This article will cover the various types & examples of Channels tailored to digital business models. 

Channels are one of the sections of the popular Business Model Canvas tool.

Overview

(1) Types of Channels

(2) Examples of Channels

The most notable aspect about digital business models is that they are a new channel compared to the traditional business models. They move in-person / brick-and-mortars / face-to-face / paper / physical (media device) into the digital channels. This often affects all types of channels listed below.

The best way to categorise Channels within Digital Business Models is by the following types:

• Customer acquisition channels (often includes sales and/or marketing channels)

• Sales channels: including support and after sales

• Value delivery channels may include also interaction, transaction and intermediation channels, for example between the demand and supply side on platform business models

• Customer retention channels

Now let’s take a look at examples of Channels. The best way to do so is - as always - by looking at concrete, vertical-specific examples.

eCommerce

Examples of digital businesses in the eCommerce vertical include Amazon, Etsy, Wayfair and thousands of others.

Channel examples Amazon: 

• Most notably, Amazon is a new digital channel for B2C retail competing with the old brick-and-mortars, in-person channel

• Some of their channels are:

  • Customer acquisition & sales: their websites and its elements, such as product descriptions, a simple checkout, reviews, filter, search and navigation features, etc

  • Value delivery channels:

    • Their various apps, incl Kindle (reader) device / app, etc

    • Their transport and delivery channels for physical goods

  • Support channels on their website which are functional but probably not award-winning

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Content & Media

Examples of digital businesses in the Content & Media vertical include Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, Medium, Apple News and many more:

Channel examples Netflix:

• Netflix has started as a DVD-by-mail delivery company and then transformed into a streaming company where content is delivered on-demand and entirely via a digital infrastructure

• Their value delivery channels include many types of smart consumer electronics:

  • Those with a screen, connection and computing capabilities: Smart TVs, smartphones, laptops, tablets and more

  • And those with connection and computing capabilities, such as game consoles, set top boxes and more

• Customer acquisition channels include:

  • Social media for customer relations / promotion of upcoming shows/movies

  • Media outlets to spread the word (magazines, etc)

  • Film festivals for promotion

Sharing economy

Examples of digital businesses in the Asset & Service Sharing (=Sharing Economy) vertical include Uber, DoorDash, Airbnb among others:

Channel examples Airbnb: 

• Transaction channels: 

  • Most transactions can be managed through the App, including planning, booking, payment, etc

  • Hosts can manage things through the site / App

  • Communication between host and guest typically occurs initially through the App

• Customer acquisition / marketing & Sales channels include: 

  • Word-of-mouth

  • Free and ongoing media coverage (supported by their comms team)

  • It is quite remarkable that Airbnb does not use travel agencies as sales channels

• and more

Online Travel

Examples of digital businesses in the Online Travel Agencies (OTA) vertical include Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Expedia:

Channel examples Booking.com:

• Sales channels:

  • The Booking.com webpage

  • The mobile-optimised webpage

  • The Booking.com app

  • Indirect channels, e.g. TripAdvisor (Cost-per-acquisition model)

• Customer acquisition channels (performance ads):

  • Other OTAs: TripAdvisor (Cost-per-click model)

  • Meta search engines:

    • Kayak.com

    • Google Hotel Ads

• and more

Social Media & Search

Examples of digital businesses in the Social Media vertical includes Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, X. Examples of Search Platforms include Google, Bing and others.

Channel examples Facebook:

• Key interaction channels on the website/app are:

  • The news feed is the main user channel to get the user (re)engaged

  • Notifications (about 2 dozen types of notifications that can be customised)

  • Chat / messages and activity status of friends to stimulate interaction

  • And much more – see esp the left sidebar (website) and top bar

• Most transactions on the user side are automated through the app/website. It allows a ton of settings (e.g. security, privacy, tagging, location, and a lot more)

• Help pages, contact, reporting, security / privacy setting, etc

• Mail, SMS depending on settings

• And more

Software-as-a-Service:

Examples of digital businesses in the Software-as-a-Service vertical include Salesforce, most Adobe products and hundreds of thousands more cloud-based software products:

Channel examples productivity SaaS:

• Value delivery channels: website & app instead of software installed on a desktop

• Customer acquisition channels:

  • Freemium or Free Trials

  • Right mix of single-user and collaborative features in your Freemium layer

  • Paid ads

  • Word-of-mouth from collaborating users: bottom-up

  • Single-sided network effects to achieve better outcomes

• and more