Rural WMSEs as last mile distribution channel

This blog post is written by Subhashini Chandran, senior vice president, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Leena Datwani, senior advisor, She Leads Bharat:Udyam

She Leads Bharat: Udyam, a Mastercard Strive initiative implemented by Frontier Markets in collaboration with Airtel Payments Bank, aimed to diversify and elevate the incomes of rural women-owned micro and small enterprises (MSEs) through a technology platform. Between August 2023 and February 2025, the initiative successfully onboarded 15,000 women MSEs onto the Meri Saheli app through which they earn commissions for products and services sold. Ten thousand have also been onboarded as women banking correspondents on Airtel Payments Bank’s Mitra app through which they earn commissions for banking transactions conducted for customers at the last mile.

Rural India, with 900 million people across 600,000 villages, represents an INR 86 trillion 1 and growing retail market. Rising incomes and increased discretionary spending, government schemes and improved infrastructure alongside the changing aspirations of rural communities, fuels the growth of an untapped opportunity. Despite the tremendous potential, rural India continues to be an underserved market due to poor product-market fit and the high cost and complexity of last mile distribution.

She Leads Bharat:Udyam addresses these challenges by positioning rural women MSEs as last-mile distribution partners for companies entering rural markets. Deeply embedded in their communities, women MSEs are trusted, well-connected and already serve established customer bases, making them a ready and effective channel for rural market penetration.

She Leads Bharat:Udyam combines this distribution network of women MSEs already serving their communities with an API-driven technology

solution and management of the logistics at the last mile. This end-to-end last mile delivery solution has enabled more than 210 companies to get their products and services to over 3,000 villages. The platform caters to a wide spectrum of product categories from everyday essentials to electronics and agricultural inputs, demonstrating its flexibility and relevance across rural households. Strong traction on the platform reflects rising rural aspirations and increased comfort with localized, assisted

commerce.

Tech-enabled networks de-risk market entry and accelerate scale

Companies across sectors such as clean energy, fast moving consumer goods, agriculture, consumer durables, beauty and financial services leveraged this approach to pilot and refine their go-to-market strategies for over 50 brands. By tapping into an established tech-enabled distribution network, these businesses were able to test products in real-world conditions, gathering valuable insights on customer behavior, demand and price sensitivity. Encouraged by early success, three companies expanded into new geographies with offerings ranging from cattle feed supplements to laptops and accessories. The ability to engage local trusted sellers accelerated these companies’ understanding of product-market fit and led to significantly higher conversion rates compared with conventional channels, particularly for unfamiliar or first-time products.

This last mile infrastructure is now being used to offer banking services through Airtel Payments Bank’s women banking correspondents. The program onboarded 10,000 women banking correspondents, who

have facilitated banking transactions worth INR 538 million, serving individuals who previously had to travel three to seven kilometers to access basic banking services. The partnership brought banking services to the doorsteps of customers in small villages, significantly expanding market reach and financial inclusion. The program converted women MSEs such as tailoring shops and beauty parlors into banking correspondents, demonstrating the versatility of businesses that can take on this role.

Despite the modest commissions, early indicators suggest that She Leads Bharat:Udyam banking correspondents have an active rate of 64%, far exceeding the rural industry average of 10–12%. One reason for this could be that although banking transactions constitute only 8% of platform earnings, income through assisted commerce makes it viable for them to stay in the program and continue as banking correspondents. Additionally, banking services increase the footfall of customers into the woman’s shop, allowing her an opportunity to earn additional revenue through her core business. Offering multiple income streams appears to be an effective strategy for banks to ensure the relevance and sustained engagement of rural women banking correspondents.

A scalable model to power inclusive growth at the last mile

She Leads Bharat:Udyam has demonstrated that a network of trained, digitally-enabled women can serve as a valuable and effective last mile distribution channel for a range of companies and service providers, enabling them to expand their reach into previously untapped customer segments without investing in their own infrastructure. For women MSEs, it opens opportunities to elevate incomes through multiple streams and improve their financial resilience. This value proposition for the women

MSEs only gets stronger as more companies leverage it, resulting in a win-win situation.

As this model matures, important questions arise: Can She Leads Bharat:Udyam’s path to financial sustainability inspire others to set up similar networks? What more can the asset provide to accelerate value for businesses? Could the formulation of a consortium of companies to build a common last-mile infrastructure benefit the broader ecosystem?

Join us in empowering more women MSEs as we tap into the vast rural market potential, creating a more inclusive and prosperous future for all.

Learn more about Strive India at https://strivecommunity.org/programs/strive-india and She Leads

Bharat:Udyam at https://www.frontiermkts.com/partnerships.