RubanBridge Pvt Ltd, a social enterprise founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur Madan Padaki, has come up with a new technology-driven, assisted-commerce brand called 1Bridge, powered by local entrepreneurs who empower brands to tap the rural market.

The model integrates the online and offline worlds, allowing rural folks to register, browse, enquire, order and buy anything from a mobilephone to a tractor, without having to be tech/mobile savvy.

RubanBridge has recruited and trained over 200 local mobile and tech savvy entrepreneurs who are 25-30 years of age (12th pass from Gram Panchayats of seven districts of Karnataka). They get paid for different tasks such as showing potential consumers advertisements of products sold by over 75 brands, registering consumers, generating enquiries and generating sales — all on a smartphone app.

These entrepreneurs, referred to as 1Bridge Associates, cover 1,000 villages across seven districts.

Another set of 250 local youth, trained as 1Bridge Delivery Associates, pick up the orders from the company’s distribution centres and deliver it to customers’ doorsteps. Over the past six months, shoppers from Tumkur, Mandya, Shimoga, Raichur, Chitradurga, Davangere and Hassan districts of Karnataka bought mobilephones, refrigerators, washing machines, laptops, cars, bikes and even tractors worth ₹3.2 crore through 1Bridge. Of this, January alone contributed ₹84 lakh in sales, with 22 bikes, five cars, 11 home appliances and 30 mobiles sold.

‘Non-store model’

“While there are many assisted e-commerce firms with a store model, 1Bridge is a non-store model where the 1Bridge Associate goes directly to the customer,” said Chakrawarty M, Business Operations, RubanBridge. “We have direct and indirect partnerships with over 75 brands, including Lenovo, HP, Reliance Digital, Royal Enfield, Bosch, Bajaj and Tata Motors,” said NC Venkatachari, Partnerships, RubanBridge.

Plans are under-way to take 1Bridge to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat over the next two years.

Arjun, 22, an 1Bridge Associate from Pilangiri village, located 10 km away from Shimoga town, said: “The people in my village don’t need to travel to the nearest town to shop, as 1Bridge brings products such as TVs and mobilephones directly to their doorsteps.”

Latha, 35, another associate and a part-time computer teacher at the local government school at Bellavi village, located 15 km away from Tumkur town, said: “With 1Bridge, I use my free time to generate extra income for my family.”

Currently, these associates earn ₹4,000-4,500 per month, which Padaki says has the potential to grow to ₹8,000-10,000 by adding a variety of services.

Padaki said 300 million people in rural Indian towns have the same aspirations as their urban counterparts, but lack the consumer experience in terms of access, choices and conveniences that are provided to urban consumers. The average per capita spend on non-food items by these 300 million rural consumers is ₹30,000, presenting a $55-billion opportunity for brands to rope in new customers, he added.

comment COMMENT NOW