We live in an era when we get to hear new buzzwords every day. I always feel it's important to understand their meaning exactly in the way they are used, else we may have a different take on the statements itself. One of the hottest buzzwords in the start-up domain these days is Hyperlocal. With deep [...]
As educated Indians, we are aware of the dangers of prejudice that stems from casteism, gender discrimination or communalism. Therefore, it is amazing that a majority of people are blind to perhaps the most blatant discrimination that we practice, daily – the Great Language Divide. Put simply, if you are not fluent in English, you are [...]
If you are not yet awakened to the vast potential of mHealth, it is time to be so. According to the 2014 mHealth App Market Report published by analyst firm Research2Guidance, global revenue from mHealth apps will touch $6 billion in 2015, and double to $13 billion by 2016. It’s not only the sheer growth potential [...]
Financial inclusion is the need of the hour in India – according to World Bank data, only 35% of Indians have an account with a formal financial institution. Less than 8% have debit cards, and less than 2% have credit cards. As per the 2011 Census, only 58.7% of households utilise formal banking services. The Indian [...]
With 90% of India’s 250 million internet subscribers accessing the mobile internet (Source : TRAI Data, June 2014) it is inevitable that the mobile payments landscape in the country is heating up. There are currently more than 20 mobile wallet services in the market, as per the RBI website. Typically, such services allow a registered customer [...]
Every marketer and ad agency knows that in order to engage with a mass Indian audience, ads need to be translated into local languages. At least 7 languages form a part of a pan-Indian media plan – Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada – and more, if specific states become important to a brand’s [...]
Known as ‘China’s eBay’, Taobao is a huge online marketplace where Chinese users and merchants can sell and buy products. Alibaba, the owner of Taobao, reports rising rates of eCommerce in rural China, with 70,000 village sellers using the site to retail their produce. What is interesting is that there are 200 plus Taobao villages in [...]
With the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, the Indian government has signaled its determination to make financial inclusion a reality in India. The attractive incentives to open accounts, easing of paperwork and initiatives by bank branches are ensuring that the targets are being met, in terms of numbers. However, there are certain setbacks in [...]
We are so used to thinking of ‘New India’ as a vibrant, progressive economic giant, that we would find it hard to believe there are areas where we under-perform, compared to countries that are more financially and politically challenged than us. Mobile money plays an important role in financial inclusion. Bankers favour mobile transactions over cash [...]
With more than 80% of China’s 885 million mobile phone subscribers using smartphones, the market is maturing and growth is slowing. Manufacturers and telcos are now focusing their attention on the ‘late adopters’ – from the rural areas and relatively less affluent provinces of the country, which represent a high potential for future growth. One such [...]
