SoftBank-backed Meesho records nearly 68% jump in festival sales

SoftBank-backed Meesho on Thursday claimed a 68 per cent year-on-year spike in the five-day mega sales was its biggest festive sale performance so far.

Customers placed a record of about 33.4 million orders during the mega sale with nearly 60 per cent of all orders coming from tier 4+ cities.

Transacting users jumped by 60 per cent during the sale, which includes those who are new-to-e-commerce and shopping online for the first time, Meesho said. These customers came from Una in Himachal and Chimakurthy in Andhra Pradesh to Kalimpong in West Bengal, Bharuch in Gujarat and Leh. 

“The results reinforce our broader mission statement around democratising internet commerce for everyone,” said Utkrishta Kumar, CXO (business) at Meesho.

Meesho claimed its industry-first zero per cent seller commission initiative helped it save Rs 104 crore in commissions during the sales period.

“They would have incurred it if they were selling on any other platform,” Kumar said.

Overall, seller participation in Meesho’s sale grew 4X from last year, with 75 per cent coming from tier 2+ markets and beyond. 

“Over 80 per cent of orders during the festive sale came from tier 2+ markets, which is a testament to our efforts to reach underserved users with different needs around selection and affordability,” said Vidit Aatrey, founder & CEO at Meesho. “We aim to go deeper into India’s underserved regions.”

During this year’s sale, categories such as kitchen utilities grew by 116 per cent, beauty & personal care rose by 109 per cent and luggage and travel accessories increased by 99 per cent.  

Meesho’s Maha Diwali Sale will go live between October 7 and 11. With nearly 800,000 sellers and about 65 million active product listings across 30 categories, Meesho said it aims to become the preferred shopping destination of the next billion Indians.