Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<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><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> is the new kid on the block that has emerged as a challenger to <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and <keyword id="6354742" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="flipkart" source="Orion">Flipkart</keyword> with 120 mn users</li><li>Aims to bring 100 mn small sellers across India online</li><li>The newly minted unicorn is looking at going public in less than two years after it turns profitable.</li></ul>Shaan Ansari is a 19-year old entrepreneur who lives in the historic city of Panipat, 100 kms north of Delhi, and he may never qualify for any list celebrating under-20 entrepreneurs, but his story is no less inspiring than Ranveer Singh’s character in Gully Boy. The pandemic put his father out of work and Ansari out of school back in 2020. When crisis struck, Ansari went scouting for opportunities online that would require zero investment and he found it in Meesho, a social commerce platform that is designed to help solo entrepreneurs and small businesses sell their wares to a wider audience. Ansari sourced bath mats and door mats made locally and started selling them on Meesho. When his suppliers could not meet the demand, Ansari borrowed money to start his own factory. Today he manufactures these mats from a rented factory, employs 50 people and clocks revenues of ₹30 lakh a month. It is transformational stories like Ansari’s that keep Meesho’’s co-founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey and his team going. Recalling his trip to Panipat, Aatrey, says, “The neighbourhood that Ansari lives in is a really humble one and his home actually doubles up as a warehouse. When I visited him, his staff and family offered dry fruits with chai. Ansari kept telling us how his family’s fortunes have changed after he discovered Meesho. As a team we travel every quarter to listen to sellers like Ansari on our platform and are now attempting to solve some of their other financial needs so that they don’t have to go to money lenders for working capital needs.” <div type="image" title="Meesho_1 (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93702892" hostid="261"></div> 100 million sellers to reach a billion buyers Aatrey’s dream is to get a million local businesses online so that they expand their markets by selling wares across India, irrespective of where they are located. In the last two years, this new kid on the block has emerged as a challenger to the Big Boys of e-commerce. Meesho - which is a short code for ‘my shop’ - has gotten bigger after the pandemic with 120 million monthly active users (MAUs) in a short span of time. Flipkart and Amazon have 200 million registered users each. Meesho’s target is to have 100 million sellers on its platform and sell to a billion buyers. Meesho was born on the premise that for online commerce to genuinely offer value, local retailers had to go online. Unorganized retail accounts for 90% of India’s spends. But when Aatrey and his co-founder Sanjeev Bamwal discovered that the sellers were not coming online because the buyers were not all shopping online. The pandemic has enabled Meesho to bring a lot more local businesses online as it was a matter of their survival. Challenging Amazon and Flipkart In the early days, Meesho’s sales were driven by 15 million women resellers, who bought products from the platform and sold it through WhatsApp and Facebook groups. From being a social commerce platform driven by re-sellers, it today has a share of nearly 30% in total daily online deliveries. Of the 9 million e-commerce orders processed daily, Meesho accounts for 2.7 million, while the two biggies account for 5 million. Clearly, Meesho is the challenger that nobody expected would catch up with Amazon and Flipkart. Another interesting statistic says that of the 70 million shoppers online, only 10 million are digital natives. It is a no-brainer then that India’s small businesses can provide the network effect to any online commerce platform that chooses to target this segment. Meesho waded into this space back in 2015, but found it tough to convince small entrepreneurs to come online because their customers were not online either. Language barriers and quality of internet speeds were only a few reasons why sellers were not online. Even when they brought sellers online, their buyers were still not online nor was Meesho’s app on too many smartphones. This changed after the pandemic but before that it was Meesho’s army of 15 million women resellers that drove its gross merchandise value up until 2020. Meesho is called a social commerce channel because it has been built by women resellers who found a vocation and economic independence by reselling goods purchased from the platform on WhatsApp and Facebook groups. Between 2017 and 2020, 100% sales were happening through resellers. The share of these women resellers is now down to 20% as consumers have now started downloading the app. Meesho’s monthly average users stand at 120 million and 35 million users transact on the app every month. On an average, 110 million Indian shoppers bought on Meesho last year. Not surprising that investors have also queued up to invest in the company. After raising seed capital of $300,000 from angel investors in March 2016, Meesho is valued at $4.9 bn after its latest round of capital raise of $570 mn in September 2021. Its list of marquee investors include Soft Bank Vision Fund 2, Prosus, Fidelity Management and Research, Yuri Milner’s DST Partners, Sequoia, SAIF Partners and Y Combinator among others. Sellers turn brand ambassadors <div type="image" title="Meesho_2 (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93702936" hostid="261"></div> Currently, there are six lakh sellers like Ansari on Meesho and the start-up wants to take this to one million. This goal may be work-in-progress, but every week employees join the Meesho Sabha, a meeting where examples like Ansari are discussed at length so that the team does not take its eyes off the goal post. Even though Meesho continues with its outreach programme to help sellers, existing sellers have now become brand ambassadors who are helping others get online. The platform offers peer-to-peer learning in several languages for those who want to get started. Says Dhiresh Bansal, chief financial officer of Meesho, “We still do our outreach programmes but a lot of people are now coming to our platform, as they need to diversify by targeting newer markets. Also the younger generation is more progressive and are taking their family businesses online.” After its success in the last two years, Meesho’s working hard to resolve several issues of sellers on its platform. Most of these sellers have seen a sharp rise in demand for their products after going online and the need for working capital requirement has gone up sharply. Lucknow-based Suman Agrawal used to sell women’s fashion clothing at her boutique but has shut it down after her brand Rudraksh saw sales boom on Meesho. She currently manages 22,000 orders a month. There are several sellers in India who cannot go online because they don’t have the requisite GST number. Aatrey has been a votary of their cause for a while. In June this year, the GST Council cleared a proposal that will no longer require sellers on e-commerce platforms to have a GST registration, if their turnover is less than ₹40 lakh and ₹20 lakh for goods and services respectively. This rule will come into effect from January 2023. Aatrey believes that this will be a game changer for millions of small sellers across India. While the company is not looking to raise capital immediately, it has plans to turn profitable and then hit the markets in a couple of years. The e-commerce player is looking at tightening its belt on costs now that it has attained scale. If it has to turn profitable in under 2 years then Meesho will have to cut back on cashburn and conserve capital. Aatrey says, “This festive season will give us an indication if there is any slowdown. We have not seen that so far, so it will be something that we will learn from.” <div type="image" title="Meesho_3 (1) (1)" height="900" width="1200" msid="93703012" hostid="261"></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sensex-slips-517-points-goes-below-the-60000-mark/articleshow/93701486.cms">Sensex slips 517 points, goes below the 60,000-mark</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/not-just-ev-makers-there-are-many-more-stocks-that-can-gain-from-ev-play/articleshow/93696654.cms">Not just EV makers, there are many more stocks that can gain from EV play</a>

