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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Artificial intelligence is altering the workforce in unpredictable ways.</li><li>While companies and workers are beginning to embrace AI, some worry about its risks.</li><li>Here are 10 ways AI tools such as ChatGPT have entered the workplace — and what may come out of it.</li></ul>Artificial intelligence is already changing the workplace in ways we never could've imagined.Since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">OpenAI launched ChatGPT, its conversational AI chatbot</a>, in November, many have used it to <a href="https://www.insider.com/chatgpt-fitness-ai-love-exercise-2023-5">lose weight</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-travel-itenerary-vacation-costa-rica-errors-logistics-advisors-2023-3">plan vacations</a>, and even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-men-are-using-ai-for-dating-profiles-messaging-study-2023-6">land dates</a>.Now, some companies are embracing AI — though not without precaution — as business leaders begin to wake up to the technology's impressive capabilities. In a <a href="https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/c-suite-study/ceo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 IBM study</a> surveying 3000 executives on generative AI, 75% of respondents said it would give their businesses a competitive edge and 43% are using AI to make strategic business decisions. But not all workers are ready to use AI. In the IBM study, 57% of the executives said they had reservations about data security, while 48% said they were also concerned about bias. Nevertheless, workers and companies are starting to deploy AI for business purposes in myriad ways. <h2>Here are 10 ways AI is changing the workforce:</h2><h3>1. Workers are using ChatGPT to help do their jobs </h3>Workers across industries — from education to law — are using AI technology such as ChatGPT to automate their workflows to save time and boost productivity. Nick Patrick, the owner of the music-production company Primal Sounds Productions, told Insider he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-workers-manage-emails-write-contracts-2023-6">used ChatGPT to fine-tune legal contracts</a> for clients. Shannon Ahern, a high-school math and science teacher, said she <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-school-math-science-teacher-uses-openai-chatgpt-education-learning-2023-3">used the AI chatbot to generate quiz questions</a> and lesson plans.Others have used the chatbot to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-work-better-earn-more-money-2023-5">write listings for luxury real estate, assist in recruiting efforts</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-hacks-reduce-workload-example-prompts-2023-4">draft social-media posts</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-amazon-employees-use-ai-chatbot-software-coding-customer-questions-2023-1">develop code</a>.In fact, many workers are even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/70-of-people-using-chatgpt-at-work-havent-told-bosses-2023-3">secretly using AI to help do their jobs</a>.At the beginning of the year, Fishbowl, a workplace-discussion app, surveyed more than 11,700 workers, including those from companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Twitter, to gauge whether they used AI at work. Out of the 43% of respondents who said they used AI to accomplish their work tasks, 68% of them said they hadn't told their bosses they were using them.<h3>2. Companies are looking for ChatGPT expertise in their workers </h3>Companies across various industries — including healthcare, education, and insurance — are looking to hire workers with experience using AI.As of June, more than a dozen of companies were hiring workers on sites such as Indeed and LinkedIn with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-roles-companies-want-ai-chatgpt-experience-salary-2023-6#product-managers-7">ChatGPT expertise listed in their job postings</a>, paying as much as $800,000 a year for the skill. Executives at these companies told Insider that job candidates with knowledge of AI might be more productive, creative, and open to change than those without AI expertise. The move to hire AI-savvy workers seems to be gaining traction. In a recent survey from the job site Resume Builder of business leaders who were hiring, 91% of respondents said they wanted to bring on workers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-experience-wanted-by-employers-hire-study-2023-4" rel="">who knew how to use OpenAI's chatbot to save time and enhance productivity</a>.