
Monitor Global Innovations: Value shifts often originate in emerging markets or adjacent sectors and spread rapidly.

Recognising the five major shifts in value creation and the five major shifts in value capture is more than academic; it is a practical guide for navigating disruption. By examining global examples, it becomes clear that these shifts are universal, though manifested differently depending on regional context and industry structure.

Ultimately, the companies that excel will be those that simultaneously innovate in how they serve customers and in how they capture the resulting economic benefit. The future belongs to companies that can anticipate, adapt, and align these two dimensions before their competitors do.

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