Nora’s Digital Journey: Selecting the Right Digital Tool
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 7:57 am
As part of our DigitAll program research agenda, financed by MasterCard’s Center for Inclusive Growth, Fundación Capital and the social research company Decodis are undertaking a qualitative study in Colombia, Mexico and Peru, to better understand the digitalization processes of micro and small entrepreneurs. Through the use of interactive natural language recognition and processing methodologies, we are conducting interviews throughout 2022, with sample groups of between 40 and 50 entrepreneurs in each country. The project will help inform our efforts to promote the adoption and use of a wide range of digital tools by businesses such as Nora’s, to boost their productivity and financial health and facilitate their integration into the digital economy. We will release several technical notes related to this study throughout the remainder of this year – and in the article below, we’ll highlight some key initial findings from the first wave of interviews, and discuss their relevance to Nora and other microentrepreneurs like her.
Though she was eager to use digitalization to differentiate her bodega from the growing competition from other stores in her neighborhood, Nora herself did not know which digital tool to use. She was faced with a wide and dispersed product offering, including: solutions for accepting digital payments; business sales and inventory management tools; digital marketing tools, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Business; and apps that enable purchases from suppliers and access to financial brazil whatsapp number data services, among others.
The great variety of solutions available in the digital ecosystem highlights the need for accessible information that’s clear, simple and concise, clarifying these digital offers for first-time users who may feel overwhelmed by the many products and services at their fingertips. By learning about these products’ functionalities, costs and navigation aspects (i.e., the characteristics of the devices that are essential to ensuring proper use), entrepreneurs at the base of the income pyramid can better determine which digital solution is right for their businesses’ unique needs.
In light of the amount and variety of products available, decision-making is a key challenge of digitalization. The decision-making process frequently involves several of the individuals behind a family business, who jointly weigh all the implicit elements in a decision of this type. This process is not easy, since it involves both tangible factors (such as the costs of commissions for the use of digital payments solutions), and intangible factors (such as an individual’s self-perception of their ability to operate a point-of-sale device, or their resistance to changing business operating procedures that are considered to work well). These intangible factors can contribute to inertia and other behavioral tendencies that affect the decisions of entrepreneurs throughout their digital journey. The ongoing qualitative study conducted by Decodis and Fundación Capital highlights the impact of these factors: The study found that only 3% of the entrepreneurs we interviewed in Peru wanted to change their approach to inventory management. Furthermore, most of these interviewees (80%) reported that their current management system is adequate, even though a large number of them handle this through notebooks or by simple observation.
Though she was eager to use digitalization to differentiate her bodega from the growing competition from other stores in her neighborhood, Nora herself did not know which digital tool to use. She was faced with a wide and dispersed product offering, including: solutions for accepting digital payments; business sales and inventory management tools; digital marketing tools, such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Business; and apps that enable purchases from suppliers and access to financial brazil whatsapp number data services, among others.
The great variety of solutions available in the digital ecosystem highlights the need for accessible information that’s clear, simple and concise, clarifying these digital offers for first-time users who may feel overwhelmed by the many products and services at their fingertips. By learning about these products’ functionalities, costs and navigation aspects (i.e., the characteristics of the devices that are essential to ensuring proper use), entrepreneurs at the base of the income pyramid can better determine which digital solution is right for their businesses’ unique needs.
In light of the amount and variety of products available, decision-making is a key challenge of digitalization. The decision-making process frequently involves several of the individuals behind a family business, who jointly weigh all the implicit elements in a decision of this type. This process is not easy, since it involves both tangible factors (such as the costs of commissions for the use of digital payments solutions), and intangible factors (such as an individual’s self-perception of their ability to operate a point-of-sale device, or their resistance to changing business operating procedures that are considered to work well). These intangible factors can contribute to inertia and other behavioral tendencies that affect the decisions of entrepreneurs throughout their digital journey. The ongoing qualitative study conducted by Decodis and Fundación Capital highlights the impact of these factors: The study found that only 3% of the entrepreneurs we interviewed in Peru wanted to change their approach to inventory management. Furthermore, most of these interviewees (80%) reported that their current management system is adequate, even though a large number of them handle this through notebooks or by simple observation.