Building for the cultural quirks affecting technology in India
The quirks of consumers in India create unique problems for business. Tech companies are taking some really clever approaches to mitigate costs and maximise opportunities arising from these nuances.
I believe startups that are proactively building for the reality these issues create will be more successful, much faster. I’m sharing below my recent notes on the topic.
1. Perpetual suspicion of getting a bad deal (a trust deficit)
We Indians live in perpetual fear that someone will get the better of us. So we place extreme value on the ability to grab someone by the collar and complain.
So-called “informal, unorganised” offline markets thrive because I can look a vendor in the eye, gauge his honesty and know that there’s nowhere he can go if the product he sells me is kaput.
How does this play out for startups?
(i.) “I don’t know whether the product I’m buying is authentic or good quality.”
Solution: Cash on delivery. This ensures customers are not locked into a transaction. They can touch and feel the product first — and pay after.
(ii.) “If the product I buy doesn’t work, I don’t have anyone I can hold accountable.”
Solution: Flipkart took an approach of offering guarantees and entering servicing partnerships with service providers in local neighbourhood markets. They have dominated the electronics ecommerce category.
2. Low respect for the seller and value of other people’s time
Here’s the mindset:
1. If you’re selling me something, it better work.
2. The time and money it takes you to make it work is inconsequential to me.
3. If it doesn’t work, it’s because you cheated me (see previous); and
4. I will go out of my way to ensure it costs you (see next section), so you better make it work.
How does this play out for startups?
Problem: Poor treatment of workers in the on-demand economy (taxi, ecommerce, food, service). Customers expect to be treated like kings and queens, but are rude & impatient with workers.
Solution: Humanising workers through technology:
The last time I ordered food on Zomato, I found myself firing up the app to pre-emptively complain about a delayed delivery (another accepted cultural norm for ensuring good service!).
But this time I was greeted with a picture of the delivery boy and the info:“Tej has 2 kids and enjoys playing cricket”
For Indian consumers that are used to somewhat de-humanising boundaries between servers and customers, this effect is jarring. A simple technology design solution can contribute not just to humanising individuals and breaking down borders, but also mitigating the friction of business!
While in foreign markets a delivery agent would leave immediately, Swiggy’s latest ad showcases how customers have no qualms keeping them waiting around:
3. Little value for own time
A lack of respect for other people’s time can be chalked up to cultural business norms but, somewhat surprisingly — we also disregard the value for our own time!
Let’s take an example:
Indians spend hours everyday broadcasting chain messages, inane greetings, and political propaganda on Whatsapp
A research team at Google had to look into why 1 in 3 phones are freezing up everyday. [See WSJ]
The word that springs to mind is lukkha-bazi.
So how can this behaviour be leveraged?
As a tech investor, this behaviour highlights a large, unharnessed workforce with a core competency for marketing.
One of our investments, Meesho, aggregates products which resellers — typically housewives, students, retirees — can turn market and sell to people through Whatsapp.
Previously without an income, tens of thousands of such resellers and lukkhas are now seen as business builders in their community!
Furthermore, referral and the human touch is especially meaningful for distributing to consumers in India.
I see much opportunity in creating business models for reselling or commision-based sales. While pure software is the shiny solution, tapping existing middleman networks helps breach the entrenched infrastructure that drives business activity across industries;especially as people are willing to operate on narrow margins and carry out heavy lifting.
I am obsessed with middlemen. And I will talk about this extensively elsewhere.
4. We love a good deal!
Nowhere else in the world do people sell a “loose cigarette” but 70% of cigarettes in India are sold individually rather than in packets. Here, the merchant is able to make a small increment on the sale of a single cigarette stick while making the customer feeling better about buying “just one” cigarette — after all, individual cigarettes do not carry a statutory warning about smoking!
For further evidence, don’t just take my word, check out Shah Rukh Khan’s field experiments from 1999:
We’re an enterprising lot. We’ll work hard and do a lot of heavy lifting, even if we’re only making a tiny, tiny margin. There is much opportunity in leveraging this!
