RURAL RETAIL REVOLUTION: EMPOWERING E-COMMERCE IN UNDERSERVED REGIONS

Abstract

In developing countries, rural areas often lack the robust economic conditions needed to significantly alleviate poverty and improve pastoral livelihoods. These communities face marginalization due to limited infrastructure, scarce economic opportunities, and constrained market demand. However, they hold significant potential in agriculture and small-scale businesses. Leveraging information and communication technologies (ICTs) can unlock this potential by expanding market opportunities beyond local boundaries. This study aims to harness ICTs for the development of pastoral livelihoods by introducing mobile value-added services to underserved communities. Specifically, we focus on designing a user-friendly mobile interface tailored to pastoral micro- entrepreneurs with minimal or no prior experience in mobile commerce technology. Our findings indicate that participants with no prior experience initially demonstrated longer task completion times and made some errors. However, over time, they showed significant improvement in task performance, highlighting the interface's positive usability and adaptability.