<ul><li><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> witnessed nearly a five-fold increase in the number of orders during its ‘Maha Indian Savings Sale’.</li><li>The company also claimed that 78% of its demand came from Tier 2 markets like Bhilal, Guntur, Hubli and Kollam.</li><li>Meesho claimed that nearly 1 lakh sellers have participated in the recent sale, out of which 26,000 were new.</li></ul>Facebook-backed ecommerce company Meesho claims to have recorded 5.35 million (53.5 lakh) orders during its one-day sale held earlier this week on Sunday (June 5), translating to over 60 orders every second. Meesho noted that it witnessed nearly a five-fold increase in the number of orders during its one-day sale this year, compared to 1 million orders in its 2021 sale. The company also claimed that 8 out of 10 orders came from Tier 2 markets like Bhilal, Guntur, Hubli, Kollam, Meerut and Port Blair. Top categories to witness the highest growth during the sale were Apparel, Kidswear, Consumer Electronics and Home Decor. Meesho claimed that nearly 1 lakh sellers have participated in the recent sale – and 3 out of 4 were from Tier 2+ regions like Bathinda, Haldwani, Solapur and Tirunelveli among others. “Participating sellers witnessed ~217% increase in orders during the sale event compared to business-as-usual (BAU),” the company added. About 26,000 sellers participated in Meesho’s sale for the first time. “Despite rising inflation and macroeconomic conditions, we hit an all-new record of 5.35 million orders during the one-day sale event, serving over ~20,000+ pincodes. In the last 6 months, we have witnessed a ~3.75X jump in seller participation in sale events,” Utkrishta Kumar, CXO of Business at Meesho, said. Founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho is an ecommerce company that has raised over a billion dollars till date. The company’s investors include Meta (formerly known as Facebook), SoftBank, Trifecta Capital Advisors, Fidelity Management and Research Company and others. The company — whose mobile app has been downloaded 102 million times — was valued at <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">$4.9 billion </a>in September 2021. It claims to have over 44 million products listed on its platform. Meesho competes with other ecommerce giants Amazon, Flipkart and Reliance’s JioMart. Although JioMart was founded four years after Meesho, the company was operating under the social commerce industry then. The company pivoted to the social commerce model only last year. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/pepper-content-raises-14-million-to-enter-the-us-market/articleshow/92084581.cms" style="">INTERVIEW: Pepper Content skip the traditional Middle East route, heads directly for the US market</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-has-lived-up-to-expectations-so-far-says-walmart-ceo-confirms-ipo-plans/articleshow/92096890.cms" style="">Flipkart has ‘lived up to expectations so far’, says Walmart CEO, confirms IPO plans</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mobikwik-plans-to-raise-100-million-as-ipo-delayed/articleshow/92099731.cms" style="">Mobikwik looks to raise $100 million as it delays IPO plans, founder says the ‘markets are not ready’</a>

India's youngest ecommerce giant received more than 60 orders every second during its one-day sale

