{"id":1073,"date":"2022-02-02T12:20:16","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T12:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jobtechalliance.com\/?p=1073"},"modified":"2024-03-18T06:32:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T06:32:01","slug":"global-inspirations-social-commerce-giant-meesho-creating-jobs-at-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/02\/global-inspirations-social-commerce-giant-meesho-creating-jobs-at-scale\/","title":{"rendered":"Global inspirations: social commerce giant Meesho creating jobs at scale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; custom_padding_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; admin_label=&#8221;Blog&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.18.0&#8243; background_color=&#8221;#f6f8fa&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||0px||true|false&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px||true|false&#8221; custom_padding_tablet=&#8221;||100px||false|false&#8221; custom_padding_phone=&#8221;0px||0px||true|false&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; positioning=&#8221;none&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.18.0&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;0px|auto||auto|false|false&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author: Tracy Mwaura<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, we look to India for global inspiration in social commerce. We explore how this e-commerce platform has created income for over 1 million people in India. As a very timely note for this article, Ghanaian social commerce platform (the &#8216;Meesho for Africa&#8217;) was just accepted into Y Combinator&#8217;s Winter batch (more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benjamindada.com\/african-startups-at-yc-winter-2022\/\">here<\/a>).<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A great deal of people dream of venturing into entrepreneurship. However, many of these dreamers never take the first step towards achieving these dreams because of the number one discouraging factor: financial limitations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sufficient capital is critical for entrepreneurship. Capital plays a huge factor enabling first time entrepreneurs to:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">set up stores<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">buy inventory<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have enough funds to allow the initial grace period before their businesses break even.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what if none of those factors were limiting? Two Indian Institute of Technology graduates, Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, created a social e-commerce platform, Meesho, to do just that. The duo have, since 2015, worked towards enabling anyone to start an online business without an investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article aims to draw inspiration from Meesho\u2019s business model and how they\u2019ve worked to create income for over 1 million low income people in India.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/jobtechalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Picture4.png&#8221; title_text=&#8221;Picture4&#8243; align=&#8221;center&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><em><b>What is Meesho?<\/b><\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meesho is an Indian social e-commerce company with its HQ in Bangalore. Prior to Meesho\u2019s conception, the founders worked at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.inmobi.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inmobi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, driving real connections between brands and consumers by creating new pathways for brands to identify, engage and acquire new customers. These skills would later come in handy while establishing Meesho as a trusted brand with their targeted audience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few years in, the two took a leap of faith and set out on their own path for a startup idea they were still uncertain about. What they were sure of however was that they wanted to work on something challenging enough that they could relate to &amp; connect with. They found two similarities between themselves:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0They were both from a middle class background and\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They both had a history of working in retail.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They agreed that bringing the unstructured chaotic Indian retail market online would keep them interested for a long time.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><em><b>The first attempt<\/b><\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vidit and Sanjeev are an ideal example of the saying <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cthe closer you are to the problem, the closer you are to the solution.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The inquisitive pair went around shops in Bangalore asking what problems they could help the shopkeepers solve in reaching their local customer audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This initial problem scouting led to the creation of their first prototype: Fashnear <i>(short for fashion nearby)<\/i> where customers could have online access to nearby shops and choose 3 items to be delivered. They\u2019d then try them out, pick out their preferred items and send the rest back. In a span of about 3 months, they realized that <i>Fashnear<\/i> wasn\u2019t working out, mainly because of a lack of variety among other limiting factors. Undeterred, they went back to their shopkeepers to learn more.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><em><b>Giving It a Second Go<\/b><\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The founders acknowledged that timing was one of the success factors behind Meesho.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second time around Vidit &amp; Sanjeev went back to the field, they fully immersed themselves in the shopkeeping experience. They sat to observe the shopkeepers in their shops, observed how they ran their businesses, had lunch with them and even played with their kids!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Serendipitously, this was the same time Whatsapp blew up as the most popular messaging application. In this second field study immersion, Vidit and Sanjeev discovered how shopkeepers utilized the platform to promote their businesses.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A customer would make a purchase and the shopkeepers would ask for their contacts to later add them to a Whatsapp group. The shopkeepers would add their frequent customers to a Whatsapp group, take photos of new product inventory, and then send them to the groups where customers could then reserve certain items, pay and have them delivered to their doorsteps.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The duo found this remarketing and retargeting of customers through Whatsapp fascinating and asked themselves how they could help more businesses adapt this approach. They observed this technique in a couple more shops, noticed its effectiveness, nitpicked at it, and found these two weaknesses:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Booking of items and tracking the purchased and non purchased ones was a hassle.<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There was a lack of effective payment options as online payments weren&#8217;t established in India at the time.