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When it comes to <keyword id="19957108" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-shopping" source="keywords">online shopping</keyword>, almost anything can be bought and sold within minutes. People love ordering new stuff from the comfort of their homes and the online shopping trend is growing day by day. However, every coin has two sides and there are some challenges associated with online shopping as well. As per latest reports, e-commerce platform Meesho is facing backlash over its latest product - Lawrence Bishnoi T-shirts. Yes, you read that right. <h2>Meesho faces backlash </h2> The popular e-commerce platform is under the scanner for listing merchandise featuring the infamous gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Social media erupted when users discovered T-shirts adorned with his image being sold online, sparking debates about the consequences of idealising criminal figures. Journalist Alishan Jafri highlighted the worrying trend in an X thread, explaining how such merchandise feeds into a broader issue of online <keyword id="23805599" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gangster-glorification" source="keywords">gangster glorification</keyword>, which is influencing real-world violence among the youth. The T-shirts, as per the thread, were being sold on the platform for prices starting from Rs 168. Jafri shared examples of minors inspired by these online depictions committing serious crimes, from violent assaults to murder. For instance, he recounted incidents like a 15-year-old killing a friend after being influenced by gang content and minors in Delhi attempting to emulate “dons” for social media fame. His investigation underlined that while authorities work tirelessly to curb these trends, platforms hosting such merchandise inadvertently contribute to a culture of gang idolisation. Meesho’s listing has drawn widespread criticism, with many questioning the ethics behind promoting figures linked to violent crime. “This should be stopped, we can't encourage the younger generation to think of this gangster as heroes,” a user wrote and another added, “And a kid also wearing a his t shirt. So wrong.” Let us take a look at some more reactions: <div type="image" title="google (24)" msid="114968112" hostid="261"></div> However, when Business Insider India tried finding these T-shirts on Meesho's website, they appear to have been taken down. <h2>Meesho's statement </h2> In a statement to Business Insider India, Meesho's spokesperson clarified the situation and said, "We have taken immediate action to deactivate the products. Meesho remains committed to providing a safe and trusted shopping platform for all our users."

‘Gangsters are not heroes’: Meesho is selling Lawrence Bishnoi T-shirts and the internet is not happy about it

<ul><li>Investors looking to participate in India’s ecommerce story will need to keep in mind that the valuation will continue to be premium even for those startups that are turning in a small profit.</li><li>For better monetisation, <keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> is also entering categories where brands tend to do well. It currently offers brands like Decathlon, Marico and Nivea on its platform.</li><li>It is also exploring a low-cost grocery model in some smaller cities, which it plans to scale if unit economics justify the investments. </li></ul> Meesho, a horizontal ecommerce player that caters to unorganised sellers, has its task cut out before its public listing 12-18 months down the line. The marketplace will not repeat the mistakes some of its new age peers made while tapping public markets. The marketplace may be the first horizontal ecommerce platform to turn profitable, but it is just the beginning of an arduous journey, given that many investors have burnt their fingers by investing in IPOs of new age companies. Share prices have not kept up with the hype that surrounded these companies, which suggests that investors will not chase such pricey companies no matter how fast they are growing. So how different will Meesho be from the other new age tech platforms that tapped public markets? In conversation with Business Insider, Meesho’s chief financial officer Dhiresh Bansal said they have reflected on the experiences of investors who participated in IPOs in 2021 and 2022. The key takeaway is that valuations were high because there was a lot of free money floating around. He says: “But public market investors are focused on profitable growth. Our point of view is that we want to make sure we run a decent track record of profitable growth if we aspire to get listed. We are targeting to grow revenues by 40% and accelerate it a little more by putting investments back, but we will continue to be profitable.” Clearly, the new mantra for startups today is to be profitable but the size and scale of the profit pool will not impress if compared to the larger companies. Investors looking to participate in India’s ecommerce story will need to keep in mind that the valuation will continue to be premium even for those startups that are turning in a small profit. Call it a scarcity premium, if you will. Explains Bansal: “The investment phase of the company in the new age world is slightly longer but they generate very large pools of cash over a period of time. This is true for unprofitable or small profit companies.” Bansal cites examples of some companies in the US that had a small profit pool to report when they got listed a decade ago. But now these companies churn out large amounts in profits. Therefore, these new age companies cannot be compared to traditional companies. Bansal says that even as fixed costs remain the same over a period of time, on a higher base these companies tend to generate a lot more in profits. Currently, Meesho has 140 mn users who visit the app every month and 40 mn, who open the app everyday. With a revenue growth target of 40% year-on-year, Meesho believes it can earn more without fixed costs going up. In addition to controlling costs and boosting operational efficiency, Meesho is also tweaking its categories and model to earn more in some categories. Even though it continues to largely be a platform for unorganised/small sellers from across India, you can find some brands too as the platform provides a differentiated experience to branded players too. Says Bansal, “Our business is largely unbranded, but we have introduced brands in some categories. We have brands like Decathlon, Marico, Nivea and other D2C brands in the marketplace other than brands in the beauty and personal care category.” Monetisation in these categories is much better than the unbranded segments. The cashburn may have slowed and Meesho’s business may be cashflow positive, but a public listing will not just look at raising fresh capital. The issue will be a mix of fresh issue of shares and offer for sale by existing shareholders. Explains Bansal: “We don’t need fresh capital for growth as we have almost $400 mn in the bank. People will decide whether they want to exit or remain on for a longer period— but It will be a mix of primary and secondary offering at the IPO but it will be largely towards secondary.” This suggests that existing investors will look at a partial exit whenever Meesho hits the public market. The platform is also experimenting with other categories as it looks to diversify from its existing mainstay – apparel, beauty and kitchenware. Meesho wants to sell consumers everything but smartphones, electronics and groceries. Adds Bansal: “We have been experimenting with groceries and beyond the convenience model that works in metro and Tier 1 cities but there is a low priced model of groceries that can work in Tier1 and Tier 2 cities. We are running pilots and once we are sure about the unit economics we will scale the business.”