<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="6357762" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-shopping" source="Orion">Online shopping</keyword> is India’s new pastime during the <keyword id="1138708" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-time" source="Orion">prime time</keyword> slot of 8 pm on weekdays. </li><li>Indians are taking their fitness very seriously with sales of fitness equipment surging 3X in 2022 on online commerce platform <keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword>. </li><li>Customers from Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Ladakh and the north-eastern states are addicted to shopping as ordering from these states outpaces others. </li></ul>There’s a new prime time slot, when Indians drop everything to do what they like doing most – shopping. It is not Saas Bahu drama that Indians are spending their time on these days after 8 pm. Shopping is the new competition that even <keyword id="1245953" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ott" source="Orion">OTT</keyword> needs to watch out for. Meesho, the homegrown digital commerce platform, in its year-end report says that Indians shop the most on Sundays and after 8 pm on weekdays. The pandemic may be on its way out, but the after-effects are lingering as habits have been formed in these three years. Indians are continuing to spend as much time or even more on shopping apps, if the scale of order volumes is anything to go by. And even though the pandemic may be on its last legs, Indians continue to remain health conscious, with 10,000 steps becoming the new normal. Meesho says in its year-end report that the fitness frenzy is real. From dumbbells to treadmills, sales of fitness equipment surged 3X in 2022 as orders poured in from Srinagar and Mathura to Guntur and Siliguri. For metro dwellers, it is yoga over everything else, with Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai buying the most yoga mats. Meesho, which sought to democratise internet commerce for everyone, has done much to bridge the gap between Bharat and India. While its primary proposition is value for money, customers from across the length and breadth of India flocked to the portal in 2022 to search not just for low prices but also a variety of products. Meesho’s order volumes equalled the country’s total electorate: From Mumbai to Mirzapur, a record 91 crore orders were placed in 2022 (up 135% YoY), equalling India’s registered voter base in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. At roughly 140 million, Meesho’s annual transacting users exceeded the combined population of the top three nations in FIFA World Cup 2022: France, Argentina and Croatia. The most prolific shoppers are not from the metros. Customers from Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands are the most prolific with the highest number of orders per shopper. Ladakh comes close on the heels of the Andamans and the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim come after. Utkrishta Kumar, CXO, Business at Meesho, said, “2022 has been a breakout year for Meesho with the business growing exponentially. Our orders grew 135% YoY with growing demand not just from Tier 2+ regions but even value-seeking consumers from metros and Tier 1 who are increasingly shopping with us. This is a validation of our efforts to cater to customer needs for quality products at the lowest prices that were traditionally underserved by e-commerces.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What did India buy online in 2022?" comment="subhead2" text="What did India buy online in 2022?">What did India buy online in 2022?</cmsannotation> For years, grooming products found no takers as Indians were stuck at home during lockdowns. But men are now taking their grooming very seriously along with their fitness goals. ‘Smartwatch’ was the second-most searched product in 2022, showing how Indians are moving the needle on physical activity. And grooming products are not far behind as men from Tier 2 towns took better care of themselves, with more than 60% of orders coming from Tier 4 markets. Surprisingly enough, the biggest orders did not come from metro cities but from a small town in <keyword id="6357713" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="uttar-pradesh" source="Orion">Uttar Pradesh</keyword>. The platform says that a customer from Uttar Pradesh placed an order every waking hour, totaling up to 6,384 orders in 2022. The most cricket-crazy state is Uttar Pradesh, according to Meesho. Consumers from the state bought the maximum cricket gear. The country’s largest state was followed by Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Thanks to Akshay Kumar’s Padman, feminine hygiene has seen an uptick in Bharat. Orders for sanitary napkins grew 9X in Tier 2+ cities, demonstrating how e-commerce is creating accessibility for millions of women in Bharat. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/one-in-every-five-online-orders-had-a-kurti-or-saree-in-their-cart-redseer/articleshow/95598263.cms">Sarees </a>continue to be a particular favourite fashion item for women. With 148 sarees sold per minute and demand coming in from all corners of the country, India’s love for the attire has only grown. Close on the heels of sarees, 93,000 t-shirts, 51,725 bluetooth earphones and 21,662 lipsticks were sold every day. Haryana stocked up on bed sheets, Jharkhand snapped up extension boards, Rajasthan took a special liking to bluetooth earphones while Assam bought body lotions like nobody’s business. And even though reading may be fast going out of fashion, 8 in 10 orders for books came from Tier 2+ markets, with shoppers showing a clear inclination for self-help bestsellers like Ikigai, Atomic Habits, The Psychology of Money and Rich Dad Poor Dad. Meesho has not just democratised online commerce by taking it to nooks and crannies of India, but has also enriched sellers in the process as it does not charge commissions. Sellers saved ₹3,700 crore in commissions in 2022, thanks to its zero-commission model. Meesho also onboarded 500,000 suppliers in 2022, with 61% of them new to e-commerce and selling online for the first time.

