Social Commerce – Dutch Uncles

Myntra Makes Inroads into Social Commerce for More Engagement and Sales

Shalmoli Sarkar — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 07:18:46 +0000

According to a report by EY between 2015 and 2020, the smartphone usage has grown five times along with data usage dropping to one-tenth. As of 2020, out of every 100 people, 30 people have a smartphone and affordable data. As people’s involvement with social media grew over the years, their opinions on fashion, food, politics, the taste of entertainment became influenced by like-minded individuals, therefore nudging brands to leverage such platforms for an interactive shopping experience rather than transactional.

Recently, much to the likes of Flipkart collaborating with Moj to foray into social commerce fashion e-commerce platform Myntra has too jumped to the bandwagon of social commerce with the launch of M-Live. Myntra through M-Live brings a first of its kind interactive and real-time live shopping experience at the fingertips of millions of Indian consumers.

The social commerce of short videos

Social commerce comprises of three components:

Social network
Short videos and images
Chat-based platforms

Out of these three, the short videos market has gained immense acceptance among the Indians. Within two years the user base grew over 3.5 times, and the total time spent by all users on short video was 12 times more, according to a study by Bain & Company. In addition to this, with people restricted indoors, more than 200 million Indians watched short-form videos at least once in 2020, with daily active users spending up to 45 minutes a day on these platforms.

‘‘

Within two years the user base grew over 3.5 times, and the total time spent by all users on short video was 12 times more, according to a study by Bain & Company.

The M-Live from Myntra

M-Live is Myntra’s live video streaming and commerce through which it aims to target fashion enthusiasts and social media young men and women who are seeking best-in-class fashion advisory and in-demand trends. The live video streaming consisting of real-time engagement between consumers and brands allows influencers and experts to host live video sessions of product and curated styles enabling viewers to shop instantly from the Myntra app.

The live sessions with fashionistas build a community that benefits an enthusiast from an expert’s styling tips, observations,questions asked, suggestions, etc. Thus, enabling well-informed shopping.

Myntra’s other social commerce propositions

Other than M-Live, Myntra has two other social commerce channels i.e. Myntra Studio and Myntra Fashion Superstar.

With Myntra Studio, users can get access to over 20,000 lifestyle content, shoppable fashion, and beauty products. In the past six months, Myntra studio has grown upto 25 times, and with big fashion brands able to build 2-3 communities with an engagement surge of 3-4 times on its platforms as compared to the ordinary influencer-driven platforms. The platform has stirred shopping behaviour amongst youngsters and premium shoppers from metros to aspirational shoppers from remote towns and cities of India.

Myntra Fashion Superstar is a digital TV reality show that brings out the creativity of fashion and beauty influencers. The images of episode winners are uploaded on the Myntra App where the clothes worn by them are shoppable.

Myntra also organises a live shopping marathon popularly known as Myntra Social Carnival that features more than 50 celebrities and influencers from 8 am to 10 pm only on the Myntra app.

Lastly, the piqued interest of the e-commerce behemoths to foray into social commerce is specially due to the increasing short video user base from tier-II cities and smaller towns. Leveraging which these e-commerce platforms can push their products driving high sales and engagement in the platforms.

The post Myntra Makes Inroads into Social Commerce for More Engagement and Sales appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Shopping from D2C Brands Now a Small Town Phenomena?

Shalmoli Sarkar — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 10:14:56 +0000

As intermittent lockdowns and movement restrictions disrupted the working of physical shops, the businesses found their own ‘eureka’ moment to quickly reach the end customer, without depending on the middlemen and suppliers.

To stay afloat in much tougher times, new-age startups from small towns and cities sought refuge in D2C ( Direct-to-consumer) business model and emerged as the strongest contender against the e-commerce behemoths Amazon and Flipkart.

As brands have evolved from offline channels to go online, shopping from the D2C brands is no longer a metro city phenomenon. Social distancing norms increased usage of data, and smartphones have nudged shoppers from small towns and cities to shop online. Today, small-town shoppers account for 40-50 percent of sales of several premium D2C brands across grooming and beauty, wellness foods, wearables, cookware, and appliances.

