Study on Farmer satisfaction towards product and

services of Agrostar

Section II - Group 3

Submitted by : Submitted To :
Srujuna Hebbal-88 Dr. K. Shilpa
Ashish Sharma-52
Ganesh Londhe-69
Sai Prahlada Reddy-60
Sadanand naikoti-75
INTRODUCTION:

Founded in 2013, AgroStar is India's leading direct-to-farmer digital platform

where farmers can procure quality agri input at fair price just by using a mobile
phone. Indian farmers face multiple challenges in procuring agri inputs for their
farming needs.

The challenges farmers face vary from product unavailability, unfair pricing,
sub-standard quality or spurious products to lack of right & timely information
and poor service. AgroStar aims to simplify the whole Agri-Business
experience of farmers in Rural India by addressing the challenges of the Indian
farmer through smart and innovative uses of technology.

AgroStar works on an inventory based model. The traditional ATL (above the
line) and BTL (below the line) marketing channels like effective localised print
media, regional television, agri exhibitions, village level focused farmer
meetings,participation in local festivals and events etc. are used to create the
awareness in the farming community. A farmer awareabout AgroStar expresses
his interest to transact with AgroStar either through a missed call on a toll-free
number or through an 'AgroStar' android app. AgroStar's intelligent predictive
dialler connects qualified customer relations executive with the farmer.

The executive understands his query and provides him with personalised
agronomy and product solutions based on his crop cycle and places an order on
behalf of the customer with the aid of a smart CRM. The products are
dispatched from the central warehouse through one of the delivery channels viz.
India Post, local entrepreneurial logistics partners or throughfield sales
executives and are delivered at the farmer's doorstep.

AgroStar has been transforming the Indian agriculture retail landscape through
the right and innovative use of technology and data with a focus on customer
satisfaction, and has grown over 300% in the last two years. AgroStar has
experienced a transformational journey from 1 missed call to over 2 million
missed calls and has served over 4 lac farmers across Gujarat, Maharashtra and
Rajasthan within two years. More than 150 reputed agri brands across the input
categories of seeds, crop protection, crop nutrition and hardware have partnered
with AgroStar.

AgroStar focuses on four consumer centric pillars - Genuine & quality products,
fair pricing, agri advisory solutions and quality service. AgroStar differentiates
itself from conventional players through extensive utilisation of technology and
data to build scalable systems & processes.

Agriculture contributes to 13.5% of the country's GDP with more than 50% of
the workforce being employed in this sector, and faces a variety of problems
w.r.t. inputs (seeds, crop protection agents, crop nutrition agents, and hardware
& farm equipment). As mentioned earlier, farmers experience diverse problems
such as sub-standard products, lack of right information & limited assistance,
unfair pricing, forced selling etc. with the traditional system which is an
unorganized and fragmented retail market, leading to lack of trust and suspicion
for a new player or a brand in the market.

With the market size of agri-inputs in the country estimated to be around $50
billion and with ever- increasing technology penetration and adoption in rural
India, there lies an immense opportunity to provide technology-driven
services/solutions to the age-old problems of farmers mentioned earlier.

However, establishing trust with farmers remains a challenge to be

solved. Many companies through their commitment and long field presence
have developed a sense of trust in the farming community over ages. For a new
age company like AgroStar, who has the right intention and capabilities to make
the necessary impact, it is important to bring about a significant change in
consumer behavior so that the farmers see AgroStar as a trustworthy option.

TARGET GROUP:
The target group is farmers across rural India. Currently, AgroStar is present at
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
OBJECTIVE:
1. To analyze the farmer satisfaction towards products and services
provided by Agrostar.

2. To know successful strategies for loyalty, retention and acquisition of

farmers.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE :
1. Farmer satisfaction towards product and services of Agrostar.
2. Study of emerging agri-startups in Agri Sector by Avishkaar Group.
3. Rural landscape and factors affecting communication and Agrostar
services (BCG and IMAI report - India@Digital.Bharat)
4. SWOT analysis of Agrostar via case study conducted by (XLRI -
JAMSHEDPUR • AGROSTAR)
5. Secondary data and statistics through https://agrostar.in/ official website
as on (02/04/2019)
6. Supporting statistics and Agrostar’s perspective through www.agri-
startup.com as on (01/04/2019)
7. Interview: 4 farmers and 1 Agrostar employee through informal interview
process.(Case Study IIPM-B)

A few quick facts about the rural landscape

• 50% of rural population in India own a mobile phone and 30% of them own a
smart phone
• There is one post office for every 6-7 villages
• Nearly 4 lac unique farmers have experienced AgroStar's services
• 3 out of 10 farmers who have transacted with AgroStar have access to
What'sApp
- BCG and IMAI report (India@Digital.Bharat)
BUSINESS MODEL :

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
1. Sample Type: Primary and Secondary Data
i. Primary: Farmers telephonic interview
ii. Secondary: Website, Data portals, Magazines, Agri
newspaper
2. Area of study: Aurangabad(MH)
3. Sample Size: 5
4. Sampling Unit: Farmer
5. Sampling Technique: Telephonic Interview
6. Research Tools:
i. Descriptive: Bar chart, Pie chart
ii. Case study
QUESTIONAIRE:
1. What extra services Agrostar gives other than products available in their
portfolio?
2. How do they gain your retention and loyalty towards their products and
services?
3. Do they give offers and discounts on product they deliver?
4. Is their any issue related to SCM or business model of Agrostar that
creates problem?
5. What alternative you have for Agrostar and why you chose Agrostar
instead of it?
6. How much time it takes for grievance redressal of given issue?
7. Do Agrostar delivers products on time as promised and do their product
achieve the explained results?

