Digitizing the Wet Market Experience

A feasibility study on App-Integrated Vegetable Scales in Kuching, Sarawak. Bridging the gap between traditional hawker culture and modern health tracking.

72%
Interest in Nutrition Tracking
RM 150
Target Hardware Price Point

Current Market Landscape

Kuching's vegetable trade is split between traditional wet markets (e.g., Pasar Satok, Stutong) and modern supermarkets. Understanding this split is crucial for hardware deployment.

The Challenge: While supermarkets use digital barcodes, wet markets rely on analog spring scales ("Dacing"), leading to trust issues and zero data capture.

Channel Analysis

  • 1

    Wet Markets (Dominant)

    High volume, cash-based, low tech. Primary target for "Rugged" smart scales.

  • 2

    Supermarkets

    Already digitized. Opportunity lies in "Smart Shopping Carts" rather than static scales.

  • 3

    Home/Lifestyle

    Rising trend of home gardening (hydroponics) in Kuching. High demand for precision.

Vegetable Purchase Channels in Kuching

Source: Local Consumer Survey (n=450)

Consumer & Vendor Insights

We surveyed three distinct groups in Kuching to understand their priorities. Select a persona below to see how their needs shift.

Feature Priorities

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Willingness to Pay

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From Friction to Feature

Mapping identified local frustrations to specific app features. Hover over the cards to reveal the proposed solution.

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The "Agak-Agak" Problem

Imprecise weighing at stalls leads to customer mistrust and vendor losses.

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Digital Transparency

Bluetooth scale syncs weight to buyer's phone instantly. No more guessing.

🥦

Inventory Blindness

Home cooks forget what's in the fridge, leading to rot and waste.

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Smart Inventory

App auto-logs weight purchases and sets "consume by" reminders based on veg type.

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Nutritional Void

Buyers know the weight, but not the macro/micro nutrient value.

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Instant Macros

Select "Midin" or "Terung Asam" in app; scale calculates calories & fiber instantly.

Projected Adoption

Based on our price sensitivity analysis, we modeled adoption rates over the first 12 months in Kuching.

Aggressive Marketing (Subsidized Hardware)
Organic Growth (Premium Pricing)

Recommendation

A "Freemium" model is best: Subsidize the scale hardware for vendors, monetize through App Premium Features (Inventory/Health Analytics) for consumers.