
There is a fortune at the bottom of the pyramid
India is a land of vast size with diversified culture , where states are bifurcated and classified based on the language they speak . Having also a very higher population and going by the estimates , India is projected to be the number 1 nation interms of population by 2020 ( now it stands next only to China interms of population ). This vast population doesnt mean it has the same buying power throughout India . Generally , India’s buying power varies according to the layers of income . Going with “Rama Bijapurkar ‘s book “We are like that only -Understanding the Logic of Consumer India “ which says
Clearly at the bottom of the pyramid , there are 600 million people who earn less than what the world bank defines as poverty levels. However , collectively , they account for a market oppurtinity of US $ 367 billion (in 2008) , which is approximately double that of Singapore or four times that of Vietnam !
She also extends ,
Can this fortune be profitably retrieved ? Yes , if innivative , low-cost-right benefit business models can be created for tapping it . No, if cost structures from richer country business models are mechanically transplanted “
Just a small sample of the population chart :
Prosperous (affluent layer ) — also called as the top most layer in our population accounts for 1% of the population amounting to 2.2 million households , holding purchasing power index as 100
Taking the second lowest consumption category ( Strivers ) , they account for 48% of the population , amounting to 106 million households , holding purchasing power Index as 96
*Source IRS 2008 .
What does that data convey ?
The second lowest consumption layer of strivers has only 2% of the consumption intensity of the top most consumption layer ; however by virtue of being 48 times its population size , it has almost the same total purchasing power as that of the most affluent layer which is minuscule 1 percent of the population

Thus , India’s bottom of the pyramid offers a huge potential considering its population. The only thing we need to do is to create products or offer services designed exclusively for them , which matches their requirement in terms of price ! “Shampoo Sachets by Cavincare “is one of the finest examples of the products designed exclusively for those at the bottom of the pyramid. After which , a focussed product or services catering to that demography haven’t been witnessed so far. Let’s work on unique models catering to the lower end of the pyramid as there is lot of opportunities awaiting to get disrupted in education, healthcare , finance and even in supply chain! Let’s uncover the needs and work on creating new services that are unmet and that also impacts the people at the bottom of the pyramid eventually !
