Category: Non-fiction
Rights: All rights available
Rural India is the most talked about, yet most untapped market in the country. Businesses are eager to serve this massive 600 million person population—but how well do they actually know the customer? The rural customer, and the rural economy, has drastically changed over the last decade and will only continue its mind-blowing transformation and expansion in the foreseeable future. The question is: are we ready for it? While the world talks about tapping into the “next billion consumers,” are we missing out on the billion right in front of us in villages across India? It is time to take a deep dive into the misconceptions, realities, challenges, and opportunities in rural India. Meet your new most desirable market: the rural Indian consumer.
Authors Ajaita Shah, the Founder and CEO of Frontier Markets, and Meena Vaidyanathan, Founder and CEO of niiti consulting aim to highlight through case studies (many of who will feature enterprising women-oriented startups) key data points about the changing rural customer to give us an insightful look into where the majority of India’s population is heading, what their motivations are, and more importantly, how organisations can adapt to these changes.
Ajaita has spent the past 185 years learning and experiencing rural India through microfinance, energy access, and assisted e-commerce, and rural marketing while building the leading platform for connecting rural customers to global consumer goods, and durable products, and high impact services focused on SDG goals.
Meena has spent the past 29 years in various sectors from agriculture to technology to consulting change management strategies in both the corporate and development sectors. Her hands-on experience of working with grassroots organisations blended with her experience in business strategy and marketing as well as research rigor has enabled many organisations to successfully shift paradigms for maximising impact.
The authors: Ajaita Shah, Meena Vaidyanathan