Multipurpose, Low-Cost and Electricity-Free Cold Storage Cum Vending Cart for Vegetable and Fruit Vendors

Abstract

The unorganized sector highly contributes to economic growth in India and provides enormous employment opportunities. Street Vendors form an inevitable and prominent part of the unorganized retail sector. Fulfilling the daily needs of almost every Indian household, they are considered the lifeline of every Indian city. In recent years, the organized sector has enormously increased, posing a great challenge to the unorganized sector. Unorganized retail dwelling upon traditional technology setup and constrained funds is not able to compete with superior technology and infrastructure-based organized retail. It severely affects the social structure and occupational well-being of the unorganized retailers, especially the street vendors. There lies a dire need to equip them with 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 the present research, the authors have looked into the problems and challenges faced by street vendors and proposed a low-cost, multipurpose vending cart to empower the street vendors. It will enable them to compete with their counterparts. Its market potential, probable user-acceptance, and enablement aspects have been tested and accumulated using the System Usability Scale and securing Intellectual Property Rights. 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 for their betterment and occupational well-being.