Meet India’s Real Gully Boy: Vidit Aatrey of Meesho is taking the entrepreneurial dream deep inside Bharat

Homegrown social commerce platform <keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> on Monday announced a first-of-its-kind Boundaryless Workplace Model. Through this model, the firm is giving its employees the power to choose to work from home, office or any location of their choice. With a focus on seamless employee experience, Meesho will enable its workforce with real-time and virtual collaboration tools. "Driven by our mantra to build a people-centric workplace, Meesho has always ensured employees are at the core of everything we do. We have been championing many industry-first initiatives that have redefined conventional workplace norms and this new policy is a step in that direction," Ashish Kumar Singh, Chief Human Resources Officer, Meesho said. Providing opportunities for teams to even meet and collaborate in-person, the company is introducing initiatives like trips to attend quarterly summits and an annual workation in locations like Goa. To support working parents, Meesho will sponsor day care facilities for employees with children below 6 years of age. This can also be availed during official travels to Meesho's head office in Bangalore. According to a recent Sensor Tower report, the homegrown social commerce platform also became the only Indian company and e-commerce platform to feature among the top 10 most downloaded non-gaming apps across the world in October 2021. With new additions such as sports and fitness, pet supplies, automotive accessories among others, Meesho has now grown its roster to over 700 product categories. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/future-groups-kishore-biyani-mohandas-pai-and-68-others-invest-in-former-twitter-india-heads-latest-startup/articleshow/89403045.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, Mohandas Pai and 68 others invest in former Twitter India head’s latest startup</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/macquarie-slashes-paytms-target-price-to-700-goldman-sachs-upgrades-it/articleshow/89401105.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Macquarie slashes Paytm’s target price to ₹700, Goldman Sachs upgrades it</a> <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-steels-stock-on-a-gaining-spree-led-by-doubling-profits-huge-debt-reduction-and-hopes-from-the-union-budget/articleshow/89398818.cms">Tata Steel is on a gaining spree. Thanks to doubling profits, huge debt reduction, and hopes from the union budget</a>