<h3>3. Employers are encouraging workers to learn how to use AI </h3>Executives are asking their workers to integrate AI into their workflows. That way, companies can save time and money on their business processes.Jensen Huang, the CEO of the chip giant Nvidia, said workers should learn <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-tools-turn-anyone-into-programmer-nvidia-ceo-2023-5?amp">how to use AI to improve their performance</a>."Everyone is a programmer now," Huang said during this year's Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan. "You just have to say something to the computer." Akash Nigam, the CEO and founder of Genies, an avatar-tools company, previously told Insider he purchased ChatGPT Plus accounts for all of his 120 employees and encouraged them to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-buys-chatgpt-plus-accounts-all-employees-sees-productivity-boost-2023-5">make learning the AI chatbot a priority</a> so they could "effectively accelerate" their departments."You really got to find time to, like, learn this skill," Nigam previously told Insider. <h3>4. Job applicants are using AI to write their résumés and improve their applications </h3>AI can help you land your next gig by improving your job application.To test his company's recruiting efforts, Neil Taylor, the founder of Schwa, a communications consultancy, said that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-written-application-got-shortlisted-for-interview-recruiters-2023-1">he secretly submitted a job application written by ChatGPT to recruiters</a> at his firm and later learned that ChatGPT was one of the few applicants chosen for an interview. "It was more competent than a lot of the bad people who apply to us," <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/recruitment-team-unwittingly-recommends-chatgpt-for-job-interview-12788770" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taylor told Sky News</a>.Insider's Beatrice Nolan conducted a similar experiment, in which she <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-job-applications-hiring-managers-job-interview-candidate-2022-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">asked ChatGPT to write cover letters</a> for real jobs and sent the letters to hiring managers for them to review. The managers told Nolan they would've offered her an interview even though they said the letters lacked personality.AI enthusiasts have also expressed on social media how impressed they are with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/using-chatgpt-ai-write-cover-letters-job-applications-2023-2">ChatGPT's ability to write cover letters</a>, resurfacing a long-held debate on whether cover letters should be removed from the job-application process. <h3>5. AI is being used to make hiring decisions </h3>AI-assisted hiring is nothing new. For years, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatgpt-hiring-ghost-interviews-job-search-weird-labor-market-2023-5">companies have used AI tools to screen résumés and cover letters, interview job candidates, and even analyze the speech and facial expressions of applicants to get a read on their personalities</a> — processes that experts say might not be fair when making hiring decisions. But some human-resources professionals say that generative-AI tools have helped them do their jobs better. Jasmine Cheng, a recruiter who left Amazon to start her own recruiting firm called Topknack, said she <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-for-hr-job-recruiting-hiring-2023-4">used ChatGPT to do things such as finding job candidates</a> and creating interview questions, which she said saved her at least 10 hours a week. "With those hours back, I can reach more candidates, network, and even conduct more business development to get more clients, which leads to making more money," Cheng previously told Insider.<h3>6. Companies are using AI to write their performance reviews </h3>Managers may find writing performance reviews for their employees a tough task. But what if AI could do it for you?Companies behind HR-management software are starting to integrate AI features that can help managers write performance reviews that are fair, accurate, and personalized for their direct reports. For instance, Textio, an HR-management tool with an AI-assistant feature for performance reviews, is used by companies such as Hulu, Spotify, T-Mobile, and McDonald's, <a href="https://www.worklife.news/technology/performance-reviews/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WorkLife reported</a>. AI-generated performance reviews are nothing new. In 2018, the cloud giant Oracle launched <a href="https://www.oracle.com/chatbots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Assistant</a>, an AI chatbot that HR professionals can use to complete employee evaluations.AI expertise may also be taken into consideration during a performance review. Nigam, the CEO of the avatar-tools company, expects to make decisions on who gets promoted based on how well they know ChatGPT, he told Insider.<h3>7. Experts say AI could help make the 4-day workweek possible</h3>A four-day workweek may be on the horizon thanks to ChatGPT.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-ai-beginner-prompts-learn-the-tech-boost-career-2023-5">AI tools can help workers be more productive</a>, which, in turn, cuts down the time it takes to accomplish any given task — a "necessary condition for us to work less," Oded Netzer, a professor at Columbia Business School, previously told Insider.Carl Benedikt Frey, an Oxford economist, echoed the sentiment. He told Insider: "Any technology that increases productivity, ChatGPT included, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ai-change-jobs-chatgpt-pay-remote-work-productivity-2023-6">makes a shorter workweek more feasible</a>." But some experts say that AI's prospective productivity gains may not shorten the workweek. Michael Chu, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, previously told Insider that employers might <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/will-chatgpt-ai-make-4-day-workweek-possible-in-future-2023-3">expect employees to work even harder to maximize their output because of AI</a>.