Ruma, Grameen Foundation and Qualcomm announced the launch of “Market Intelligence” tools and applications to help Indonesia’s poor.
The mobile survey tools enable businesses to better understand the needs and interests of low-income consumers, while providing additional revenue for some of the world’s poorest people. These products are part of the Application Laboratory (AppLab) project that partners announced in 2010.
Companies can use the Market Intelligence technology to survey Ruma’s network of more than 15,000 micro entrepreneurs, including low-income consumers and retailers – a traditionally challenging demographic to reach and study. By taking part in the mobile surveys, the microentrepreneurs have the opportunity to generate additional income by being respondents and conducting surveys of their customers.
Ruma’s entrepreneurs, in addition to being respondents, also can survey the more than 1.5 million unique customers in their network to test new products or marketing strategies.
“Providing a way for businesses to reach and better understand those at the bottom of the pyramid supports Ruma’s mission to increase the dignity, income and access of low-income communities through technology,” said Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO and co-founder of Ruma. “Mobile surveys allow Ruma to provide clients with credible, high quality data. Businesses in Indonesia, particularly fast moving consumer goods companies, have found the information generated from the mobile surveys to be extremely helpful.”
For the past five years, Ruma has been working with Grameen Foundation and Qualcomm on the AppLab project, which enables poor entrepreneurs, mostly women, in Indonesia to provide a range of mobile phone-based services to people in their communities.