<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without reinventing the wheel, Vidit and Sanjeev took up this idea and ran with it, building an app that solved these two loopholes, creating version one of Meesho. They went back to the market, recommending Meesho to the shopkeepers in Bangalore for them to use to run their Whatsapp transactions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, after some time, they noticed that even though they did retain some users, Meesho\u2019s reception wasn\u2019t as strong as they\u2019d initially expected. So they went back to the field.<i> Again. <\/i>.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><em><b>Third time&#8217;s a charm<\/b><\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On their third iteration round, they learnt that their original value proposition <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 increasing productivity \u2013 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wasn&#8217;t of high priority value to the shopkeepers. Meesho\u2019s first version wasn\u2019t catering to what mattered to the shopkeepers most: Meesho didn\u2019t guarantee them any new customers or reduce their costs in any way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this unforeseen setback, when they went back to their data to see who was mostly using Meesho, they discovered that they were primarily serving a market they had very little insight to: women entrepreneurs. After reaching out to find out why and what they were using Meesho for, they found out that these women were resellers, using the same concept Vidit and Sanjeev had intended for the shopkeepers \u2013 running their virtual \u2018Whatsapp shops\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s very common for ambitious women in India to start small businesses while at home for their upkeep. Some sell food, some tutor. Whatever choice of trade they chose, they venture into to keep busy, feel respected and proud to make a contribution to society. Vidit personally visited the women in their houses to better understand how their app was being utilised by these entrepreneurial women in Bangalore. Most of them were educated, ambitious women who after getting married (due to traditional pressures or otherwise) became housewives but still craved financial autonomy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meesho gave these women what they needed: An avenue to independently start businesses without the hassle of having to raise capital or have an existing physical shop. Through Meesho, these women were able to fulfill their dreams despite their lack of access to capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how it worked: The women would contact wholesale suppliers on Meesho, curate images of items available, post on Whatsapp channels for their potential buyers and sell without the physical handling of any inventory. Several years and better systems down the line, Meesho is making online shopping accessible in several towns across India in smaller regional markets where other e-commerce giants still haven\u2019t penetrated. <\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;20px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><strong><em>How does the current Meesho model work and how do they make money?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meesho\u2019s commission earned model is just like the other e-commerce platforms like Amazon. They make money from the commissions charged from the suppliers. According to an interview with the Business Standard, commissions vary between 10 and 20 percent of the product value.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To make money from Meesho, resellers have to share products listed on Meesho on their Whatsapp groups and Facebook pages, earning a commission for every sale made. They can add their commission and shipping charges above the price and when an order gets confirmed, they\u2019ll get notified of the purchase and the margin would then be credited to their bank accounts.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/jobtechalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Picture5.png&#8221; title_text=&#8221;Picture5&#8243; align=&#8221;center&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text module_class=&#8221;custom&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; text_line_height=&#8221;2em&#8221; header_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Montserrat|800|||||||&#8221; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_line_height=&#8221;1.5em&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;700px&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;|0px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;off|desktop&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; header_2_font_size_tablet=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_2_font_size_phone=&#8221;20px&#8221; header_2_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; border_color_all=&#8221;#12eaa6&#8243; border_color_top=&#8221;#c8102e&#8221; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meesho has reached the milestone of $1 Billion Valuation in just five years by enabling housewives, young mothers, aspiring entrepreneurs, students, teachers and even retired people to launch, build, and promote their online business by creating an alternate distribution channel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With their recent partnership with Softbank Vision fund who\u2019ve helped them raise $300 Million, they\u2019re currently on a mission to enable <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hbzyGGQi7iw&amp;list=PL-dwv93xCkM_6Os1PuW-EV9of678s3_I9\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">100 million small businesses to succeed online.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cWe believe that India\u2019s economy will truly be digitised when small businesses become successful online and we want to enable that revolution,\u201d says Cofounder &amp; CEO, Vidit Aatrey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While we have already seen the open-armed reception of online shopping through Whatsapp business accounts &amp; Instagram shops in the African market, we hope to explore similar, more diverse trends being applied within the continent and until then continue to draw inspiration from unicorns like Meesho.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read more of our global Inspiration pieces <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/jobtechalliance.com\/blog\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i>The author is a youth employment and jobtech researcher and content developer with <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.edu-design.co\/what-we-do-1\"><i>Education Design Unlimited<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author: Tracy Mwaura In this article, we look to India for global inspiration in social commerce. We explore how this e-commerce platform has created income for over 1 million people in India. As a very timely note for this article, Ghanaian social commerce platform (the &#8216;Meesho for Africa&#8217;) was just accepted into Y Combinator&#8217;s Winter [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1073"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252183,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073\/revisions\/252183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.jobtechalliance.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}