Meesho allows employees to permanently work from anywhere

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>’s ecommerce market is expected to reach $130 billion by 2025. </li><li>Social ecommerce firms in India like Meesho are performing better than traditional ecommerce firms. </li><li>The world’s biggest ecommerce company is struggling to gain a foothold in India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities due to regulatory setbacks.</li></ul><keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> marked a spectacular entry into India in 2013 and not just because <keyword id="191583" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="jeff-bezos" source="Orion">Jeff Bezos</keyword> sat atop a colourful truck or it invested $7 billion into the market. India is one of the biggest emerging ecommerce markets globally, estimated to reach $130 billion by 2025. Almost ten years later, its success is being questioned by a wealth management firm, Bernstein, in its latest report. Amazon is now the second largest player behind Flipkart with a gross merchandise value of $18-20 billion and has over 170 million products. But it’s yet to turn profitable in a market where the average order value is below $10 (approx. ₹800). “Besides growth-related investments, profitability has also been impacted by a higher mix of low margin product categories (e.g., smartphones with sub 5% net margins). Amazon has struggled to scale volumes in higher margin categories such as fashion and beauty and personal care,” said the Bernstein report. Fashion has seen the highest growth in the last few years, and so has grocery. But the latter is led by quick commerce players like Dunzo, Zepto and <keyword id="12724311" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="blinkit" source="Orion">Blinkit</keyword>. Amazon and Flipkart are market leaders in mobiles and consumer electronics. But the share of this segment in the ecommerce market is declining. Indian regulations give <keyword id="10926" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="reliance" source="Orion">Reliance</keyword> an edge over Amazon In spite of having 700,000 sellers on its platform, Amazon is yet to gain ground in a very important category in India — tier 2 and tier 3 markets. As per the report, these markets account for around 50% of all e-commerce sales, and they’re growing. “Reliance leads in India with a strong 1P business with over 15,000 store retail footprints. Flipkart is the frontrunner in the apparel category and social ecommerce firm Meesho is winning in tier 2/3 cities where Amazon struggles to perform,” it said. 1P business is where retailers have an online presence like Reliance with a wide brick and mortar footprint. Amazon however is a 3P player who works with sellers. The regulations in India are skewed towards the former, and tougher for MNCs. “Regulations don't allow for an inventory-led 1P model for a foreign entity like Amazon. The company has made investments into local retailers like <keyword id="64373" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="shoppers-stop" source="Orion">Shoppers Stop</keyword> (fashion), More (grocery), and a rumoured stake in <keyword id="1560087" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ecom-express" source="Orion">Ecom Express</keyword> (logistics) but integration has been limited as the regulations don't allow for full control,” the report said. At the same time, its key competitor Reliance scaled up its ecommerce operations to around 19% of core retail sales, thanks to its 15,000 stores and ability to manage an inventory-led model. “Amazon's management attrition has also increased recently, potentially signaling difficulties achieving desired scale,” the report said. Amazon’s worldwide consumer CEO Dave Clark left the company after 23 years in 2022. Here’s where ecommerce growth is at The sweet spot for ecommerce growth in India is Tier 2+, the report says, which is a market that’s seeking products tailored to their needs. <keyword id="3030142" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="myglamm" source="Orion">MyGlamm</keyword>, <keyword id="1932100" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bewakoof" source="Orion">Bewakoof</keyword> and Sleepy Owl are able to achieve this with a large chunk of their business coming from these towns. However, due to regulations, Amazon cannot make headway here too. The inability to operate a 1P model has limited the availability of private labels versus the competition, which further pressures margins, the report says. “Despite the importance of the market, we estimate that it contributes less than 5% to Amazon's overall value. At Amazon's current valuation, we see the India business as a call option for Amazon investors, as long as the company is disciplined around capital allocation,” says Bernstein. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/upcoming-new-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-september-2022/slidelist/93945270.cms">Upcoming smartphones launching in India in September 2022</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/cash-rich-family-offices-of-small-towns-are-buying-into-the-india-startup-story/articleshow/93944024.cms">Cash-rich family offices of small towns are buying into the India startup story</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/meet-laxman-narsimhan-the-pune-boy-wholl-soon-be-the-ceo-of-starbucks/slidelist/93941369.cms">Meet Laxman Narsimhan, the Pune boy who’ll soon be the CEO of Starbucks</a>

