Business-to-business commerce platform Meesho will launch the first edition of its branded flagship sale event ‘The Maha Indian Shopping League’ from 6-9 October, joining the festive season sale bandwagon. E-commerce firms Amazon India, Flipkart and Myntra have already launched their festive sale events on 3 October.
Meesho said it has onboarded over one lakh new sellers ahead of the four-day festive sale and expects 3x more daily orders from customers in Tier II cities.
In the burgeoning social commerce space, Meesho allows small businesses to sell their products on social media channels like Facebook and WhatsApp.
The company has undertaken multiple initiatives to boost participation from users in smaller cities and towns. Earlier this year, it launched its 0% seller commission model that saw a 10x growth in sellers joining the platform.
Ahead of the festive season, Meesho has launched new initiatives including free ad credits and zero return shipping charges on the first 30 orders. To help grow their business, sellers can also create an online storefront on the platform that can be shared on social media platforms.
“We are excited to reimagine Bharat’s festive shopping experiences with the first edition of Maha Indian Shopping League. To truly democratize internet commerce, we have lowered entry barriers and improved ease of business for sellers, enabling more local businesses across the country to join us and sell online. This ultimately improves access to a range of quality products for all Tier 2+ shoppers. Today 5% of Indian households shop with us every day, and we’re expecting to make festive shopping a simpler, more rewarding experience for many more,” said Vidit Aatrey, founder and CEO, Meesho.
Offering quality products at the lowest prices, the company looks to go deeper into under-served markets and has expanded its category offerings to automotive accessories, pet supplies, sports and fitness.
In the last six months, Meesho has seen its monthly transacting users grow by 2.8x while monthly orders rose by 2.5x. About 40% of Meesho’s new users during the period were also first-time e-commerce users.
With Maha Indian Shopping League, Meesho expects to clock 3X more daily orders by connecting customers to 2.5 lakh sellers.
“While everyone has been focused on Tier 1 and metro locations, our focus has always been on Tier 2 and beyond cities. The festive sale is also focused on users in these geographies, where users are more value conscious,” said Megha Agarwal, vice-president and general manager- user growth, Meesho said in an interview.
In September, Meesho raised $570 million in a new round of funding led by US asset manager Fidelity Management & Research Company and B Capital Group after which its valuation has more than doubled to $4.9 billion in less than six months.