Prime time TV & OTT now have competition from online shopping – Indians shop the most after 8 pm, says Meesho

<ul><li><keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> has raised $570 million, doubling its valuation to $4.9 billion from $2.1 billion reported in April. </li><li>It aims to reach 100 million monthly transacting users by December 2022, growing over seven-times from the current 15 million.</li><li>Meesho will also invest a part of this capital in its grocery delivery marketplace Farmiso, which was launched earlier this year.</li></ul>Social commerce platform Meesho has raised $570 million in a round led by Fidelity Management and Facebook cofounder-owned B Capital. The company has doubled its valuation to $4.9 billion from $2.1 billion<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/facebook-backed-meesho-raises-300-million-from-softbank-vision-fund-2-valuation-jumps-to-over-2-billion/articleshow/81907721.cms"> reported in April</a> this year. The company plans to use this capital to double down on its research and development (R&amp;D) teams and acquire more users. It aims to reach 100 million monthly transacting users by December 2022, growing over seven-times from the current 15 million. For this, it will deploy the capital to grow its technology and product team and increase its selection to include over 50 million products. Meesho among the biggest bets of this year The year 2021 has been a record-breaking year for Indian startups so far. The new age companies are now hitting the public market, cracking the biggest funding deals and more companies being valued at over a billion dollars. According to business intelligence firm Tracxn, Indian startups have raised $23 billion in 2021 till September 1. This is significantly higher than the $13 million raised by the industry all through 2020. Here are some of the biggest funding rounds of 2021 so far: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Startup </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Funding </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Valuation </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Investors </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Swiggy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$800 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$5 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Falcon Edge Capital, Goldman Sachs, Think Capital and others </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Eruditus </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$650 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3.2 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Accel, SoftBank, Leeds Illuminate, Prosus and others </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ShareChat </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$647 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2.88 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tiger Global Management, Mirae-Naver Asia Growth fund </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Meesho </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$570 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$4.9 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Fidelity Management, B Capital </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Ola </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$500 million </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$6 billion+ </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Temasek, Warburg Pincus, others </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Byju’s </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$490 millon </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$16.87 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">UBS, Blackstone, ADQ, Asmaan Ventures </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Walmart-owned ecommerce biggie Flipkart too raised <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-raises-3-6-billion-at-a-valuation-of-over-37-billion/articleshow/84338594.cms">$3.6 billion this year</a>, at a valuation of $37 billion, but the company is way past the startup tag to be a part of this list. Meesho plans to expand its grocery vertical Meesho will also invest a part of this capital in its grocery delivery marketplace Farmiso, which was launched earlier this year. The company also plans to hire aggressively for this specific vertical. The six-year-old startup runs a three-sided marketplace with suppliers, resellers and customers at the crux of it. Resellers buy unbranded fashion products from suppliers and later, sell it to the customers via social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram. It also has a direct sales channel. The latest round witnessed participation from new investors such as Footpath Ventures, Trifecta Capital and Good Capital. Even existing investors Prosus Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Facebook infused an undisclosed amount in the social commerce startup. DealShare — next in line to enter the unicorn club? Meesho was founded by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in 2015 and is currently the biggest social commerce platform in the country. It competes with Tiger Global-backed DealShare, Accel-backed Glowroad and Elevation Capital-backed CityMall. DealShare is expected to be the next social commerce startup to enter the unicorn club, a startup with a valuation of over a billion dollars. According to an Entrackr <a href="https://entrackr.com/2021/08/exclusive-dealshare-in-talks-to-raise-a-new-round-at-over-1-bn-valuation/">report</a>, the company is in talks with new and existing investors to raise a fresh round at over $1 billion valuation. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/the-amazon-bribery-case-in-india-is-getting-murkier-and-the-lack-of-transparency-is-not-helping/articleshow/86553927.cms">The murky case of bribery, allegedly on behalf of Amazon, has many unanswered questions </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/one-in-every-ten-feature-phone-user-in-india-uses-lava-and-it-is-now-going-to-the-public-to-raise-money/articleshow/86635642.cms">One in every ten feature phone user in India uses Lava, and it is now going to the public to raise money</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/indian-overseas-bank-shares-jump-as-rbi-allows-it-to-give-loans-without-restrictions/articleshow/86635420.cms">Indian Overseas Bank lost six years and half its business to clean up its bad loans but the market is cheering</a>

