Digitizing the Street Vending Market

Abstract

Fuelled and pumped by liberalization policy and incoming Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) funds, the Indian market’s retail sector has become highly dynamic. The organized retail backed by technology and infrastructure is posing a great challenge to unorganized retail. Unorganized retail is not able to compete with them due to the paucity of funds and infrastructure. It is severely affecting the social structure and occupational well-being of the unorganized retailers, especially the street vendors. There lies a dire need to equip them with modern technology-enriched low-cost design interventions that may empower them to compete with the organized retail. Several researchers have advocated the need of designing and developing context-specific design interventions as a mitigating solution. In this research, the authors have proposed a low-cost vending cart that is enabled with a system for automating the inventory and billing facility to digitize the street vending market. It can empower the street vendors with technology-rich features installed within their existing infrastructure to sustain and dwell well in modern cut-throat competition. Its market potential, probable user-acceptance, and enablement aspects have been tested and accumulated using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and securing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by receiving patent grants. This paper highlights the developed innovative intervention with its working details. It may act as a ready reckoner and potential literature source for the researchers/entrepreneurs/social scientists to develop similar kinds of innovative solutions to equip the lower strata population and the bottom of the pyramid for their betterment and occupational well-being.