Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) is the world’s leading provider of software and web-based services for consumers and small businesses. Our flagship products and services include well-known brands such as TurboTax, Quicken and QuickBooks. Founded in 1983, Intuit has annual revenues of over $3 billion and reaches over 25 million customers with ~8,000 employees in several countries. Fortune Magazine recognized Intuit as "America’s Most Admired Software Company" and one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the last several years running.
No matter where you find us, we remain committed to creating new and easier ways for consumers and businesses to tackle life's chores through technology, giving them more time to live their lives and run their businesses. Building on our success in the online/SaaS space, we are aggressively moving into mobile space particularly in Emerging Markets such as India, where mobile is the medium of choice.
About rural space
In most Emerging Markets, ~70% of the population resides in rural areas and contribute anywhere from 30% to 50% of GDP of these economies. Further, not only the rate of new technology adoption has significantly picked up in rural areas but also the nature of technology being adopted is a generation ahead of the technology currently in use in the urban areas - from ultra low-cost biometric ATMs used by micro-finance institutions for payment collection to mobile-based solutions for farmers who will never need to know about or own a computer. In a country like India, 71% of new mobile subscribers are from rural areas highlighting both saturation in urban areas and increasing openness to technology in rural areas.
As part of Intuit's mission to use technology to help impact millions of lives in the emerging markets, we have piloted a mobile agriculture experiment by the name of “Mobile Bazaar” targeting ~270 million farmers in India.
Mobile Bazaar experiment objective
One of the biggest pain points for the ~35-65 million Indian perishable vegetable growers today is uncertainty around whether they are getting the best price for their goods. In addition, there is a need help the farmers avoid having to heavily discount to liquidate their perishable inventory. The core objective of the experiment stems from “to enable farmers to get more money for their produce”.
Mobile Bazaar solution
Mobile Bazaar is a simple SMS-based marketplace that connects sellers (farmers) and buyers (mandi agents). It allows buyers to communicate their demand & price and matches sellers to buyers. As a result, not only it helps farmers get better price for their produce, but it also increases buyers’ access to sellers. Our solution is powered by automated matching algorithm, ability to send personalized SMS to each farmer and capability to leverage user contribution for price data collection.
Current status
Currently, the experiment is in midst of a pilot across 1000+ villages in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh supporting 15 major vegetables in 38 mandis (marketplaces). More than 25,000 farmers have already signed up in about two months since launch. As per recently conducted IMRB survey, 73% of the users find this service useful and admit to achieving 14% higher price realization by using Mobile Bazaar.
The road ahead
This experiment has far-reaching implications beyond India. It enables tapping rural customers in Emerging Markets where rural accounts for a significant portion of GDP. The experiment is based on an entry-level mobile solution, which is ubiquitous and highly disruptive with the potential of entrenching itself in the ecosystem through the creation of network effect.
Role Overview
The candidate will lead exploration and execution of monetization options for this service. There are several companies that have already reached out to us to use the Mobile Bazaar platform to advertise their products and to communicate information to farmers. Key activities in this role include:
· Developing a win-win commercial and engagement model to work with the two most high potential monetization partners
· Working with internal stakeholders and monetization partners to gain shared vision on the model
· Executing on the model to produce tangible proof points of monetization opportunity in a time-bound manner i.e. conclusive results within the next 4 months
Mobile Bazaar is a high-priority initiative for the company. This is a unique opportunity to work on a disruptive rural social impact initiative in an innovative technology start-up environment. Compensation is not a constraint for the right candidate.
No matter where you find us, we remain committed to creating new and easier ways for consumers and businesses to tackle life's chores through technology, giving them more time to live their lives and run their businesses. Building on our success in the online/SaaS space, we are aggressively moving into mobile space particularly in Emerging Markets such as India, where mobile is the medium of choice.
About rural space
In most Emerging Markets, ~70% of the population resides in rural areas and contribute anywhere from 30% to 50% of GDP of these economies. Further, not only the rate of new technology adoption has significantly picked up in rural areas but also the nature of technology being adopted is a generation ahead of the technology currently in use in the urban areas - from ultra low-cost biometric ATMs used by micro-finance institutions for payment collection to mobile-based solutions for farmers who will never need to know about or own a computer. In a country like India, 71% of new mobile subscribers are from rural areas highlighting both saturation in urban areas and increasing openness to technology in rural areas.
As part of Intuit's mission to use technology to help impact millions of lives in the emerging markets, we have piloted a mobile agriculture experiment by the name of “Mobile Bazaar” targeting ~270 million farmers in India.
Mobile Bazaar experiment objective
One of the biggest pain points for the ~35-65 million Indian perishable vegetable growers today is uncertainty around whether they are getting the best price for their goods. In addition, there is a need help the farmers avoid having to heavily discount to liquidate their perishable inventory. The core objective of the experiment stems from “to enable farmers to get more money for their produce”.
Mobile Bazaar solution
Mobile Bazaar is a simple SMS-based marketplace that connects sellers (farmers) and buyers (mandi agents). It allows buyers to communicate their demand & price and matches sellers to buyers. As a result, not only it helps farmers get better price for their produce, but it also increases buyers’ access to sellers. Our solution is powered by automated matching algorithm, ability to send personalized SMS to each farmer and capability to leverage user contribution for price data collection.
Current status
Currently, the experiment is in midst of a pilot across 1000+ villages in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh supporting 15 major vegetables in 38 mandis (marketplaces). More than 25,000 farmers have already signed up in about two months since launch. As per recently conducted IMRB survey, 73% of the users find this service useful and admit to achieving 14% higher price realization by using Mobile Bazaar.
The road ahead
This experiment has far-reaching implications beyond India. It enables tapping rural customers in Emerging Markets where rural accounts for a significant portion of GDP. The experiment is based on an entry-level mobile solution, which is ubiquitous and highly disruptive with the potential of entrenching itself in the ecosystem through the creation of network effect.
Role Overview
The candidate will lead exploration and execution of monetization options for this service. There are several companies that have already reached out to us to use the Mobile Bazaar platform to advertise their products and to communicate information to farmers. Key activities in this role include:
· Developing a win-win commercial and engagement model to work with the two most high potential monetization partners
· Working with internal stakeholders and monetization partners to gain shared vision on the model
· Executing on the model to produce tangible proof points of monetization opportunity in a time-bound manner i.e. conclusive results within the next 4 months
Mobile Bazaar is a high-priority initiative for the company. This is a unique opportunity to work on a disruptive rural social impact initiative in an innovative technology start-up environment. Compensation is not a constraint for the right candidate.
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