<h3>8. Companies are restricting their employees from using AI at work</h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-companies-issued-bans-restrictions-openai-ai-amazon-apple-2023-7#accenture-doesnt-have-a-formal-ban-on-generative-ai-tools-a-spokesperson-said-14">Some companies have set rules around how their employees can use AI in the workplace</a>, in part, to protect their confidential data from being leaked. While firms such as Apple and Spotify have been said to restrict their workers from using AI, other companies, such as JPMorgan and Northrop Grumman, appear to have outright barred their employees from using the tech. "Although AI, including ChatGPT and other 'conversational' AIs, can be enormously helpful and truly transformative, we want to be smart about how we implement these tools to protect ourselves, our partners, our company's information and our user data," executives at iHeartMedia wrote in a June memo explaining why it's restricting its workers from using AI. <h3>9. Many are questioning whether AI will replace their jobs </h3>As AI becomes more advanced, many workers may be wondering whether the tech will replace their jobs down the line. A recent Goldman Sachs report on the state of AI found that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generative-ai-chatpgt-300-million-full-time-jobs-goldman-sachs-2023-3">generative-AI tools could lead to a "significant disruption" in the labor market</a> and affect 300 million full-time jobs worldwide. White-collar workers — particularly people in law and those part of an administrative staff — are most likely to be affected by new AI tools, Goldman found. Other labor experts told Insider that workers in media, marketing, and finance — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-jobs-at-risk-replacement-artificial-intelligence-ai-labor-trends-2023-02">jobs that require writing and number crunching — were at risk of replacement by AI</a>. AI job replacement may already be occurring. Suumit Shah, the CEO of the e-commerce platform Dukaan, <a href="https://twitter.com/suumitshah/status/1678460567000850450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1678460567000850450%7Ctwgr%5E4f3408fdab2a22ef4700fa46f8c94179040e6e07%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fai-chatbot-ceo-laid-off-staff-human-support-2023-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted earlier this month</a> that "we had to layoff 90% of our support team" <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatbot-ceo-laid-off-staff-human-support-2023-7">because an AI chatbot was able to do its work faster</a>. But not all experts believe AI will wipe out jobs.Anu Madgavkar, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, told Insider that AI should be viewed as an imperfect productivity-enhancing tool that could produce bias and error. Richard Baldwin, an economist, said at the 2023 World Economic Forum's Growth Summit that while <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-wont-take-your-job-someone-who-uses-it-might-2023-5">AI might not replace your job</a>, workers who know how to use AI may replace those who don't. <h3>10. Workers are striking against the use of AI </h3>While some workers seek to embrace AI in their roles, others are speaking out against the ways the technology can harm workers. For the past three months, thousands of Hollywood writers in the Writers Guild of America have been on strike, in part, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-writers-strike-over-technology-ai-netflix-streaming-studios-2023-7">to express their concerns over the potential for AI to replace their jobs</a>. Now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-actors-set-to-strike-after-talks-studios-streamers-fail-2023-7">actors from the SAG-AFTRA guild have joined the strike</a>, urging studios to be extra careful with how they use AI. "Artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to creative professions, and all actors and performers deserve contract language that protects them from having their identity and talent exploited without consent and pay," Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNS2EtQbG5I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said during a press conference this month</a>.Journalists are also pushing back against the use of AI in newsrooms. In late June, the GMG Union of G/O Media — the company behind sites such as Gizmodo and Jezebel — released a statement pleading with the parent company to put the brakes on experimenting with AI-generated content. "We urge G/O Media to cease its plans to litter our sites with AI-generated content and invest in real journalism done by real journalists," <a href="https://twitter.com/gmgunion/status/1674535138883952640" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the letter said</a>.

