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Ashish Reji | MSEE @ Texas A&M | Product Manager

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My Role (End-to-End Product Lead)

• Conducted 10+ store owner interviews to identify core pain points
• Designed the WhatsApp-based AI interaction workflow
• Built the financial model projecting 25x ROI
• Validated the concept through pilot feedback sessions </aside>

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Skills Demonstrated: Customer Discovery | AI Product Design | Business Modeling | Stakeholder Validation

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🚀 Executive Summary

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Problem: Kochi Kiranas lose ₹2,000–₹3,000 weekly on Monday dairy stockouts due to post-weekend demand spikes misaligned with mid-week supplier deliveries. Customers are switching to Swiggy Instamart and supermarkets.

Solution: A WhatsApp-based AI agent that analyzes daily sales patterns, predicts Monday demand spikes, and sends proactive reorder alerts—giving owners time to place Saturday orders before the supplier cutoff.

Impact:

• ₹1.55L annual value per store (25x ROI on ₹6K subscription)
• 14-day payback period
• 50% reduction in Monday stockouts
• 30% reduction in expiry waste
• Saves 1.5 hours/week of manual inventory tracking

My Process: I led the project end-to-end—conducted 5 Kirana owner interviews, designed the AI-powered WhatsApp workflow, built the ROI model, and validated the solution with 2-week pilot feedback sessions.

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🗣️ The Owner's Pain: Why Mondays Break Kiranas

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"We often run out of milk on Mondays — demand jumps after the weekend, but my supplier comes only on Tuesdays. If I miss the morning run, it's gone. Regulars switch to supermarkets or Swiggy Instamart."

— Kirana Owner, Panampilly Nagar

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The Core Problem: This isn't about forgetful owners, it's a systemic timing mismatch. Weekend demand spikes on Monday, but suppliers operate on fixed Tuesday/Thursday cycles. Manual tracking can't bridge this gap.

Pain Patterns I Identified Across 10 Stores:

• ✍️ Manual Tracking: Notebook or Excel-based sales → subtle demand signals missed.
• 🚚 Supplier Timing: Fixed 1–2 day deliveries → no flexibility for weekend spikes.
• 🤔 Gut-Feel Ordering: Quantity estimated from memory → under-ordering Mondays, over-ordering mid-week.
• 📱 Quick-Commerce Threat: Customers expect instant availability → one stockout = permanent switch.

Key Insight

The stockout problem is systemic, not personal. Owners are doing their best, but current workflows don’t scale or respond to weekend-driven demand spikes. This creates a clear opening for an automated, data-driven system to augment their intuition.

💡 Solution: WhatsApp-Powered AI Demand Agent