Agribazaar: An Online Marketplace for Trading in Agricultural Commodities in India

Case Code: CLBS169 Case Length: 5 Pages Period: 2016-2020 Pub Date: 2021 Teaching Note: Available

Price: Rs.200 Organization: Star Agribazaar Technology Limited Industry: Agriculture & Forestry Countries: India Themes: Innovation, Logistics & Supply Chain, Technology Development, Direct to Consumer

Abstract

The case ‘Agribazaar: An Online Marketplace for Trading in Agricultural Commodities in India’ is about the agritech platform started by Star Agribazaar Technology Limited (Agribazaar). The company provided innovative solutions to farmers to trade their agri produce on its online platform. The solutions provided by Agribazaar were agri-trading, warehousing, finance and payments, and precision agriculture. The case starts off with the impact and success of the agri trading solutions of Agribazaar during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

The case looks at the need for digitization of agriculture in India and the initiatives taken by the Government of India to enable digitization in agriculture. Agribazaar’s smart solutions are discussed in detail. The Agribazaar online trading platform and the market linkages provided on the platform enabled farmers to get the right price for their produce. The company had introduced the concept of ‘Agri–micropreneurs’, which was successful in various states of India. Agribazaar planned to replicate the model in other states and also include farmers of cash crops such as cardamom, pepper, and coffee on its digital platform. It remained to be seen whether its initiatives would bring forth results and enable the farmers of India to get better prices for their agri-produce.

Issues

• Analyze the impact of new technologies on traditional business processes.
• Understand the traditional agri-supply chain management process and how new technologies cause disintermediation in the traditional supply chain process.
• Analyze the difference between incremental innovation and disruptive innovation.
• Evaluate how an organization deals with the inefficiencies in the supply chain process.

Introduction

In April 2020, Star Agribazaar Technology Limited (Agribazaar), an Indian agritech company based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (Refer to Figure I for Agribazaar’s logo), announced that the company had recorded 400 percent growth in registrations from farmers and buyers over a period of one month. The massive growth in transactions and enquiries was due to the lockdown implemented across the country from March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Agribazaar had provided a digital platform, an online agri-marketplace (e-mandi) that enabled the farmers to sell their agri -produce to buyers across the country.

Agribazaar was poised to disrupt the traditional agri-trading sector by using Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, and drones on its digital platform.

Keywords

Agribazaar; Agri-trading; Digitization; e-mandi; Agri-micropreneurs; Agritech platform; Online agri-market place; Disruption; Online Marketplace; Agriculture Supply Chain; Distribution Channels

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