Meesho raises more than half a billion dollars in the fourth biggest funding round this year

<ul><li>Myntra and Facebook-backed Meesho sold<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/meesho-recorded-5-35-million-orders-during-the-one-day-sale/articleshow/92100754.cms"> 60 orders every second</a> or over 5 million products in total on one day of their sale.</li><li>The Consumer Confidence Survey, carried out by the central bank of India, is still in <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/business/households-see-high-prices-over-next-3-months-consumer-confidence-rises-7965166/">the negative territory</a>.</li><li>The impact of this reduced sentiment however isn’t as bad, especially in discretionary spends.</li></ul>India’s e-commerce titans — Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra — are all hosting their mid-year sales at the moment. It might sound like a bad time as customer sentiment is low due to inflation, layoffs, increasing interest rates and more. But the e-commerce market behaves much differently than<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/why-you-should-continue-your-investments-and-sips-in-bear-markets/articleshow/92199199.cms"> the stock markets</a>. Both Myntra and Facebook-backed Meesho — which is the latest entrant among the biggest e-commerce players — sold<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/meesho-recorded-5-35-million-orders-during-the-one-day-sale/articleshow/92100754.cms"> 60 orders every second</a> or over 5 million products in total on one day of their sale. For Myntra, it was the first day of its End of Reason sale held between June 11-16 and for Meesho, it was their one-day sale held a week before. Amazon and Flipkart have not yet revealed the performance of their sales yet. *While inflation and high petroleum prices are impacting everyone, consumer sentiment is not universally low. There are many categories in discretionary spending which are still having high sales. Anything with relatively high quality and reasonable pricing seems to be doing well,” N Chandramouli, founder of brand intelligence company TRA Research, too noted. According to several experts Business Insider spoke with, the right product at the right price matters. The Consumer Confidence Survey is still in <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/business/households-see-high-prices-over-next-3-months-consumer-confidence-rises-7965166/">the negative territory</a>. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) consumer confidence index showed slight improvement to 75.9 in May, compared to 71.7 in March, but it is still in the negative. The impact of this reduced sentiment however isn’t as bad, especially in discretionary spends. “The consumer sentiment isn't as negatively impacted as people are projecting it to be,” Shrenik Gandhi, co-founder and CEO of digital marketing agency White Rivers Media, told Business Insider India. He noted that businesses have to come up with the right products and services at the right time, right price to attract customers. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A white space for brands" comment="subhead" text="A white space for brands">A white space for brands</cmsannotation> Shahan Sud, an investment banker turned VC, explained that the union of the attention recession and the impending recession will create a white space for brands that will allow them to curate their stockkeeping unit (SKU) that cater to consumers that are looking for a “value buy, but one that keeps up the fashion trends of the season”. A previous report by ICICI Securities, published earlier this week, also noted that the discretionary companies like retail, QSRs and jewellery will be performing well for now. The low-ticket segment of staples would have the biggest impact of the negative sentiment due to their dependency on the bottom strata for incremental volumes. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Beauty, durables will be the biggest sellers in 2022" comment="subhead" text="Beauty, durables will be the biggest sellers in 2022">Beauty, durables will be the biggest sellers in 2022</cmsannotation> Madhur Singhal, managing partner and CEO of Praxis Global Alliance, noted that there will be significant increase in direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands selling beauty, home, kitchen, utilities, and durable goods. Besides this, even electronics and durables will also record good sales this year. He believes that things could be much better than they are now. He noted that the sales will be soft for a few months before they pick up. Contrary to the popular opinion, he noted that the festive sales growth might be muted compared to last year as the trends of revenge buying and pent-up demand have faded away. “I think this year’s festive season will be much better than the previous two years, with consumer spend increasing,” Chandramouli said, differing from Singhal’s opinion. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ril-hdfc-sbi-zomato-among-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-june-16/slidelist/92242578.cms" style="">RIL, HDFC, SBI, Zomato among stocks to watch out for on June 16</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/cashe-is-now-offering-instant-loans-on-whatsapp-in-30-seconds/articleshow/92230354.cms" style="">A company is now offering instant loans on WhatsApp in 30 seconds</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ronnie-screwvalas-upgrad-is-now-worth-more-than-2-billion/articleshow/92227976.cms">Ronnie Screwvala's UpGrad reportedly worth over $2 billion after fund infusion by Lakshmi Mittal and Sunil Bharti Mittal</a>

Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra sales – all unaffected by low consumer sentiment

The third-quarter earnings outlooks for <keyword id="10591" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="samsung" source="Orion">Samsung</keyword> Electronics and SK hynix, the world's top two leading chip manufacturers, remain largely grim due to a recent fall in global demand for memory chips, an industry data analysis showed on Sunday. According to the analysis by Yonhap Infomax of earnings outlooks for the two companies by securities companies within the past month, Samsung and SK hynix were expected to record operating profits of 12.8 trillion won ($9.07 billion) and 2.59 trillion won on a consolidated basis during the June-September period, respectively. The operating profit predictions of Samsung and SK hynix represent 18.6 per cent and 37.8 per cent drops from their respective third-quarter results from a year ago. The expected declines in earnings were largely attributed to the effects of the growing global inflationary pressure weighing down global demand for memory chips. Do Hyeon-woo, a chip industry analyst at NH Investment &amp; Securities Co, estimated Samsung's DRAM shipment volume to decrease by 3 percent in the third quarter and expected its average selling price (ASP) of chips to plunge by 17 per cent. Eo Gyu-jin, an analyst at DB Financial Investment Co., predicted the companies' earnings to rebound starting in the fourth quarter of 2023, following an expected revival of the global chip industry in the second quarter of next year. Samsung expanded its market share of the <keyword id="10726092" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-semiconductor-industry" source="Orion">global semiconductor industry</keyword> in the second quarter, maintaining its top spot, a research report showed. Samsung's chip revenue for the April-June period came in at a record quarterly high of $20.3 billion on the back of solid server demand, taking up 12.8 per cent of the global total of $158.1 billion, according to research firm Omdia. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/online-e-commerce-player-meesho-is-the-new-crorepati-factory/articleshow/94399429.cms">Online e-commerce player Meesho is the new crorepati factory</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rupee-likely-to-touch-82-against-the-greenback/articleshow/94399853.cms">Rupee likely to touch 82 against the greenback</a>

