E-commerce major Meesho has reported positive operating cash flow of ₹232 crore for the financial year ending March 2024, while its operating revenues increases by 33 per cent to ₹7,615 crore, driven by an increase in annual transacting users and higher order frequency among existing customers.
Its adjusted losses fell 97 per cent, from ₹1,569 crore to ₹53 crore, excluding employee share based compensation expense, Meesho said in a statement.
Meesho recorded 145 million unique annual transacting users in FY24, representing about 10 per cent of India’s purchases through its platform, it claimed. “Consumers are not just buying multiple items within the same category but are also turning to Meesho for a diverse range of their daily needs. As a result, home & kitchen, beauty & personal care, and baby essentials emerged as the fastest-growing categories,” the company said, adding that it has surpassed the overall 500 million install mark in the last financial year.
The company has also attributed its success to driving efficiencies across multiple areas, such as logistics, as well as leveraging generative AI and machine learning for better discovery, an improved in-app experience, and round-the-clock customer support.
“Our advanced AI model cross-verifies these images with product descriptions, and if there’s a mismatch, the system prevents the generation of a shipping label, leading to a 42 per cent reduction in seller claims,” said Meesho. “We’ve also seen a remarkable increase in prepaid transactions compared to last year, contributing to lower return-to-origin rates and decreased costs associated with cash-on-delivery orders.”
Customer engagement surged in FY24, with 75 per cent of frequent shoppers contributing ratings and nearly 80 per cent leaving detailed reviews. Customers contributed 233 million ratings, 75 million reviews, and 13 million pieces of user-generated content, such as images and videos.
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It also optimised logistics costs through Valmo, its logistics-focused platform launched in February. Since then, Valmo has expanded its network to include smaller and regional logistics partners, significantly reducing shipping costs.
“We have significantly reduced shipping expenses and improved delivery efficiency, allowing us to pass savings on to our users,” Meesho said in the statement. These in-house processes have contributed to a lower return-to-origin (RTO) rates and decreased costs associated with cash-on-delivery (CoD) orders.
In March, Meesho initiated its fourth and largest-ever employee stock ownership plan (Esop) buyback programme, worth ₹200 crore ($25 million), which enabled wealth creation opportunities for about 1,700 current and former employees.
It became the first horizontal Indian e-commerce company to turn profitable in July 2023. While it did not disclose the profit it earned in July-September, it said it has remained profitable and cash-flow-positive ever since.
Founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho recently closed a $275 million funding round through a mix of primary and secondary share sales.