How Meesho institutionalised ‘WhatsApp boutiques’

A few years after passing out from IIT Delhi, batchmates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal decided to solve the problems of smaller shop owners by enabling them to also sell their products online using technology. By mid-2015, Meesho, which stands for 'meri shops', was found, but went on to chart a slightly different course. Six months later, almost by accident, it tweaked its model and ended up providing a disruptive distribution channel which connected the suppliers of goods across clothing, home décor etc with the ‘social sellers’ who used WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram to make a sale. Today, the brand has created 4.5 million entrepreneurs across the country, 80 per cent of them women, who have their own ‘WhatsApp boutiques’ functioning from the confines of their home with zero capital.

Now the brand has decided to launch their first ad campaign, investing both on TV and digital mediums. Vidit Aatrey, CEO & Co-Founder, Meesho, explains why he feels it is the right time to promote the brand across the country, why Covid -19 presented the best opportunity for Meesho’s growth story, and how in a sea of copycat business models, Meesho stands out for its originality.

Talking about the intent behind launching Meesho, Aatrey says, “With Amazon’s entry in India, many smart women entrepreneurs started replicating the marketplace model on a small scale. They became sellers without having inventory of their own, by connecting with some suppliers, curating products which they recommended and sold in their circles. They somehow discovered Meesho on Playstore, and thought that they can run their ‘WhatsApp boutiques’ using this app. So, all of them came to our app and started using it. The retention rate was high because they had no offline shop to take care of on the side. We realised that someone who already has an offline shop will spend 95 per cent of their time in those shops and 5 per cent on WhatsApp. So why not cater to those who are selling solely on WhatsApp. Thus we started building and customizing the app for the women entrepreneurs running ‘WhatsApp boutiques.’"

Today, Meesho has more than a hundred thousand suppliers on their platform. The company has built a unique distribution channel which helps the suppliers grow their business by providing the products to the women entrepreneurs. The revenue model is such that Meesho takes a cut from the suppliers on every sale made. But for the women entrepreneurs, the platform is free. Meesho takes care of the product packaging, delivery, free returns, personalised logo and bill generated under the entrepreneur’s name without charging the entrepreneur a single rupee for it. Also, what’s interesting is that at no point of contact with the customer does the Meesho branding appear, keeping the brand anonymous in the journey and keeping the limelight only on the entrepreneur.

A few months ago, Meesho secured the 14th spot on Fast Company’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies (MIC) 2020 list and was the only Indian company to be on it. Talking about the achievement, Aatrey says, “For many years, there has not been any Indian company on that list, and that is because most of the large tech companies in India end up being inspired by some company in China. So it's very hard to get on to that list. But in our case, we have built something from scratch by understanding the Indian fabric of how people do things. And I think that's what Fast Company appreciated.”

Meesho has been empowering women to take that step towards entrepreneurship by neutralizing the risks attached. Talking about turning another adversity into opportunity, Aatrey says, “So Covid-19 has been great for everyone at Meesho. Our entrepreneurs run online shops while competing with the offline shops in their community, but with people not venturing out, they have no competition left. These women entrepreneurs are able to acquire customers at a never-seen-before rate. Also, with many jobs lost, many women are coming forward to support their families by turning to entrepreneurship. So this has been the best time for the app to grow and thus also for us to reach out to more people across the country, both in metros and smaller cities. That’s why we launched the ad campaign. We are exploring TV advertising for the first time. We have a month-long campaign in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, etc as these are some of the places where we really do well, where women are much more educated and want to stand on their own feet.”