Platform companies are among the most valuable and influential corporations in the world. The five biggest of these firms—Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms—are worth a combined total of nearly €14 trillion. These solutions are also becoming increasingly important for businesses in Germany.

This article explains what digital platforms are, how they operate, and their advantages. We’ll also give you a few real-world examples of different approaches and explain what German customers think of them.

What’s in this article?

• What is a digital platform?
  
• Examples of digital platforms
  
• How popular are digital platforms in Germany?
  
• What makes a digital platform?
  
• What are the advantages of digital platforms for German businesses?
  

What is a digital platform?

Digital platforms are infrastructures accessible via the internet that bring together suppliers and buyers. For that reason, they are increasingly referred to as digital marketplaces. These hubs serve as a way of offering, searching for, comparing, purchasing, or using products and services. Not only do they connect potential sellers with potential buyers, they also integrate processes, data, capabilities, and users into huge digital ecosystems. Backed up by modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and standardized application programming interfaces (APIs), participants can collaborate efficiently, often fully automating the work.

Digital platforms are the core elements underlying numerous successful business models. By facilitating new forms of cooperation and competition, they are bringing about lasting change in markets and value creation chains. They play a key role in the digital transformation: the high level of connectivity and flexibility that platform solutions offer is particularly advantageous for industries such as commerce, logistics, or finance. Businesses can make processes more efficient, reach additional customer groups, and develop innovative services.

Types of digital platforms

Generally speaking, three main archetypes exist, each with a distinct focus and function:

• Transaction platforms: These directly connect supply and demand, and facilitate orders or transactions.
  
• Data-centric platforms: These create a holistic system that manages, analyzes, and provides information as a central asset. Examples include Internet of Things (IoT) management platforms or data-driven analysis platforms.
  
• Integration platforms: These combine the properties of both of the other types to enable a deeper, more structured networking of partners and workflows. Such layers are particularly relevant for B2B industries, such as logistics, where a variety of different stakeholders have to work together efficiently.
  

Underlying technology

A key principle when it comes to building digital platforms is the abstraction of technological and industry details. Standardized APIs and data models connect various partners, without each company having to establish individual bilateral relations. This reduces complexity and increases flexibility. The architecture involved often follows the principles of software development, such as the layered model, where each additional layer abstracts details for external flexibility and a maintainable, modular structure.

Examples of digital platforms

Digital platforms come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Below is an overview of the most common types, as well as some real-world examples of each:

• Marketplaces with digital sales channels (e.g., online stores for apparel, handmade products)
  
• Intermediation platforms for products or services (e.g., food delivery, mobility services)
  
• Sharing economy platforms (e.g., carsharing, short-term rentals)
  
• Search and recommendation services (e.g., web search, travel recommendations)
  
• Portals for comparisons, ratings, or comments (e.g., comparing electricity rates, rating restaurants)
  
• Networks for networking (e.g., professional and social networks)
  
• Media and content platforms (e.g., streaming music, watching videos)
  

How popular are digital platforms in Germany?

Digital platforms are becoming increasingly important across the country, too. They provide businesses with a strategic tool for staying competitive, opening up additional markets, and modernizing operations.

One of the indicators of this increasing importance is the general advances being made in digitization. The Digitization Index in Germany stood at 113.6 points in 2024, up significantly from 108.1 points the previous year. Following a period of stagnation, the trend is again on a clear upward trajectory, which highlights the increase in acceptance and the proliferation of digital solutions. Platform models provide a key technology for implementing the broader transformation in practice and creating added value.

With a comprehensive platform strategy in place, businesses in the German market have a choice between building their own or using existing third-party networks. For example, 42% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rely on online intermediation hubs to sell their offerings. On top of that, B2B ecommerce via marketplaces grew by 42% nationwide between 2018 and 2022.

User-oriented platforms—such as ecommerce, communication, and entertainment—once dominated the landscape, but the focus now increasingly shifts toward industry applications. Production, logistics, or machine engineering companies are developing their platform solutions to automate processes, digitize maintenance services, or network their partners, creating digital ecosystems, facilitating efficiency gains, and opening up new business approaches.

This trend is also having an impact on the labor market. According to forecasts, around 42.7 million people in the European Union will be employed in the platform economy by 2030 (e.g., as application developers, service providers, or in support roles).

What makes a digital platform?

Several features characterize these setups. Below is an overview of the most important ones:

Intermediation function and networking

Digital platforms function as central interfaces for efficiently bringing together a range of different stakeholders. They network and mediate between various parties based on a standard underlying technology—eliminating incompatibilities and creating a bridge between distant locations.

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Standardized APIs and integration

Another hallmark is the ability to connect different systems and processes via standardized APIs. Instead of establishing and maintaining countless two-way connections, all partners use a unified connection to join the platform. This standardization makes integration less time-consuming and lowers costs.

Flexible and modular architecture

Digital platforms are based on modular architecture, making them highly flexible. This makes it easier to continue developing them and add new members and offerings. Specialized architecture facilitates flexible operations that can map and support both niche solutions and large-scale international networks efficiently.

Data-driven processes

These environments also stand out for their data-focused approach. Providers collect, analyze, and apply large volumes of transactions and usage patterns to enhance workflows and create added value. These insights help personalize offers, improve forecasting, and boost efficiency. They also ensure transparency along complex value creation chains, giving members access to up-to-date information on availability, delivery status, or stock levels at any time.

What are the advantages of digital platforms for German businesses?

There are many ways German businesses can profit from digital platforms.

Greater precision control

Platforms create transparency along the entire value creation chain. For instance, businesses can query stock levels or production status in real time, giving them more precise control over their processes and allowing early identification of bottlenecks while providing customers with reliable service.

Improved collaboration

Central hubs replace numerous bilateral interfaces and standalone systems, connecting all relevant partners to a unified infrastructure. This approach simplifies coordination, allowing central standards to implement changes rather than negotiating them individually with each party.

Network effects

Platforms benefit from major network effects. The more providers offering products and services, for example, the more attractive the environment is to customers—and vice versa. This self-reinforcing principle also produces exponential growth potential for successful platforms.

Cost benefits

Setting one up often requires significant up-front investment. The potential for flexibility, however, is enormous. Costs for adding more users, services, or transactions are usually low. Consequently, operators profit disproportionately from new customers and providers. This enables growth-oriented business models, in particular, to scale efficiently.

Comprehensive data pool

These environments offer enormous opportunities for collecting and analyzing data. Businesses can evaluate market trends, buyer behavior, and operational key performance indicators (KPIs) systematically to make substantiated, market-oriented decisions.

Opening up new markets

Platforms open up a significantly larger pool of customers for products and services. For SMEs in particular, online intermediation hubs are an effective way of opening up cross-regional and international markets. That way, SMEs avoid building expensive sales structures.