‘‘

According to a study by Bain & Company, three out of every five shoppers of social commerce now come from smaller towns.

D2C brands holding a soft corner among small-town shoppers

Surprisingly, job losses and pay cuts did not reflect in the purchases of D2C brands. Here are some of the reasons why it drove the demand.

Rise of social commerce: Social commerce platforms are currently becoming the launchpad of D2C brands and have empowered several small retailers and women entrepreneurs. Generally, products sold in tier-II and tier-III cities are unstructured and unbranded. Being listed on social commerce platforms helps small D2C business to sell their products to nearby towns and cities without having to bother about middlemen and pay commission. Also, listing businesses on B2C platforms is a time-consuming process. According to a study by Bain & Company, three out of every five shoppers now come from smaller towns.

Faster and timely deliveries: The shortening of delivery timelines by introducing same-day delivery or delivery within five days has instilled confidence for shopping online more as in physical shopping they get the product as soon as they purchase it.

Shopping in vernacular: Vernacular will drive shopping for the next generation of consumers. Most shoppers from small cities will prefer purchasing browsing web pages that have vernacular content. According to Bain & Company, webpage translation to vernacular languages increased to 1.5 times in 2020.

Digital Payments and BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later): Digital payments are increasingly gaining acceptance and especially with purchasing electronics online, newer payment models such as BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) that do not require upfront full payment is quickly gaining ground in online shopping.

Another reason for D2C brands’ success can be attributed to its focus on ‘ individualisation’ especially in the personal care segment. Different hair types, skin types, body sizes, and purposes are driving the demand for the same.

What is in it for the D2C brands to foray into tier-II and tier-III cities?

According to a study by Bain & Company, India’s e-retail market is projected to grow at 25%–30% annually over the next five years to reach $120–140 billion by FY26, which is higher than Modern Trade. It is anticipated that India’s e-retail growth will be fuelled by small-town shoppers especially by women and older shoppers. Moreover, most shoppers from lower-tier cities are aspirational and thereby will choose products that will enhance their self-image and desirability. Gone are the days when brands underestimated the shoppers of low-tier cities based on their income and willingness to shop. With deeper internet penetration and increasing disposable incomes, tier-II and tier-III markets will have maximum growth potential than metro cities.

The post Shopping from D2C Brands Now a Small Town Phenomena? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Live Bargaining Online? Shopping at E-Commerce Sites Now Becoming More Indianised

Shalmoli Sarkar — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 08:30:19 +0000

‘ Naa Aapka Na Mera Chalo Dedh Sau De Do’

A common price negotiation that we are all familiar with while shopping from a brick and mortar store be it vegetables, clothes, jewellery, cosmetics, etc., in India.

Imagine one could bargain the same way in online shopping over the prices shown next to the slashed prices already? Voila.

As data prices become cheaper and smartphones become more affordable, India’s e-commerce landscape has burgeoned deeper into the lower-tier towns and cities, thereby including the value-conscious online shoppers under its ambit. The term ‘value’ here signifies affordable products without compromising on quality, durability, and trendiness. Online shoppers from this particular cohort hunt for finding affordable products that match their expectations on quality, durability, and trendiness.

Not to forget the emergence of social commerce sites/apps like Meesho, BulBul, and Simsim that have spoilt the Indian online shoppers’ choices on affordable shopping.

Purchasing traits of value shoppers

Here are some of the trends showcased by the value shoppers while shopping:

Value shoppers are budget-oriented: Value shoppers have a fixed budget and a study by Kearney says that 62 percent stick to it. With a tight purse, a significant amount of time is invested in finding and evaluating the products before purchasing.
Discounts are favourite: Best deals and the biggest discounts influence the purchasing decision. Kearney’s study says that around 87 percent of the digitally savvy value shoppers compare prices of more than three products before zeroing down on a purchase.
Less brand loyalty: value-conscious consumers have less brand loyalty. Within a preferred price range they have the willingness to experiment across brands.

‘‘

Kearney’s study says that around 87 percent of the digitally savvy value shoppers compare prices of more than three products before zeroing down on a purchase.

