The number of resellers on internet commerce start-up Meesho has grown by 2.5x in 2021, bringing the total number of resellers or entrepreneurs on the platform to 15 million. The marketplace provides small businesses which includes SMBs, MSMEs and individual entrepreneurs, access to customers, a selection of over 700 categories, pan-India logistics, payment services and customer support capabilities. BusinessLine spoke to Utkrishta Kumar, Vice President and GM - Business, at Meesho about the company’s reseller ecosystem. Excerpts:
How many resellers are currently associated with Meesho? What are the average monthly earnings for the resellers on the platform?
Around 700 odd million users are active on the internet in India, but there are only around 200 million users who are transacting online. We have seen the social commerce industry grow significantly in the last few years and various research reports have projected that there is a potential for this to outgrow any other industry right now, with an expected CAGR of close to 55 per cent to 60 per cent over the next few years. Now, coming to the specific problems that we are trying to solve. Our entrepreneurs provide access to users who are online but are not transacting online. In 2021, the entrepreneurs on Meesho grew by 2.5x. We have close to 15 million micro-entrepreneurs on Meesho as of now. This is a testament to how we have gone ahead and helped this ecosystem grow by providing a destination for entrepreneurs to solve problems that online active consumers today are facing.
With multiple platforms eyeing the social commerce space, how do you ensure that the resellers on Meesho are loyal to the brand?
Let’s zoom-in on the problem statements and what an entrepreneur needs from the platform. In terms of selection, we are the biggest online destination for all unbranded goods in lifestyle categories. So, we are providing them everything that their users need, and our pricing is very competitive. In fact, our pricing is not just lower than other online destinations, but it is also lower than all the offline destinations out there.
In addition to this, we have been trying to come up with new initiatives. During the onset of Covid-19, when the economy had come to some sort of a halt, we had our microcredit strategy to ensure entrepreneurs had a minimal income. Further, when it comes to solving for core challenges, wherever we find a use case that could help entrepreneurs succeed, we go ahead and implement them. This has led to broader retention and loyalty on the platform.
What is the general demographic of resellers associated with Meesho?
We have entrepreneurs from the smaller cities to the biggest towns. They are largely between the 18-45 age range and a majority of our entrepreneurs are women who are either homemakers, students, teachers, or small business owners. Overall, 70 per cent of the entrepreneurs come from Tier 2 markets like Dimapur, Faizabad, and Haldwani. Cities with a higher share of entrepreneurs are Lucknow, Visakhapatnam and Ahmedabad.
Why are the advantages of reseller-led commerce over consumer-led commerce?
Our broader mission statement is to democratise internet commerce for everyone. We have seen consumer demand on Meesho growing exponentially, but this had no impact on the entrepreneur-led demand. The entrepreneurs, at the end of the day, are solving a very different use case. They are targeting users who are active online but are not transacting online. By bridging that gap, we have seen exponential growth on both fronts. We have seen growth in what we call reseller-led commerce, and customer-led commerce. And our vision is to build that ecosystem where all sellers, entrepreneurs and consumers can coexist.