10 ways artificial intelligence is changing the workplace, from writing performance reviews to making the 4-day workweek possible

<ul><li><keyword id="8506093" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jiomart">JioMart</keyword> launches as a grocery retail platform delivering in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan. </li><li><keyword id="10926" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance">Reliance</keyword> is also calling for pre-registrations which promises to save ₹3,000 at the time of launch. </li><li><keyword id="2003276" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword>’s entry is a threat to <keyword id="35621" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> bigwigs, Amazon, Flipkart and also startups like BigBasket, Grofers, Swiggy, Dunzo. </li></ul>Reliance Industries has silently launched its much talked about e-commerce venture, JioMart. JioMart is a grocery retail platform that calls itself ‘desh ki nayi dukaan’. The website says that it is currently available in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan - suburbs of Mumbai. “Yes, we have soft-launched our operations. All Jio users are sent invites to register to avail of preliminary discounts. Though it is currently only in three regions, we would be scaling it up further. The JioMart app will be launched soon," an official told <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/ril-gears-up-to-take-on-amazon-flipkart-with-jiomart-launch-11577730323843.html">Mint</a>. Reliance is also calling for pre-registrations from users with savings of as much as ₹3,000. This step can help boost the valuation of the business which has 10,901 physical stores across the country. Reliance Industries said that it plans to spin off its retail venture, and the new digital avatar can boost its valuation. An <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-retail-is-valued-at-2-4-lakh-crore/articleshow/72988278.cms">IANS report</a> pegs the value of Reliance Retail at ₹2.4 lakh crore as per a share swap scheme. It basically calculated the value of the business as RIL offered one share of the combined entity for every four shares of retail business. Also, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ril-first-indian-firm-to-hit-rs-10-lakh-cr-m-cap-mark/articleshow/72276957.cms">RIL</a> stock touched ₹10 lakh crore this year, boosting the value of all its businesses. JioMart’s debut is a threat to several e-commerce players who have been scaling up their grocery retail operations like – Amazon, Flipkart to startups like BigBasket, Grofers, Swiggy, Dunzo. For over a year now, rumours of Reliance e-commerce debut had been doing the rounds. The company has also been buying into startups in the sector. Going by an offline-to-online model, in December Reliance acquired 85% stake in the Hyderabad-based startup Nowfloats for ₹141.63 crores. Nowfloats offers SaaS based solutions to SMEs, and enables their digital presence. In August 2019, Reliance acquired a majority stake in the Google-backed fashion e-commerce startup Fynd. In March 2019, Reliance had acquired Mumbai-based logistics platform Grab A Grub. Reliance Retail has made a much bigger promise to build its online business on the back of its 364.3 million Jio subscribers. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-retail-is-valued-at-2-4-lakh-crore/articleshow/72988278.cms">Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail is valued at ₹2.4 lakh crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/reliance-industries-latest-acquisition-takes-mukesh-ambani-closer-to-e-commerce-launch/articleshow/72504542.cms">Reliance Industries' latest acquisition takes Mukesh Ambani closer to e-commerce launch</a>

Reliance’s e-commerce venture JioMart makes a silent debut, calls for pre-registrations

<ul><li>As the supply chain of essentials is affected, e-commerce platforms are depending on <keyword id="6513856" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="kirana-stores">kirana stores</keyword> for efficient delivery. </li><li>Startups are offering free online applications to mom-n-pop stores, while B2B startups are raking in revenue thanks to the kirana business. </li><li>Now, Reliance Industries too wants a piece of the pie. Jio’s e-commerce entity <keyword id="8506093" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jiomart">JioMart</keyword> has taken the Offline to Online business model and its partnership with Facebook will only boost it. </li></ul>With the coronavirus lockdown in place, the local mom n pop stores or kirana dukans have become the go-to stores. These neighbourhood stores which had come under threat because of the rise of e-commerce, have turned into lockdown heroes. With e-commerce apps finding it difficult to deliver or managing huge volumes, many users have turned to local kirana stores. They don’t mind standing in the circles made outside a shop to practise social distancing