01. The Challenge
High Sign-Ups, High Silent Churn
Our client, a growth-stage agritech, had strong farmer sign-ups for its digital advisory platform, and quiet, high churn after the first season. Usage data showed the drop-off but not the why, and farmer exit surveys gave polite, surface answers. The team couldn't say what actually drove adoption or abandonment, especially across different crops and states.
Farmers rarely tell a survey the real reason they stopped using an app. You have to sit with them in the field to see it.
They needed field research that went beyond self-reported reasons to observe real usage and trust dynamics, and to prioritise the changes that would turn sign-ups into retained, active farmers.
02. Our Approach
Meeting Farmers Where They Farm
Zapulse ran a 6-week mixed-method programme combining a large farmer survey with field interviews and observation across states and crops.
Farmer Survey
Surveyed 1,200 farmers across four states and multiple crops on how they get advice, whom they trust, platform usage and reasons for drop-off.
Field Interviews & Observation
Conducted in-field interviews and observed real usage, and non-usage, to surface trust and friction a survey can't capture.
Driver & Churn Synthesis
Triangulated to rank adoption drivers and churn causes by prevalence and impact, isolating the few that matter most.
03. Research Methodology
Research Methods Deployed
Quantitative Survey
A structured instrument fielded to 1,200 farmers across four states and multiple crops covering advice sources, trust, usage and churn.
Field Interviews
In-depth, in-field interviews with farmers on real motivations, trust and barriers to using digital advisory.
Behavioural Observation
Observed real farmers using, and abandoning, the platform in context, capturing friction they don't self-report.
Expert Validation
Findings pressure-tested with agritech and rural-research specialists before delivery.
04. Key Findings
What Actually Drives Adoption and Churn
01
Trust Ran Through People, Not the App
Adoption tracked the presence of a trusted local agent or peer far more than app features; where the human link was missing, farmers quietly churned.
"
Zapulse found what our usage data never could, farmers trusted a person, not our app. Building around local agents changed our retention.
Head of Product
02
Stated Reasons Masked the Real Ones
The reasons farmers gave for leaving in exit surveys differed sharply from the friction observed in the field, a gap that would have misdirected the fixes.
03
Value Was Crop- and Season-Specific
The platform's advice mattered far more for some crops and seasons than others; adoption concentrated where advice changed a real decision.
05. The Results
From Silent Churn to a Retention Strategy
A Ranked Driver & Churn Map
Delivered an evidence-based map of adoption drivers and churn causes, giving the team a clear retention agenda.
Model Rebuilt Around Trust
Refocused the product and go-to-market around local-agent trust and high-value crop-season moments, rather than app features alone.
A Repeatable Field Framework
Delivered a field-research framework the client can re-run as it expands into new crops, states and languages.
06. Client Perspective
In Their Own Words
"
Zapulse gave us the ground truth we were missing. Understanding why farmers really stay, or leave, reshaped our product and our retention.
Head of Product
Growth-Stage · India (4 states, multiple crops)
