BOP India – Use of Internet-Kiosks in Rural Areas
Project context
Many multinational companies have identified the large opportunity to serve millions of new customers in developing countries. However, companies are often faced with the challenge on how to establish alternative sales and distribution channels in countries with a very fragmented market structure such as India or China.
An innovative way to address this market barrier are ‘e-kiosks’ for farmers. These kiosks provide farmers with affordable information on crop prices, weather forecasts and other agriculture-related news via test messages to mobile phones. So far, the most successful e-kiosk network is eChoupal by the Indian Tabacco Company (ICT), which provide services to around 4 million farmers. Alternative networks in the making are the sourcing channel of Reliance’s retail business, Drishtee, MSSRF, e-Seva und Gyandoot.
Project objective
The project had two main objectives. First, the project reviewed the company’s activities in developing countries to prioritize most promising products and marketing strategies for BOP. Second, the project developed suggestions for potential BOP market development activities. Furthermore, a pilot case was selected.
Project output
The output included a number of suggestions for potential BOP market development activities. Furthermore, the analysis included a detailed concept to use internet-kiosks to improve farmers’ access to agricultural inputs and knowledge.
To develop and test internet-kiosks as a sales channel, India was suggested as a pilot country. India’s agricultural sector is modernizing rapidly, with both trading and retail companies establishing efficient, IT-based sourcing channels with farmers. Via these ‘e-kiosks’, many of India’s 300 million farmers are not only gaining access to high-value sales opportunities, but also to high-quality inputs. The e-kiosk strategy enables a win-win situation: farmers can learn about efficient use of crop protection and achieve higher productivity with optimizing input per hectare. They can thus afford a higher price per unit of crop protection. Our recommendations are currently tested in a pilot study in India.