as long as they can go home with the groceries they want. But it’s not just that. As the supply chain is affected by the district lockdown and fewer labour in place, e-commerce platforms are too banking on kiranas for efficient delivery of essentials. And this has resulted in a line-up of startups and big corporates all turning to the kirana waala dukaan with offers, new products and more. ‘Kirana stores have become India’s lifeline’ Amazon India launched ‘Local Shops on Amazon’. The program helps customers discover products from local shops in their city from the convenience of their homes, while helping shopkeepers supplement their footfalls with a digital presence and expand beyond their normal catchment, said the company. Amazon had piloted this program for 6 months with over 5000 local shops and retailers from 100+ cities across India. India is home to a vast number of B2B startups who have been working with mom n pop stores. MaxWholesale, a B2B e-commerce platform for kirana stores to source online inventory, raked in sales worth over ₹1 crore in a single day. “During such unprecedented times, kiranas have become the lifeline for the country. We have ensured that our on-ground staff and our suppliers get the best of our capabilities. The confidence that the suppliers and retailers have bestowed upon us has made us achieve this feat. We are committed to make kirana stores comfortable with technology by solving their core problem of dependable supply,” said Samarth Agrawal, Founder &amp; CEO, MaxWholesale. With kirana stores becoming the centrepoint for essentials, startups also figured out the need to start listing them online for faster delivery and efficiency. Phonepe introduced a new feature ‘stores’ with a list of kirana stores near you, and you can place your order and pay through the app for a contactless delivery. Meanwhile, startups like GoFrugal and LoveLocal started offering free applications to kirana shops to help them take their business online and serve more customers. Nearly 80,000 LoveLocal shops are serving over 10 million consumers across India with no touch delivery and no touch shop pickup. "These are difficult times. During the lockdown, when there is a need for essential goods, our neighbourhood kirana stores are the ones who have stepped up to help us. GOFRUGAL is offering our gratitude by providing free solutions till September 2020. All these functions can be managed at their fingertips using our app. Going forward we aim to upgrade all the kirana stores into a smart platform where they can continue to enjoy the benefits,” said Kumar Vembu, CEO and Founder, GOFRUGAL. The big game – JioMart and its O2O model Big guns are gunning for kirana business too. Paytm Mall, which began operations in February 2017, went through a series of ups and downs. This was until in 2019 when it switched to an O2O model led business. Now, Paytm Mall drives its online traffic to offline stores through gift vouchers, offers and uses offline strength to push online traffic through digital payments only. And now the big player Reliance Retail too wants a piece of the pie. Jio’s e-commerce entity JioMart has also taken to the hybrid model. Facilitating this offline-to-online model, in December 2019, Reliance acquired 85% stake in the Hyderabad-based startup Nowfloats for ₹141.63 crore. Nowfloats offers SaaS-based solutions to SMEs, and enables their digital presence. In August 2019, Reliance acquired a majority stake in the Google-backed fashion e-commerce startup Fynd. In March 2019, Reliance acquired Mumbai-based logistics platform Grab A Grub. Reliance Jio’s latest deal with Facebook is another such move in the same direction. One of the significant factors of the deal is that Reliance Retail and WhatsApp are now in a commercial partnership to accelerate the Indian giant’s e-commerce venture – JioMart. Through JioMart and WhatsApp, the entities will now help support consumer businesses. “The companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest kiranas who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart using WhatsApp,” Reliance said in a statement. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/the-ceo-of-54-billion-mahindra-mahindra-pawan-goenka-says-these-four-things-will-be-normal-in-the-post-covid-world/articleshow/75316936.cms">The Managing Director of $54 billion Mahindra &amp; Mahindra, Pawan Goenka, says these four things will be ‘normal’ in the post- COVID world</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/home-delivery-of-alcohol-is-illegal-anyone-telling-you-otherwise-is-probably-trying-to-run-a-scam/articleshow/75315790.cms">Home delivery of alcohol is illegal — anyone telling you otherwise is probably trying to run a scam</a>

From Reliance’s JioMart to Amazon and startups all line up to serve kiranas – India’s mom n pop stores

<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.

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