CUSTOMER GROWTH:

700000

600000

500000

400000
Number of farmers
300000 Missed calls

200000

100000

0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
MOBILE PENETRATION IN INDIA:

Rural Smart Phone

Use mobile Smart phone

Don't use Mobile Regular phone

30%
50% 50%

70%

ANDROID PLAYSTORE APPLICATION:

1. Easy to use UI for all education level.
2. 4.6 Rating on Playstore
3. 1 Million+ Downloads
4. Small size 4.9 MB aligning with slow speed or less connectivity in Rural
India.
5. Marketed as Best agriculture for Indianfarmers for Krishi advice, weather
and Agri Bazaar.
FINDINGS: CHALLENGES
1. product unavailability
2. unfair pricing
3. sub-standard quality
4. spurious products
a. Look alike
b. Spell alike
5. lack of right-timely information
6. poor service
7. limited assistance
8. Forced selling
9. Unorganized and fragmented retail market
10.establishing trust with farmers

FINDINGS: OPPORTUNITES
1. innovative uses of technology
2. inventory based model
 3. More than 150 reputed agri brands across the input categories of seeds,
crop protection, crop nutrition and hardware have partnered with
AgroStar.
4. market size of agri-inputs in the country estimated to be around $50
billion.
5. ever- increasing technology penetration.
6. There is one post office for every 6-7 villages

CREATING AWARENESS IN THE FARMING COMMUNITY:

1. traditional ATL (above the line) and BTL (below the line) marketing
2. Channels like effective localized print media, regional television
3. Agri-exhibitions
4. village level focused farmer meetings
5. participation in local festivals and events etc.

FINDINGS: STRUCTURED TRANSACTION

1. Aware Farmer
2. Transaction
a. Missed call on a toll-free number
b. Through an 'AgroStar' android app.
3. AgroStar's intelligent predictive dialer connects qualified customer
relations executive with the farmer.
4. The executive understands his query and provides him with personalized
agronomy and product solutions based on his crop cycle and places an
order on behalf of the customer with the aid of a smart CRM.
FINDINGS: DELIVERY STRUCTURE
1. The products are dispatched from the central warehouse through one of
the delivery channels and are delivered at the farmer's doorstep on time.
2. Channels:
 a. India Post
b. local entrepreneurial logistics partners
c. field sales executives

Findings :satisfaction
1. AgroStar has been transforming the Indian agriculture retail landscape
through the right and innovative use of technology and data with a focus
on customer satisfaction
2. Customer Satisfaction has grown over 300% in the last two years(XLRI
Jamshedpur)
3. served over 4 lac farmers across Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan
within two years.

Agrostar Stratergies
1. Understanding the farmer as a consumer by deep diving into the elements
that impact the buying decision of a farmer.
2. Understanding Farmers mindset.
3. Aims to become one-stop solution for all the agri input needs of the
farmer.
4. AgroStar focuses on four consumer centric pillars –
a. Genuine & quality products
b. fair pricing
c. agri advisory solutions
d. quality service

Finding :Alternatives
1. AgroStar differentiates itself from conventional players through:
a. Extensive utilization of technology
b. Data to build scalable systems
c. Processes.
Suggestion and Conclusion
1. Although running successfully Agroster should implement learning by
doing for long term sustainability.
2. As competition is increasing Agroster should implement market
penetration technique rather than skimming technique regarding price.
3. They should implement lean management in every course of their
bussiness.
4. Understanding the farmer as a consumer by deep diving into the elements
that impact the buying decision of a farmer.

5. Use the consumer inisights to develop a marketing strategy and

deployment plan (short & medium term) to develop .

6. strengthen adoption for Agrostar among farmers by understanding their

mindset, the AgroStar business and its overall.

7. proposition to make AgroStar as a one-stop solution for all the agri input
needs of the farmer. The KPIs to move would be:
~ Improved sales conversion percentage for first-time callers
~ Increase in percentage of repeat customers in any given crop season
~ Increase in percentage of farmers coming from other farmer references
~ Increase in purchase activity of AgroStar's recommended products

Refrences
1. BCG and IMAI report - India@Digital.Bharat
2. XLRI - JAMSHEDPUR • AGROSTAR(Case Study)
3. https://agrostar.in/ (02/04/2019)
4. www.agri-startup.com
5. Avishkaar Group case study (B000823