A long-established consumer goods company relied on a smartphone app for rural ordering and inventory management, but adoption remained critically low. Net Solutions conducted field research with end users, then rebuilt the platform, driving enthusiastic adoption among entrepreneurs and sales coordinators alike.
The existing app was failing to gain traction among rural entrepreneurs, limiting the program’s commercial potential.
Rural women entrepreneurs rarely used the app, defaulting instead to supplier recommendations. This significantly limited the program’s ability to scale demand-driven purchasing.
Entrepreneurs could not independently browse or select products from the catalog. The experience was too passive to drive meaningful sales growth.
Sales coordinators lacked visibility into which entrepreneurs were struggling with the platform. Without data, targeted support was impossible.
Distributors had no reliable system to track or reconcile orders against their own inventory. Manual processes led to frequent errors and delivery failures.
The platform had no capability to onboard additional vendor partners. Entrepreneurs were limited to one product range, reducing their commercial competitiveness.
Net Solutions sent a UX team directly into rural areas to interview entrepreneurs and sales coordinators in the field. Drawing on Voice of the Customer data, they designed an experience matching real-world behavior. Development followed an Agile model built to accommodate an expanding vendor network.
Net Solutions delivered a redesigned mobile ordering platform with robust back-end infrastructure.
A simplified browsing and ordering experience was designed specifically for low-tech literacy users. Entrepreneurs could independently select and order products for the first time.
A reporting mechanism gave sales coordinators real-time visibility into entrepreneur activity. They could now reach out proactively when an entrepreneur needed support.
A back-end order tracking system allowed distributors to view, consolidate, and approve orders. Automated notifications kept all parties updated when inventory was insufficient.
Vendors could create and upload their own product catalogs directly to the platform. Entrepreneurs gained access to a wider range of products, improving their store offerings.
A reporting suite gave distributors data on volume, consumption, and fulfillment patterns. Insights helped optimize the supply chain and support better business decisions.
The redesigned platform reversed the adoption problem entirely.
Entrepreneurs who previously ignored the app embraced it enthusiastically after the redesign. High usage rates across both entrepreneurs and sales coordinators validated the new experience.
Entrepreneurs began making independent, market-informed product selections rather than following supplier recommendations. Self-directed ordering significantly improved sales alignment with local demand.
Distributors gained end-to-end order visibility, dramatically reducing fulfillment errors. The structured approval workflow replaced a fragmented, error-prone manual process.
The platform’s success inspired the company to onboard additional vendor partners. Entrepreneurs could now offer a broader catalog, increasing their earning potential.
Net Solutions went into the field, sat with end users, and built a solution grounded in real behavior. That combination of ethnographic research, Agile execution, and scalable architecture is what turns a failing app into one people actually use.
Your platform is only as strong as the people using it. Let us help you design for your real users, wherever they are.
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