Key facts to know before Meesho’s IPO hits the market

<ul><li>Home-grown platform Meesho is the latest start-up to join the unicorn club after raising $300 million from Softbank Vision Fund 2.</li><li>Founded in 2015, Meesho launched its first TVC in 2020 that aimed to celebrate financial independence of Indian women. It is now planning to go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations to expand its reseller user base.</li><li>Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO, Meesho walks us through the company’s journey from scratch, marketing goals for the year and shares his vision.</li></ul>It was in 2015 that Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho decided to quit InMobi and start his own business. He and his partner Sanjeev Barnwal, Founder and CTO of Meesho came up with an idea to build a platform to help micro and small businesses shift online and leverage the power of digital technologies. So, as social commerce was struggling to make inroads in India, Meesho led the way and revolutionized the industry. “Social commerce was already a popular concept at that time but the challenges such as limited access to supply, lack of logistics/ payment options, customer friendly policies etc, were also on the rise,” shared Aatrey. Months went into experimenting with the idea, researching the market and getting the logistics right. They juggled between ideas until they perfected the core business proposition. Cut to today, Meesho has just raised $300 million in a new round of funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 on April 02. The startup has already joined the unicorn club. As per media reports, the new Series E round gives the five-year-old Bangalore-based company a valuation of $2.1 billion, up from about $600 million-$700 million in the 2019 Series D investment. The social commerce platform claims to have over 13 million entrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women. It has helped them start their own online businesses with zero investment, bringing the benefits of e-commerce to over 45 million customers across the country. Sharing why Aatrey started Meesho, he said, “‘Meesho’ stands for ‘meri shop’ or apni dukaan. Almost 9 out of every 10 individuals in India have a dream of starting his/her small business. Given the increasing number of self-employed, small business owners, gig workers in India it is no surprise that Indians have an enterprising mind. However, starting a business requires a lot of capital. India is not such a rich country. Most people do not have access to capital. These people who never had the opportunity to start a store came onto our platform and became entrepreneurs for the first time. One can come here, start his/her shop on WhatsApp, access anything from our supplier marketplace, and as per consumer orders, purchase is made from the marketplace.” Meesho primarily connects sellers with customers through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. It supervises logistics, online payment and provides real-time updates. Till date, the company has delivered orders from 100K+ registered suppliers to over 26,000 pin codes in more than 4,800 cities, helping generate over Rs 500 crore in income for entrepreneurs and serving customers in more than 4,500 Tier 2+ cities -- bringing e-commerce to Bharat. As per a recent report by Deloitte, India’s e-commerce is expected to grow from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021. Considering that India has about 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) currently, Meesho is just getting started. Aatrey said, “We have ~9M women entrepreneurs and India is roughly going to have more than 250M women who will be online by 2025. Given this understanding, we are just scratching the surfaces of enabling women to start their own business. With the growth that we have seen over the last year, we want to bring our value proposition to many aspiring women, and we see a lot of value in further communicating our value proposition. That said, we will consistently be communicating how Meesho can empower and enable women entrepreneurs in starting their home businesses.” According to Aatrey, the social reselling market in India is estimated to be $6-7 billion (GMV) in size as of 2020. By 2025, the social commerce is expected to be ~$70B and total ecommerce to be $200 Bn as the number of online shoppers, especially from tier II cities and beyond, continues to rise. After the pandemic, Meesho has also seen an increased adoption rate in Bharat. “Overall, more than 70% of our orders come from tier II+ towns. We have seen very good adoption in tier II+ towns during the pandemic: we have served 2000+ new tier 2+ towns since June and our order share from these towns has also increased from 67% earlier to 72% between July and December 2020,” said he. Aatrey believes that the future of online shopping is social commerce and more and more retail outlets have started exploring this medium