Samsung's Q3 earnings outlook grim amid poor global chip demand

<ul><li>Mumbai-based healthtech startup <keyword id="3143174" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="pharmeasy" source="Orion">PharmEasy</keyword> delayed its plans to go for an IPO in August 2022. </li><li>It has now laid off employees across certain verticals like product technology and quality analytics, among others, says an Inc24 report. </li><li>Over 18,000 employees have been laid off by 52 startups and unicorns in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. </li></ul> Mumbai-based Indian e-pharmacy startup PharmEasy is going through a funding crunch and consequently, has laid off more employees according to a report by Inc42. The number of employees laid off is not known. <a href="https://inc42.com/buzz/pharmeasy-lays-off-more-employees-amid-funding-crunch/">According to Inc42</a>, the <keyword id="6357067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="layoffs" source="Orion">layoffs</keyword> were attributed to factors like restructuring, macroeconomic headwinds, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The report also stated that the majority of affected employees worked in product technology, quality analytics, and support verticals. This comes just months after PharmEasy laid off 40 full-time employees from its subsidiary Docon Technologies in June 2022. Docon Technologies is an <keyword id="800840" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="emr" source="Orion">EMR</keyword> or electronic medical record solutions provider. With this PharmEasy joins the long list of companies that have laid off employees in 2022, both globally and in India. This includes tech giants like Twitter, Meta, and <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword>. Indian startups like BYJU'S, Unacademy, and Swiggy too went in for retrenchment. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Cancelled IPO and debt-funding" comment="subhead2" text="Cancelled IPO and debt-funding">Cancelled IPO and debt-funding</cmsannotation> When PharmEasy first laid off employees in June, it was planning to go for an IPO. However, two months later, in August, it delayed its plans to raise money from the public. API Holdings, the parent entity of PharmEasy, <a href="https://www.icicidirect.com/ipo/ipo-news/ipo/pharmeasy-parent-withdraws-ipo-drhp/1361394">stated</a> "market conditions and strategic considerations” as the reasons for the same. As per <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/pharmeasys-parent-raises-debt-funding-11667801732471.html">reports</a>, the health tech startup was aiming to raise ₹6,250 crore via its IPO to pre-pay or repay debt, fuel organic growth initiatives and fund inorganic growth via acquisitions. In November 2022, the company <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/evolutionx-debt-capital-makes-maiden-investment-in-pharmeasy-parent-firm-122110700425_1.html">raised </a>an undisclosed amount in debt from growth-stage financing platform EvolutionX Debt Capital. This was the financing platform’s maiden investment. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Funding winter and rising layoffs" comment="subhead2" text="Funding winter and rising layoffs">Funding winter and rising layoffs</cmsannotation> In the midst of a funding winter and rising layoffs, the magic of the Indian unicorn appears to be fading. As per Inc42, o<a href="https://inc42.com/features/indian-startups-restructure-cut-18k-jobs-in-2022-will-2023-bring-stability/#:~:text=Indian%20Startup%20Layoffs%3A%2018K%20Employees%20Fired%20%26%20Counting&amp;text=As%20of%20December%208%2C%202022%2C%20a%20total%20of%2017%2C989%20employees,besides%20the%20listed%20foodtech%20Zomato.">ver 18,000 employees </a>have been laid off by 52 startups and unicorns in India, including Ola, Cars24, Meesho, Vedantu, Udaan and more. During the July-September period, PwC India stated that only two startups in India, Shiprocket and OneCard, attained unicorn status which are startups with a valuation of $1 billion and above. According to a Venture Pulse report, the total value of VC deals in the September ending quarter stood at $2.7 billion — which fell sequentially and as compared to the year before. The total value of VC deals in Q3, 2021 stood at $15.9 billion, while that of Q2 2022 stood at $7.4 billion. (With inputs from IANS) SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mid-range-premium-housing-demand-drive-indias-residential-market-sales-in-2022-to-exceed-2014-peak/articleshow/96171545.cms">Mid-range, premium housing demand drive India’s residential market - Sales in 2022 to exceed 2014 peak</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/med-tech-startup-that-can-detect-early-stage-dementia-raises-2-13-million/articleshow/96169184.cms">Med tech startup that can detect early stage dementia raises $2.13 million</a>

PharmEasy falls into difficult times, lays off employees for the second time this year

