In early 2024, One Future Collective embarked on a strategic partnership with Jhini LLP to map and analyse women-centric Aggregator Enterprises (AEs) across India. This two-month intensive study, conducted from April to June 2024, aimed to understand the digital marketing landscape and growth potential of women-focused AEs. This work comes at a critical juncture when digital marketing capabilities increasingly determine business success, making our research particularly timely for women entrepreneurs who often face significant barriers in accessing digital tools and strategies. Through this collaboration, we sought to create actionable insights that would shape the future of the MAAE program and strengthen the ecosystem of women’s entrepreneurship in India.
Project Overview
Our partnership with Jhini LLP emerged from a shared vision to comprehensively understand and enhance the landscape of women-centric Aggregator Enterprises (AEs) in India. The project’s scope encompassed three primary objectives that would shape our approach to supporting women’s entrepreneurship. First, we set out to map and analyse AEs investing in women’s entrepreneurship across India, creating a comprehensive database of existing initiatives. Second, we worked to develop robust evaluation criteria for measuring AE performance, ensuring that our assessment would be both thorough and meaningful. Finally, we aimed to provide strategic recommendations that would optimize the MAAE program’s impact on its beneficiaries.
Working in close collaboration with key stakeholders including Dhriiti, GAME, and BMGF, we implemented a multi-faceted approach to identify and assess AEs nationwide. This collaborative framework allowed us to leverage diverse expertise and networks, enriching our understanding of the ecosystem.
Snapshot of the Partnership
The engagement yielded significant achievements that demonstrated the depth and breadth of our analysis. Our team successfully mapped and analysed 72 aggregator enterprises, implementing a comprehensive research methodology that combined secondary research, network referrals, and open calls. We developed detailed business and social metrics for evaluation, creating a structured framework that allowed us to analyse digital presence and market impact effectively. This systematic approach enabled us to gather rich data that would inform future initiatives in the sector.
Our Impact
Our analysis revealed compelling insights about the state of women-focused AEs in India. The study showed that 55% of mapped AEs operated as for-profit organisations, indicating a strong commercial presence in the sector. Digital presence emerged as a crucial factor, with 80% of enterprises maintaining active Instagram profiles and achieving an impressive average of 37,772 followers. Facebook proved equally important, with 83% of enterprises utilising the platform for business engagement. Additionally, 62% of enterprises operated their own e-commerce websites, while 30% established a presence on Amazon, demonstrating diverse approaches to digital marketing.
The research uncovered several significant patterns in the AE landscape that went beyond mere numbers. We observed notably higher engagement rates in sectors with visually appealing products, suggesting the importance of visual content in digital marketing success. Regional variations in digital adoption and success rates pointed to the need for localised approaches. The analysis also revealed emerging trends in multi-platform digital marketing strategies, with enterprises increasingly adopting diverse channels to reach their audiences. A clear correlation emerged between enterprise age and digital presence effectiveness, indicating the role of experience in digital marketing sophistication.
Our study highlighted remarkable diversity across India’s AE sector. We found strong representation across multiple industries, including handicrafts, agriculture, food products, fashion, and lifestyle. Geographic concentrations emerged in key regions such as Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Rajasthan, each demonstrating unique characteristics and approaches to digital marketing. The evolution of digital marketing channels beyond traditional platforms showed the sector’s adaptability, while sector-specific digital marketing strategies revealed the importance of tailored approaches.
The landscape study generated valuable insights that will benefit the entire AE ecosystem. Through our analysis, we identified successful digital marketing strategies specific to different sectors, enabling more targeted support for future initiatives. Our understanding of regional variations in digital adoption will help organisations better tailor their approaches to local contexts. The recognition of sector-specific challenges and opportunities provides a foundation for more effective support mechanisms, while the clear correlation between enterprise age and digital marketing sophistication offers insights for capacity-building programs.
Key Takeaways
“This project gave us further insight into the entrepreneurial experiences of women across varying contexts. Oftentimes they may not have the right resources to scale their business, particularly using digital tools and the MAAE program sought to do exactly that – it meets these businesses where they are and provide them with the information and resources needed for them to leverage the digital platforms to scale their businesses.”
– Arshiya Kochar, Lead of Programs Vertical at OFC and a Consultant on This Project
Through this engagement, we gained crucial insights that will shape future interventions in the sector. The necessity of sector-specific digital marketing approaches emerged as a key finding, highlighting the importance of tailored support. Location-based strategy customisation proved essential for success, while the critical role of visual content in digital marketing success became evident across sectors. The growing significance of diverse digital platforms pointed to the need for comprehensive digital marketing strategies. These findings have directly contributed to strengthening the MAAE program’s approach to supporting women-focused AEs in their digital marketing journey.