Amazon is struggling in India unlike Reliance, Meesho says wealth management firm Bernstein

<ul><li>The Times 100 <keyword id="17778773" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="most-influential-companies" source="Orion">most influential companies</keyword> of 2023 list has been divided in five sub categories.</li><li>Polygon Labs, a company founded by Sandeep Nailwal and Jaynti Kanani, of Indian origin, has made it to the list too.</li><li>Elon Musk owned SpaceX and language learning app Duolingo are featured in the Leader category</li></ul> There is good news and not so good news. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks' Association (IBA) 2008 launched National Payments Corporation of India or the <keyword id="193629" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="npci" source="Orion">NPCI</keyword> has featured in the <keyword id="518661" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="times-list" source="Orion">Times list</keyword> of top-100 influential companies. What more? Another youngster, Meesho, founded only in 2015, has made it too. The not so good news? These are the only two on the list. NCPI is a non-profit umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. NPCI owns and operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and is also in charge of the RuPay payment system, which works like Visa and MasterCard. Recently, it has created a separate subsidiary to take its product to the global market. According to media reports, it is in talks with Gulf nations, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, to expand its UPI service. Meanwhile, e-commerce platform Meesho, which specialises in retail distribution, has also made it to the coveted list. A few weeks earlier, a report by mobile data analytics provider data.a, Meesho became the fastest shopping app to cross 500 million cumulative downloads. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The categorisation and the notable mentions" comment="subhead" text="The categorisation and the notable mentions">The categorisation and the notable mentions</cmsannotation> The list has been divided in five sub categories – leaders, disruptors, innovators, titans and pioneers. NPCI and Meesho both have been mentioned under the ‘Pioneers’. The Titans section has big powerhouses such as IBM, JPMorgan Chase, Lockheed Martin etc. An interesting name in this list is TikTok. Footwear brand Crocs and Polygon Labs, founded by Sandeep Nailwal and Jaynti Kanani, of Indian origin, have been mentioned in the Innovators section. Elon Musk owned SpaceX, language learning app Duolingo and gaming chipmaker Nvidia are the quick noticeable names under the Leader category.

UPI parent body and this e-commerce startup are on Times list of top-100 influential companies

Global <keyword id="6354185" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IT" source="Orion">IT</keyword> services firm <keyword id="6370971" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="accenture" source="Orion">Accenture</keyword>, which has a large presence in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, on Thursday announced to lay off of nearly 19,000 employees amid the challenging global macro-economic conditions and slow revenue growth. Delivering its quarterly results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the company also reduced its annual revenue growth and profit forecasts. "We are also taking steps to lower our costs in fiscal year 2024 and beyond while continuing to invest in our business and our people to capture the significant growth opportunities ahead," Julie Sweet, <keyword id="6415823" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="chair" source="Orion">Chair</keyword> and CEO, Accenture, said in a statement. The company said its revenues were $15.8 billion, an increase of 5 per cent in US dollars. The new bookings were at $22.1 billion, a 13 per cent increase. During the second quarter of fiscal 2023, Accenture initiated actions to streamline operations, transform non-billable corporate functions and consolidate office space to reduce costs. The company recorded $244 million in business optimization costs during the second quarter and expects to record total costs of approximately $1.5 billion through fiscal 2024. "Accenture estimates $1.2 billion for severance and $300 million for consolidation of office space, with approximately $800 million expected in fiscal 2023 and $700 million in fiscal 2024," said the company. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/now-sync-your-air-travel-with-uber-via-email-integration-in-india/articleshow/98942821.cms">Now sync your air travel with Uber via email integration in India</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/heres-how-meesho-zepto-pepperfry-and-icertis-cracked-hyperscaling/slidelist/98943189.cms">Here’s how Meesho, Zepto, Pepperfry and Icertis cracked ‘hyperscaling’</a>

You Searched For "meesho profits" and got 6 results

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

Malini Bhupta

Meet India’s Real Gully Boy: Vidit Aatrey of Meesho is taking the entrepreneurial dream deep inside Bharat

Malini Bhupta

Meesho allows employees to permanently work from anywhere

IANS

Amazon is struggling in India unlike Reliance, Meesho says wealth management firm Bernstein

Eetika Kapoor

UPI parent body and this e-commerce startup are on Times list of top-100 influential companies

Abhishek Jha

Global IT services firm Accenture slashes 19,000 jobs, tech mayhem deepens

IANS

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides