Investing in a Priority Market: Combining Sales, Marketing and Business Support to Attract and Retain Women Customers
This case study describes the journey of Husk Power Systems in
identifying women as a key target market, and effectively attracting and
retaining them as customers. The
case study describes Husk's starting point, challenges and objectives,
the strategy employed, and results achieved.
Between 2022-2023, Husk Power Systems partnered with Value for Women and FMO on a gender inclusion technical assistance (TA) project, which focused on driving better understanding of their women customers, and onboarding more.
The project involved gendered market research and a targeted marketing and sales programme, which combined vouchers, marketing materials, and business support to select women-led businesses. Over the course of one year, this campaign increased Husk's women customer base from 2% to 8%, with retention of new customers increasing to 94% overall. Surveyed women customers reported increased visibility, business growth, and profitability, validating the effectiveness of the gender-centric marketing strategy.
Husk's success underscores the importance of understanding and investing in women-led markets, with key takeaways emphasising the impact of market research, integration of sales and marketing, and the value of holistic support for women customers.
A seasoned international development professional, Sarah brings to Value for Women her prior experience successfully leading a broad range of initiatives for non-governmental organizations, the government of Rwanda and consultancies, with a focus on gender, equality and women’s rights, and economic empowerment. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Sussex, and a Master’s in Education, Gender and International Development from the University of London.
With over eight years of experience in market research, strategy development and communications in the agriculture, sanitation and renewable energy sectors, Carlette Chepn'geno leverages her experience to derive insights on strategies and entry points for gender inclusion for clients. Her expertise lies in project management, supply chain development, product and service development, business model development, and people management.
Renée is a Portfolio Lead with Value for Women. She oversees, manages and delivers a global portfolio of innovative gender and business projects, working with impact investors, businesses, and entrepreneurial ecosystem actors. Renée brings to her work a background in financial and digital inclusion, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems, along with a passion for supporting women’s empowerment. She has previously worked with Cenfri as Project Lead for the i2i Facility in South Africa, as well as with Divitel in the Netherlands.
Cavelle Dove has 20 years of international development experience in Southeast Asia and Africa. With a Master's in finance, she has spent a decade working with women entrepreneurs to improve their business skills, and help them access relevant financial products and services. Prior to this, Cavelle was the gender lead for UNCDF, where she established a Fintech Innovation Fund to improve women’s financial capability and led policy engagement to improve workplace gender equality initiatives and develop gender smart financial products with microfinance institutions and private banks.
Shoshana is an Advisor – Knowledge Management & Communications at Value for Women. Shoshana oversees product conceptualization and technical writing for the organization's publications, ranging from research and evaluation reports to case studies and podcasts. Shoshana brings over 15 years of international development experience in both leadership and field positions across sectors, notably with the Inter-American Development Bank, Danone, Chemonics, TechnoServe and local non-governmental organizations.
As a Gender and Business Expert at Value for Women, Mansi provided technical assistance to— and leads research and business strategy development with— SMEs, investors, and other ecosystem actors towards more equal business practices. In her previous roles, Mansi worked at BSR, a global sustainability advisory where she worked as a consultant with the Women's Empowerment practice. Prior to that Mansi worked with the corporate sustainability team at BESTSELLER. Additionally, she is a SA8000 Certified Social Auditor and a Certified Learning and Development Professional with expertise in varied psychometric tools including MBTI and FIRO-B.
