The Base of the Pyramid (BoP) is being heralded as the biggest opportunity in the history of commerce. This article aims at giving a brief introduction to BoP, its importance, and strategies for selling and buying from BoP market segments. After offering some business principles under the titles `operating guidance' and `code of conduct', it ends with some examples of BoP real practices.

These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but indispensable units of economic power...that build from bottom-up and not from top-down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid. According to one research, the proportion of the world's urban population living in slums is projected to increase from 33% in 2003 to 45% in 2025. If the growth of these areas is left unchecked, they will soon be home to a majority of the city dwellers on the planet.

The condition of the world's poor, which constitutes the base of the economic pyramid (BoP), is the subject of growing attention. Global poverty has attracted the attention of all the nations as it is seen as both an unacceptable outcome of the current economic system and a challenge to commerce and security in wealthier nations. Globalization has had a lot of influence on the economies of almost all the nations in the world. Indeed, the uneven distribution of benefits from globalization has led to increasing interest in new market-based approaches to poverty alleviation. However, by considering the unique business context, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and private sector firms have been struggling to formulate effective business strategies for the markets in the base of the economic pyramid. Moreover, scrutiny over the development agencies has increased on the effectiveness and sustainability of their current poverty alleviation programs.

Base of the Pyramid, BoP, Economic system, Globalization, Liberalization, Privatization, LPG, Customer goods and services, Business strategy, market segment, Multinational corporations, MNCs', BoP business system, agricultural trading companies, Indian tobaco company, ITC.