<ul><li>Ashish Shah, co-founder and COO of Pepperfry, in an interview with Business Insider shares that the startup turned its business around in 2020 and is now close to profitability.</li><li>Shah shared that in 12-16 months the initial public offering (IPO) dream will become a reality.</li><li>Pepperfry is also currently hiring for their technology and product management teams.</li></ul>Indian online furniture marketplace Pepperfry saw its business, like many other businesses across the world, come to a complete halt in March 2020. A year later, Ashish Shah, co-founder and chief operating officer at Pepperfry in an interview with Business Insider shared that the startup has turned its business around and is now close to profitability, while a market listing is on the cards. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Eyes on the market" comment="subhead" text="Eyes on the market">Eyes on the market</cmsannotation> Pepperfry has been on the radar for an initial public offering (IPO) for a long time now. Shah shares that in the next 12-16 months the IPO dream will become a reality, but he admits that it's all about the timing. If the pandemic would not have happened, Shah said that by now they would have been close to filing for the IPO. “From the process standpoint, we began our IPO preparation six months ago. Last year, we did an IPO day at Pepperfry, most of our documentation is ready and we are moving fast as long as processes are concerned,” said Shah. In order to go for an IPO, they need to show profitability and the idea for Shah is to turn profitable and then remain so. India’s market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) expects companies to have a track record of distributable profits for three out of the immediately preceding 5 years. “Profitability is the agenda we drove significantly during the months of lockdown – from simplifying team structures, supply chain pricing with the customers to our relationships with the merchants, we did a lot of optimisation. Beginning of this year, we were very close to profitability,” said Shah. However, Shah stresses that there weren’t any layoffs at Pepperfry, even though salary cuts had to happen. “When we say that we have to be profitable, we want sustainable profitability. By laying off people for two, three months, we could have turned profitable, but the idea is to do it the right way,” he said. While Pepperfry has no plans to raise funds immediately, they will raise a pre-IPO round to build awareness around the brand. “Somewhere around the third or fourth quarter this year is when we will look at raising funds,” he said. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Work from home orders" text="Work from home orders">Work from home orders</cmsannotation> As the pandemic forced people to work from their homes, the need for chairs, tables and furniture that will help you work from home shot up massively. And for the folks at Pepperfry, this didn’t go unnoticed. By the end of May and June onwards, orders started coming in for chairs, study tables, laptop stands and more. “Chair sales grew 250% year-on-year, study tables grew by 400%. Some of these categories that used to contribute 10% to my business pre-pandemic, now contribute almost 25%,” said Shah. The company now claims a return rate of less than 4% and revenue is also growing. With the end of the financial year ended March 31, Shah expects the firm would have clocked 35% growth in revenue. “In the coming year, we are targeting a 50-60% growth rate,” he said. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Hiring and expansion plans" comment="subhead" text="Hiring and expansion plans">Hiring and expansion plans</cmsannotation> Shah said that they are doubling their technology team as they are opening a technology centre in Bengaluru. The roles they are looking at are for their technology and product management teams. Pepperfry is now also looking at focusing more on the franchise model for expansion. “We opened 10 franchises in the last quarter, and we are looking at 10 more this quarter. In the next six months, we will have 25 more stores through the franchise model,” he said. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The importance of the entry of Reliance and IKEA" comment="subhead" text="The importance of the entry of Reliance and IKEA">The importance of the entry of Reliance and IKEA</cmsannotation> Shah shares that the furniture category is a $30 billion market according to him, but only as much as 9% is held by organised players. So, the concept of branded furniture is important in India. Even though Pepperfry sees competition from Reliance-acquired Urban Ladder or IKEA, Shah believes they are only going to help boost the sales of branded furniture. However, there’s a race. “There can be many billion dollar companies in the furniture market because the sector is so big, but we want to be the first,” said Shah. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/facebook-backed-meesho-raises-300-million-from-softbank-vision-fund-2-valuation-jumps-to-over-2-billion/articleshow/81907721.cms">Facebook-backed Meesho raises $300 million from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 – valuation jumps to over $2 billion</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/heres-a-look-at-what-is-allowed-and-what-is-not-allowed-during-the-maharashtra-lockdown-again/articleshow/81907207.cms">Here’s a look at what is allowed and what is not during the weekend lockdown and night curfew in Maharashtra</a>

You Searched For "sale record in meesho" and got 8 results

India's youngest ecommerce giant received more than 60 orders every second during its one-day sale

Kritti Bhalla

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

Malini Bhupta

Prime time TV & OTT now have competition from online shopping – Indians shop the most after 8 pm, says Meesho

Malini Bhupta

Meesho raises more than half a billion dollars in the fourth biggest funding round this year

Kritti Bhalla

Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra sales – all unaffected by low consumer sentiment

Kritti Bhalla

Samsung's Q3 earnings outlook grim amid poor global chip demand

IANS

PharmEasy falls into difficult times, lays off employees for the second time this year

Srishti Magan

Pepperfry co-founder gets candid about its IPO plans, says profitability is right around the corner

Sanchita Dash