after the pandemic. “I believe evolving technology is a wakeup call for everyone in business. It is imperative for all to realize the huge potential that digital has and ways to leverage it. The lockdown period came as a lesson for many of us. Many retailers in India resorted to selling products over WhatsApp and that shows how the retail market is also changing and moving towards digital. In fact, according to a retail website, today 85% of sellers using social commerce are small, offline retailers giving sharp competition to large organized sellers on e-commerce platforms. As per Bain Analysis, India has the highest number of internet users (572 million) globally, with substantial room for growth. So, the retail market has enough potential to leverage social commerce and bloom,” elaborated Aatrey. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Carving a niche beyond social commerce" text="Carving a niche beyond social commerce">Carving a niche beyond social commerce</cmsannotation> Since a majority of its sellers and buyers are women, Meesho’s communication also centers around women empowerment. Its mission is to help women achieve financial independence. Its first TVC, conceptualised by DDB Mudra, focused on an unstated need of a woman, which is to claim what she rightfully deserves – her own identity. The film celebrated the unstoppable spirit of women who overcome all social and economic barriers with the line that captures the sentiment of 'Not just a homemaker, a Meesho Entrepreneur.' <div type="Youtube" id="Y0nSzxtiShA" title="Many Names, One Identity #MyStoreMyStory" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y0nSzxtiShA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Telling us more about the company's marketing proposition, Aatrey said, “We have more than 9 million resellers on our platform spread across 100 cities out of which 80% of them being women from smaller towns and cities. Social and cultural factors for years have kept this section of the society away from employment. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream of becoming an entrepreneur, especially women, who due to social obligations sacrifice their dreams and fall behind in terms of financial independence. We wish to give them all a sense of self and accomplishment through our platform. Social media is our backbone and these entrepreneurs, our pillars of strength.” Meesho is also fighting against e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart, who are ploughing billions of dollars and have been around for a while. Meesho’s rivals have on-boarded Bollywood celebrities and have a huge media presence. “In the era of Amazon and Flipkart, we at Meesho are trying to build trust through social commerce. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream. Our communication will remain around our USP- to help build entrepreneurs with zero capital. We will also find more channels this year to penetrate our value proposition further,” said Aatrey. Vision After the recent funding round, Meesho is aiming to build a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses to grow faster. “With the new round of funding, we are now focused on expanding our vision — from helping aspiring women entrepreneurs to creating Meesho as a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses in India to succeed online. In the last one year, we have seen tremendous growth across small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to move their businesses online. And with our new vision we will enable 100 million small businesses to start, succeed and lead their operations online with Meesho as their partner in their journey,” said Aatrey. The introduction of smartphones and penetration of the internet and WhatsApp in particular has made the market size for social commerce grow larger, which is estimated to reach $70B USD in 2025. Meesho aims to leverage this demand and go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations with different partners to accelerate its user base of resellers on the platform. “2021 has come with a new set of possibilities, opportunities, and challenges to tackle. We, at Meesho, are committed to our goal of letting anyone start a digital business with zero capital. Major focus area would be to enable increased adoption of Meesho’s platform across multiple categories which would be possible only when we are able to structurally reduce our prices for our customers. We also plan to leverage the digital ecosystem and unravel more benefits that it can offer for the betterment of our entrepreneurs and Meeho’s growth. We aim at surpassing all our achievements and recognitions from previous years and reach newer milestones. We are also looking at transforming the Meesho app for better experience for our entrepreneurs. With new built in features, we hope to enhance the look and feel of the app. ‘Meeshoites’ are looking at the year with great hope, plans and execution methods,” shared Aatrey.

Meesho's marketing strategy has been to empower women who lack financial independence, says CEO Vidit Aatrey

<ul><li>The pandemic has changed the way Indians shop with over 78% of consumers preferring to shop online before peeking into neighbourhood stores. </li><li>As Indians go vocal for local, 96% of consumers expressed their desire to shop from Indian brands this festive season, driving e-commerce growth. </li><li>Huge pent-up demand and high purchasing power of consumers has boosted e-commerce sales in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> post pandemic. </li></ul>The pandemic has changed the way Indians shop as 78% of consumers prefer to shop online via electronic commerce platforms before peeking into their neighbourhood stores, according to industry estimates. Indians spent almost five hours daily on their <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/indians-spend-nearly-5-hrs-daily-on-mobiles-in-2021/articleshow/88963566.cms#:~:text=CHENNAI%3A%20Indians%20spent%20almost%20a,the%20pandemic%20on%20digital%20habits.">mobiles</a> last year, up nearly 30% from pre-Covid levels. Consumers from Tier 2 and 3 towns have also joined the <keyword id="6357762" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-shopping" source="Orion">online shopping</keyword> bandwagon since the pandemic, further driving up sales for e-commerce platforms. Cashing in on the trend, online commerce players are expecting sales of $11.8 billion during this festive season — which is a 28% growth over last year, says the latest <keyword id="1715801" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shopify" source="Orion">Shopify</keyword> Festive Shopping Outlook report. Companies usually hold as many as three sales leading to the festival of Diwali. Huge pent-up demand and high purchasing power of consumers has boosted e-commerce sales in India. In the first festive week alone, which began on September 22, the e-commerce platforms achieved sales worth $5.7 billion with 75-80 million online shoppers, a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms"> Redseer </a>report revealed. Even with inflation worries, over 40% customers are willing to spend more than ₹10,000 on shopping this festive season, Shopify claimed. According to Bharati Balakrishnan, director at Shopify, India, “85% of consumers plan to spend more than ever before and 8-in-10 consumers shop more online now than before the pandemic. For brands, participating online through their own website is now a given as consumers shift to browsing online before making the trip to the neighbourhood store.” Over 57% of customers listed browsing on online stores, product comparison sites, and scrolling through social media apps as ways to discover new products. Amongst e-commerce companies, <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> led the online retail sales in terms of GMV or gross merchandise value, while Amazon placed second, for festive sales in the week of September 22-30. Flipkart was also a leader in terms of order volumes, Meesho emerged the second largest, capturing 21% of the market. Fashion leads while home decor, athleisure &amp; dry fruits emerge strong contenders Over 81% of consumers purchased clothing and accessories, while 68% spent on home electronics and gadgets, reports Shopify India. Over 56,000 mobile phones were sold per hour during the sale period of the first festive week <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">alone</a>. The spirit of gift giving is also being reflected in the increased sales of dry fruits, sweets and chocolates, according to Shopify estimates. “With people welcoming guests and going out, focus will be on improving/upgrading their lifestyle and home interiors reflecting increased spending on fashion, beauty, and home and living categories,” said Redseer Consultants. Shift towards healthy living post pandemic has made the sports and athleisure market the fastest growing category in both apparel and footwear. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16% between FY20-FY25, according to analysis by B.K Securities. Online sales of footwear alone has risen 10% since the pandemic as India Inc is returning to their offices. Another emerging trend is the rise in sustainable shopping as over 67% of consumers expressed interest in buying from socially and environmentally-responsible brands, claimed Shopify. More Indians are choosing local brands and businesses for their shopping needs. Over 96% of consumers expressed their desire to shop from Indian brands this festive season. “The government’s call for supporting local businesses and consumers’ growing pride for Indian brands may be listed as primary factors contributing to this shift,” said Shopify India. Tier 2, Tier 3 cities driving India’s retail growth story post pandemic India’s retail growth story is currently targeting the ever-evolving Tier 2 and 3 cities of India. Consumers residing in rural or remote areas are gradually choosing online shopping over market-hopping, reports Shopify. This has also been reflected in festive sales of Meesho, an e-commerce platform that currently dominates the Tier 2 and 3 markets in India, making up for a majority of the order volume during the first festive week, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">Redseer</a> report. Footwear brands like Bata India, <keyword id="1181583" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="relaxo-footwear" source="Orion">Relaxo Footwear</keyword>, <keyword id="9095636" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="metro-brands" source="Orion">Metro Brands</keyword> are identifying Tier 2 and 3 markets as having high retail expansion potential. “Going forward, Tier II and below cities, which contribute 35% of the overall footwear market, are expected to witness faster growth on the back of low penetration levels and increasing aspirational levels of the people,” claimed B.K Securities. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/the-1338-crore-fine-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-as-cci-orders-google-to-take-several-measures-to-curb-its-anti-competitive-behavior/articleshow/95012606.cms">The ₹1,338 crore fine is just the tip of the iceberg as CCI orders Google to take several measures to curb its anti-competitive behavior</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/the-crown-is-a-fictional-dramatisation-netflix-clarifies/articleshow/95012412.cms">The Crown is a fictional dramatisation, Netflix clarifies</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sensex-logs-sixth-consecutive-day-of-gains-amid-uptick-in-banking-stocks/articleshow/95012115.cms">Sensex logs sixth consecutive day of gains amid uptick in banking stocks</a>

Online sales expected to boom as more customers shop online post pandemic

In the ever-evolving communication landscape, more than 70 per cent of Indians prefer to message businesses rather than sending an email, calling or visiting their website, a new report said on Friday. Nearly 75 per cent of Indians surveyed said that they are more likely to do business with/purchase from a company that they can contact via messaging. People in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> increasingly prefer messaging over other forms of communication, the same way they chat with their friends and family, according to the research by <keyword id="1199021" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kantar" source="Orion">Kantar</keyword> commissioned by <keyword id="399907" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meta" source="Orion">Meta</keyword> (formerly <keyword id="6354576" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook" source="Orion">Facebook</keyword>). "Today, customers not only want a quick and easy way to connect with brands, but they also want to engage with a brand to learn more about their product while considering a purchase," said Ravi Garg, Director <keyword id="3807245" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="business-messaging" source="Orion">Business Messaging</keyword> at Meta. The findings of the report showed that 86 per cent of adults message a business at least once a week, which is considerably higher than the global average of 66 per cent. Majority (83 per cent) of the people surveyed expect businesses to deploy quick and easy modes of communication, such as messaging. About 72 per cent of the people surveyed in India said they message with a business more often ever since the start of the pandemic. Interestingly, 75 per cent are more likely to do business with/purchase from a company that they can contact via messaging. "Conversational messaging is not only helping brands connect with consumers but also build brand experiences that grow their business," said Ravi Sundararajan, Chief Operating Officer, Gupshup. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/metas-metaverse-app-has-several-quality-issues-admits-head/articleshow/94696811.cms">Meta's metaverse app has several quality issues, admits head</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-group-leads-e-commerce-festive-sales-meesho-is-second-largest-contributor-in-order-volume-redseer/articleshow/94701015.cms">Flipkart group leads e-commerce festive sales, Meesho is second largest contributor in order volume: Redseer</a>

Over 7 in 10 Indians now prefer to chat with businesses: Meta report

<ul><li><keyword id="6354743" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon-india" source="Orion">Amazon India</keyword> on Friday confirmed the acquisition of <keyword id="4994766" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="glowroad" source="Orion">GlowRoad</keyword>, a women-focused <keyword id="623994" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-commerce" source="Orion">social commerce</keyword> company.</li><li>Several media reports suggest that GlowRoad was valued at $75 million in this deal.</li><li><keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> believes that the move will help the company achieve its goal to digitise 10 million businesses by 2025.</li></ul>Amazon India on Friday confirmed the acquisition of GlowRoad, a women-focused social commerce company. This is the first investment ecommerce giant Amazon has made to grow its social commerce vertical in India. Though the transactional details of the acquisition have not been revealed, several media reports suggested that GlowRoad was valued at $75 million in this deal. TechCrunch and Economic Times<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/amazon-acquires-reseller-platform-glowroad-to-bolster-social-commerce-ambitions/articleshow/90987418.cms?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=update&amp;ncode=84f1fd2cbcf57e646c4069c0e7654a795cdef8eacdf35ffc12176d234712e5a50eb7dce5cc8faf0dd69e01b8210009d59aff80b374da1320677d663dcc32d94d8f2bad7f26e87c038f3aa21855862ce3"> reports </a>also suggested that Amazon acquired the company in an all-cash deal. Amazon believes that the move will help the company achieve its goal to digitise 10 million businesses by 2025. “Amazon continues to explore new ways to digitise India and delight customers, micro- entrepreneurs and sellers and bringing GlowRoad onboard is a key step in this direction. Together with GlowRoad, Amazon will help accelerate entrepreneurship among millions of creators, homemakers, students, and small sellers from across the country. This acquisition will complement GlowRoad’s already loved service with Amazon’s technology, infrastructure, and digital payments capabilities, bringing more efficiency and cost-saving for everyone,” Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider. GlowRoad was founded in 2017 by Sonal Verma, Kunal Sinha, Nitesh Pant, Shekhar Sahu and Nilesh Padariya. The founders of the company, cumulatively, held close to 50% shareholdings in the company. Founders Verma and Sinha owned a relatively larger chunk among the other founders. The company has raised over $31 million to date, from marquee investors like Korea Investment Partners, Vertex Ventures, CDH Investments and RB Investments. Accel is the largest shareholder in the company, with nearly 19% stake, according to business intelligence platform Tracxn. The five-year-old startup raised its last round in November 2020, when it raised $7 million. GlowRoad is a social commerce network, which enables suppliers to sell their products to end customers through resellers across more than 20,000 pincodes in 2,000 cities. The company focuses on Tier II and III markets through resellers, who are typically housewives, temporary workers or students. According to the company’s website, a reseller can make up to ₹20,000 per month if they sell close to 100 products a month. It claims to have over 6 million resellers on the platform. The company competes with DealShare, CityMall and YouTube-owned SimSim. Meesho too was in the segment, but the company changed its business model to a full-fledged ecommerce platform. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/article/by-commuting-less-heres-how-employees-and-companies-contribute-to-global-climate-change-and-sustainability-goals/articleshow/90994259.cms" style="">By commuting less, here’s how employees and companies contribute to global climate change and sustainability goals </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/hcl-tech-paytm-nestle-tvs-motor-among-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-april-22/slidelist/90992626.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" style="">HCL Tech, Paytm, Nestle, TVS Motor among stocks to watch out for on April 22</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-new-upcoming-phone-in-india-oneplus-10r-5g/articleshow/90994523.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Here's what the upcoming OnePlus 10R 5G will look like</a>

