Successful gender-smart approaches require moving beyond simple product modifications to developing comprehensive ecosystems that address women’s constraints while leveraging their strengths as customers, entrepreneurs, and agents of change. The study highlights three detailed case studies of companies already implementing gender-smart strategies:
- Agsol designs solar mills with women users in mind, featuring lightweight construction and automated operation. Small batch processing and simplified maintenance make the technology accessible to women farmers.
- SureChill’s Cooling-as-a-Service requires minimal deposits and assesses business viability instead of collateral, achieving 50 per cent women customers across dairy, retail, and small shops.
- Oorja’s “Farming as a Service” model removes land ownership barriers and mandates women’s participation. Their pay-per-use approach makes solar irrigation accessible despite limited financing.
Working closely with these companies, the research team conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with women customers. This primary research, combined with broader market analysis, informed the development of detailed customer personas and journey maps to identify opportunities for improving gender-inclusive business practices.
The customer personas capture key dimensions including demographics, behavioural drivers, livelihood patterns, technological access, and specific challenges in adopting Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) technologies. For example, SureChill identified distinct segments ranging from “survivors” running small retail shops to “visionaries” seeking to expand across multiple locations, enabling them to tailor their financing and support services accordingly. This systematic approach to understanding women customers helped companies identify concrete opportunities to strengthen their gendersmart business models across product design, marketing, financing, and ongoing support services.
To become truly gender-smart, PURE companies must transform their approach across the entire customer journey. Drawing from successful examples, the research identifies five essential elements:
- Research and Product Development: Deeply understand women’s context and constraints. Design products that align with their ergonomic needs, safety requirements, and efficiency demands while accounting for their physical capabilities and time limitations.
- Marketing and Customer Acquisition: Develop womencentric marketing using female role models, targeted messaging, and appropriate communication channels. Create accessible purchasing environments with women-friendly spaces and female sales agents.
- Financing and Purchase: Implement flexible financing that accommodates women’s irregular income patterns and limited collateral. Options may include Pay-AsYou-Go (PAYGo) options, group lending schemes, and partnerships with microfinance institutions.
- Implementation and Support: Provide training and support that fits women’s schedules, covering technology use, business skills, and ongoing advisory services. Extend support to include market linkages and installation assistance.
- Ongoing Engagement and Growth: Place women in leadership roles across sales and technical positions to create role models and challenge stereotypes. Systematically collect gender-disaggregated data to drive continuous improvement.
To support companies in implementing these changes, the research provides a comprehensive KPI framework measuring progress across customer acquisition, financial performance, product usage, customer experience, business operations, and value chain integration. This systematic approach helps companies track their gendersmart journey while identifying new opportunities for growth and impact.
While individual companies can take significant steps towards gender inclusion, truly scaling these approaches requires broader systemic change. The research underscores the need for a supportive ecosystem, including targeted policies and incentives, to enable more companies to adopt and scale gender-smart PURE business models.
Excerpt of: Powering Progress for PURE: Boosting performance through gender-inclusive business (GOGLA 2025)