BENGALURU: SoftBank-backed Meesho on Thursday claimed that nearly 20,000 sellers on its platform have become ‘lakhpatis’ and 24 sellers became crorepatis during the sale event that concluded on Tuesday.
Customers are said to have placed 3.34 crore orders during the 5-day event, up 68% from the previous year sale. Nearly 60% of orders came from Tier 4 cities and beyond.
Meesho, which turned unicorn last year, said transacting users jumped by 60% during the sale, which include those who are new-to-ecommerce and shopping online for the first time. Vidit Aatrey, founder and CEO at Meesho, said, “Over 80% of orders during the festive sale came from tier 2+ markets. We aim to go deeper into India’s underserved regions.”
Meanwhile, Meesho has received $192 million from Meesho Inc, its parent entity. When asked about it, Meesho said, “The internal movement of funds is a part of our larger treasury strategy as aligned with our Board and is a normal BAU (business as usual) practice. This is not related (to) festive season or any other aspect of our operations.”
When asked about ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), a Meesho Spokesperson said, “ONDC is a game changing initiative around bringing in a large network of buyers, suppliers as well as enabling the expansion of ecommerce, thereby bringing in more masses online.” The firm feels ONDC can reduce the barriers for sellers to come online as well as buyers.
Besides tapping into new users, ONDC will enable platforms with sizable business-to-business verticals to tap into the seller side of the ONDC network to supply goods. “As ONDC is at an early-stage firm, we are monitoring the developments that are taking place and waiting for further details to emerge. However, we think this can prove to be the backbone of ecommerce in India, same as UPI has been for digital payments,” the spokesperson added.