Amazon acquires its first social commerce startup in India

<ul><li>Starting October, users will need to re-authenticate their net banking/card/unified <keyword id="6359540" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="payments" source="Orion">payments</keyword> interface (UPI) details as per the new format, and validate it with a one-time password, to continue their <keyword id="7567986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="auto-debit" source="Orion">auto-debit</keyword> transactions.</li><li>The development comes as <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> introduced an additional factor of authentication for all <keyword id="8009153" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="recurring-transactions" source="Orion">recurring transactions</keyword> in August 2019.</li><li>Even as the RBI’s new guidelines help make payments more secure for customers, there are likely to be short-term challenges as banks will see a sudden rise in authenticating e-mandates.</li></ul> As the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) guidelines for auto-debit transactions kick-in from October 1, those having online subscriptions, or other recurring payments such as phone bills, utility bills and rent are likely to face short-term pain as the banking regulator looks to impose <keyword id="1592017" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="two-factor-authentication" source="Orion">two-factor authentication</keyword> on all such transactions. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Here’s what will change" comment="subhead" text="Here’s what will change">Here’s what will change</cmsannotation> Starting October, users will need to re-authenticate their net banking/card/unified payments interface (UPI) details as per the new format, and validate it with a one-time password, on all such platforms to continue their auto-debit transactions below ₹5,000. Whereas all transactions above ₹5,000 will require a further additional link for authentication, as they are not eligible for e-mandate-based recurring transactions. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Why the change?" comment="subhead" text="Why the change?">Why the change?</cmsannotation> The development comes as RBI introduced an additional factor of authentication for all recurring transactions in August 2019. The <a href="https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=11668">guidelines </a>require users to opt for an e-mandate facility through a one-time registration process, which can only be successful once the user validates using an OTP, besides entering their bank/card/UPI details. Users will also get an option to pause, modify or cancel their recurring transactions. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How will it work?" comment="subhead" text="How will it work?">How will it work?</cmsannotation> An e-mandate is a standing instruction initiated by the RBI and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that allows businesses to collect recurring payments of up to ₹5,000. These mandates can be directly set up through a net banking transaction from merchant websites. For example, if a user is signing up for a <keyword id="128682" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="netflix" source="Orion">Netflix</keyword> subscription via an e-mandate, he or she can schedule all monthly payments through a one-time authentication. <div type="image" title="From Oct, what will change" msid="86655011" hostid="261"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What experts say?" comment="subhead" text="What experts say?">What experts say?</cmsannotation> What this essentially means is that one will have to re-authenticate all their subscriptions and recurring payments once again starting October, without which the payment to the merchant (say, Netflix) will fail, said Mandar Kagade, founder and principal at Black Dot Public Policy Advisors. “The onus of re-authentication and grievance redressal falls on issuing banks, which would need to have their systems prepared as customers may see failed payments or issues with authentication via OTPs. Since so many e-mandates would need to be set up on the same day, it is likely that we will see a non-trivial number of failures,” he said. Even as the RBI’s new guidelines help make payments more secure for customers, there are likely to be short-term challenges as banks will see a sudden rise in authenticating e-mandates, said Srinath Sridharan, member of governance council at Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE). “October is going to be a critical month because there will be multi-fold challenges in processing such payments, starting from the tremendous pressure on bank servers due to spike in bulk OTP messages, which would need to be sent to consumers for setting up their e-mandates, to addressing disputes emanating from failures in such authentication,” he said. Further, banks will increasingly need to depend on fintech companies to help them handle such large volumes of e-mandates that will come through October, he said. “Most banks will have to depend on fintech companies to make this processing possible, which are much better equipped to assist banks in processing e-mandates for recurring transactions,” he said. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="If not manually, how else can I set up e-mandates for all my recurring payments?" comment="subhead" text="If not manually, how else can I set up e-mandates for all my recurring payments?">If not manually, how else can I set up e-mandates for all my recurring payments?</cmsannotation> Customers who do not want to make all their recurring payments manually can either set up auto-pay using the net banking facility, or do it through online <keyword id="6420963" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bill-payment" source="Orion">bill payment</keyword> companies. Fintech companies such as BillDesk, Citibank’s Billpay, ICICI Bank’s Mandate Hub and Yes Bank’s PayNow allow users to set up auto-pay e-mandates, while others such as PayU's Zion and Razorpay’s Mandate HQ enable banks to automate recurring transactions. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="More pain for banks and telecom operators" comment="subhead" text="More pain for banks and telecom operators">More pain for banks and telecom operators</cmsannotation> “The usual retail consumer traffic increases over the weekend, which means every time a customer tries to re-authenticate their recurring payment, the bank will have to send out OTPs, and those banks that are not well-equipped or have not adequately invested in integrating their servers, will face a lot of challenges,” said Sridharan. In March, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had to roll back its norms on commercial text messages, which required ‘scrubbing’ of text messages by telecom providers, to protect customers from spams. However, once implemented, many customers took to social media to complain about not receiving OTPs for transactional messages such as for banking and e-commerce. “As each of these banks start pushing out bulk messages, the traffic from bank servers to authenticate transactions will suddenly increase. Hopefully, the user banks are ready with technology preparedness and SoPs (standard operating procedures) for this. And more importantly, all industry stakeholders should be geared to address consumer concerns, and to ensure that the customer call centres and other touch points are ready for handling both queries and speedy redressal of grievances,” said Sridharan. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/meesho-raises-more-than-half-a-billion-dollars-in-the-fourth-biggest-funding-round-this-year/articleshow/86636161.cms">Meesho raises more than half a billion dollars in the fourth biggest funding round this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vedantu-the-last-and-biggest-rival-of-byjus-has-finally-entered-the-unicorn-club/articleshow/86614637.cms">Vedantu, the last and biggest rival of Byju’s, has finally entered the unicorn club</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-powers-stock-gains-on-transformation-towards-renewable-energy/articleshow/86640268.cms">Tata Power wants to break up with coal and investors love it</a>

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