Business Model Canvas for Digital Businesses

This article will cover the popular Business Model Canvas (BMC) tool from the perspective of digital business models.

The BMC is aiming to be relevant for all types of business models, including non-tech, commodities, consumer packaged goods, insurance, mining and anything else.

We on the other hand only care about digital businesses like Google, Meta/Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon, Netflix, etc.

With this laser-focus we are able to provide far more value when it comes to types and examples for each of the sections of the BMC. That’s the aim of this article!

Note also that we have a separate article to each part of the BMC tailored to digital biz models.

The Business Model Canvas was devised by Alex Osterwalder



(1) Key Partners

Here we can distinguish between:

  • Supply Partners from which the key inputs get sourced. It is important to note the significant differences among vertical-specific supply partners which is why we are providing an extensive list of examples in this article

  • Channel Partners can be involved in customer acquisition, retention and value delivery

  • Tech Partners providing components of the key value creating assets

  • Other Partners for all sorts of aspects of the business model, e.g. investors, legal, professional service and many more

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Key Partners in Digital Business Models.


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(2) Key Assets & Resources

Some of the most important Key Assets & Resources for Digital Business Models are:

  • Technology: This can include basically anything from the code on their servers, their apps, websites, etc

  • Algorithms: Can include anything from core processing algorithms, to discovery & recommendation systems + anything AI-related

  • Data: Many different types of data are involved in delivering the value proposition and forms part of the intangible asset base driving competitive advantage

  • Content: Including content created by the digital business, users or even crawled, scraped content

  • Inventory: Can be purchased inventory for sale or even inventory owned by the supply side

  • Intellectual property (IP): Any kind of knowledge, including processes / playbooks, patents, trade secrets and even supply-side IP

  • Brand: Brands have become one of the most important assets that get poured billions of dollars into

  • Network Effects & Active Users: Often forgotten but the most important asset for many digital businesses are network effects

  • Financial: Constant revenue stream & profit, access to debt funding, access to investor funding (early days)

  • Human resources: Talented staff is crucial for tech companies and currently the big seek is for AI engineers

  • and more

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Key Assets & Resources in Digital Business Models.

(3) Key Activities

Some of the most important Key Value-Creating Activities of Digital Business Models include:

  • Sourcing, transport, processing, delivering of goods

  • Data capture, processing, managing, presenting

  • Data processing can include many aspects, e.g aggregation, organisation

  • Presentation / visualisation of information, data

  • Offer search & discovery features

  • Provide personalisation

  • Measurement, improvement

  • Acquire & onboard demand & supply side (platform biz model)

  • Balancing supply & demand to enhance network effects

  • and (a lot) more

Broader Key Activities include:

  • Research & Development

  • Sales & Marketing

  • Business planning

  • Other general & admin activities

  • and (tonnes) more

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Key Activities in Digital Business Models.


(4) Value Proposition

The best way to categorise Value Propositions within Digital Business Models is by vertical:

  • eCommerce: search, selection and purchase of goods online and delivery to doorstep

  • Content & Media: discovery and consumption of content and media online

  • Search, Vertical Search, Insights: search and discovery of topics of interest online

  • Social & Communication: communication via electronic means and different types of media

  • Online Travel, Dining, Events, Attractions: search, discovery and purchase/reservation of hotel rooms, flights, food, restaurant bookings, etc online

  • Asset Sharing & Service Intermediation: Sharing of assets (e.g. cars, homes) and/or intermediation of service provision (from transport to professional services) online

  • FinTech: Financial services and technologies provided online

  • EdTech: Educational content & services delivered online

  • Digital Health Tech: Our coverage focusses on the digital provision of health care related services online

  • Hardware/Software Tech Platforms: Underlying software & hardware technologies as well as digital consumer electronics

  • Software-as-a-Service: Provision of software via online channels

That said, there a number of common themes though we encourage never to look at generic lists and be more specific like in the list above:

  • Online instead of offline → pace of transactions + electronic consumption (content, media, inform)

  • Search & discovery 

  • Pace 

  • Convenience

  • Choice comparability

  • Price comparisons

  • Personalisation

  • Delivery

Note that in this list we have been focussing on the main end-consumer-facing value propositions. In each of these verticals there can be additional supply, backend and intermediary value propositions that dont interact with the end consumer.

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Value Propositions in Digital Business Models.


(5) 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

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Channels in Digital Business Models.



(6) Customer Relationships

Digital business models build customer relationships in their own ways. One has to take into account that all digital business models will aim to minimise direct human relationships to the extent possible. Digital businesses with hundreds of millions if not billions of customers/users would be limited in their ability to scale up if they had extensive human contact. In light of this, they aim to provide human-like capabilities in their business models through technology.

The best way to understand Customer Relationships within Digital Business Models is through the following types:

  • Empowerment is a common theme through the ease of access compared to many traditional methods

  • Decision-support is not provided in person but through other methods like review systems, recommendations, personalised offers, etc

  • Most transactions are self-serving

  • Help and support is largely automated

  • Online risks are reduced via various methods (fake reviews / content management, privacy, online safety, etc being generally taken seriously)

  • Platform business models need to manage relationships to all important participant types and often beyond (incl legislators, etc)

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Customer Relationships in Digital Business Models.



(7) Customer Segments

The best way to understand Customer Segments within Digital Business Models is through the following types:

  • Geographic: from country-level down to suburb/zipcode depending on purpose and available data accuracy

  • Demographic: Age, gender, family situation, occupation / income bracket, etc

  • Behavioural: usage/consumption behaviours, spending behaviours, search/discovery behaviours

  • Interest: interests on platform and off-platform (to the extent that the latter can be tracked)

  • Technology: used technologies, device type(s), OS, home/mobile, screen size, etc

  • Persona-based segmentation: profiling typical customer personality traits

  • Micro segmentation based on digital data + combinations of the above

  • Platform business models also need to segment the supply side into relevant dimensions

  • and more

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Customer Relationships in Digital Business Models.


(8) Cost Structure

Typical Cost Structures of Digital Business Models look like the below:

  • Cost of revenue:

    • Cost of goods sold

    • Cost of hosting and operating their IT technology, incl operations staff

    • Various types of depreciation expenses

    • Customer support & customer experience (for paying customers)

  • Research & development / Product / Technology:

    • maintaining and

    • enhancing existing functionality

    • + adding new functionality

  • Sales & marketing:

    • Personnel cost for sales, sales support, business development, marketing, brand building, media, corporate communications

    • Customer support & customer experience cost for non-paying customers/users

    • Brand and performance advertising

  • General & admin:

    • Costs of overhead functions

    • Stock-based compensation for the senior executives

    • 3rd party services, e.g. audit, legal, recruiting services, etc

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Cost Structure in Digital Business Models.


(9) Revenue generation

Typical Revenue generation of Digital Business Models look like the below:

  • Inventory sales & margin (merchant and/or producer)

  • Commission

  • Subscription model: can be a bundling, recurring provision of goods or access

  • Service model / fees

  • Pay-per-use or pay-on-demand

  • Advertising

  • Licensing

  • Ancillary revenues

  • And other, e.g. licensing, right-of-use, affiliate, referral, donation, etc

Check out for more details, examples & a summary image in the dedicated article on Revenues in Digital Business Models.


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