Age of traders | 20 - 46 years (range) | |
Age of business | 3 - 15 years (range) | |
Nature of business | Electronic shops, call box, provision store | |
Number of suppliers | 5 - 8 | |
Motivation for getting mobile phone | ・ Communication gaps and delay in pre-trade negotiation ・ Loss of orders and Travelling risks ・ Unnecessary expenses/overhead costs | |
Functionalities used | ・ Voice calls (66 adopters) ・ Text messaging (16 literate adopters) ・ Mobile banking services (8 literate adopters) | |
How mobile phone has helped | ・ Access to business partners and customers ・ Timeliness in order deliveries and increase in revenue ・ Reduced transportation | |
Problems associated with mobile phones usage | ・ Network failure and coverage ・ Cost of call tariff and Theft of phones | |
Types of phones used | ・ Nokia: 49 (cheaper and easy to use) ・ Samsung: 11 ・ Alcatel:6 | ・ LG: 4 ・ Motorola: 9 ・ Techno: 8 ・ Others: 4 |
Number of phones owned by traders | ・ 3 mobile phone on the average, though a few owned 1 ・ A few assistants/workers owned 1 mobile phone | |
Most used network | MTN, because of wider network coverage | |
Monthly phone bills | 5000 - 10,000 FCFA (Average) |