Bargaining online? A win-win for both seller and buyer

The usual business model of e-commerce sites to drive maximum profitability and sales is to exploit the festive period to give heavy discounts, for which the shoppers eagerly wait. But what should e-commerce platforms do to ensure they get the best deals even when it is not a sale and can treasure their loyalty?

Indian shoppers are habituated with assisted shopping through up-selling and get the right price from a seller through bargaining.

To which Coutloot, a social commerce platform that emulates Taobao’s model to allow any offline seller to sell their products online has implemented an ‘automatic bargain’ feature that allows both buyers and sellers to bargain automatically. This auto-bargain feature provides a pre-decided bargain price to the buyer within a chatbox that allows them to close deals instantly. The buyer can select and quote a desirable price that he/ she feels is appropriate for the product. Coutloot aims to achieve a conversion rate of 15 percent with this live bargaining feature.

Kurland and Marrapodi’s e-commerce negotiation site

Hunting for the best deals online is not limited to Indians, but even to American founders Andrew Kurland and Joe Marrapodi that led them to build their e-commerce negotiation site Greentoe. It is an e-commerce site that allows customers to haggle down prices. What drove them to build their site was the frustration arising from spending too much time to find the best deals online.

It works in this manner, say a shopper wants to buy a camera online at the best price but does not want to spend a lot of time comparing and looking. Greentoe’s network of vetted online retailers simplifies the process by showing the average price and the lowest price possible for each product currently available online, it is then upto the willingness of the customer to pay for that product.

What lies ahead for the e-commerce sites on live bargaining?

The freedom to bargain on e-commerce sites is although in its infancy in India, but the platforms might not want to miss the loyalty of its customers since according to a study by Kearney, value shoppers will constitute 38 percent in online shopping by 2026 and will become 50 percent by 2030. Therefore, there is a need to humanise and Indianise online shopping by adding a live bargaining feature.

The post Live Bargaining Online? Shopping at E-Commerce Sites Now Becoming More Indianised appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Social Commerce Platform Poshmark’s Expansion Plan

Anju Nambiar — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 05:35:08 +0000

Poshmark’s Indian CEO is bringing the company to India after making a mark in markets like the United States, Canada and Australia. Luxury goods like Louis Vuitton designer handbags, Michael Kors wallets, and Nike’s cost millions of rupees. They are usually made from pure leather and studded with precious stones. Purchasing a brand-new item is expensive and not a sustainable approach. However, if we foster a culture of trading refurbished luxury goods and encourage sales of second-hand items, the environmental footprint will reduce while promoting entrepreneurship among sellers.

About Poshmark

Poshmark is a Consumer Tech start-up headquartered in the United States. With Manish Chandra as the CEO, the company’s roots are in India, and they are now coming back home to set into motion their expansion plans for the Indian market. Poshmark is a social shopping marketplace that specialises in second-hand clothing, bags, etc. in categories like fashion, home décor, and beauty.

Returning to homebased

The company is returning to its home country or their domestic market as part of their expansion plan. Since the CEO has his roots deeply embedded in India, he is bringing his company to his home country owing to the strong focus on sustainability among Indian consumers. Poshmark believes that the value that they bring and the sustainable lifestyle they are fostering through their marketplace is a great product-market fit for the Indian market.

How Poshmark’s entry is a gamechanger for the Indian online fashion ecosystem

Poshmark’s entry will herald a new indirect competition against domestic marketplaces for pre-owned goods like Quikr, Ola, as well as e-commerce firms like Ajio, Myntra, and Snapdeal. This will bring about a change in their stance directing it towards value e-commerce.

Why are they expanding in India?

Poshmark is expanding in India to get a piece of the massive social commerce potential in the country valued at $2 B. The industry is set to touch $20 Billion within a span of 5 years and will be estimated at $70 B by 2030. Social commerce in India will be 2x larger than the present e-commerce market in India within the next 10 years.

Market opportunities for MSMEs

The social commerce start-up list is growing in India. The market opportunity for social commerce in India’s e-commerce industry is expected to reach $140 B by 2025. The opportunity is huge for start-ups especially in Tier 2 and 3 markets. Investors are also currently very confident of funding this sector.

‘‘

Poshmark is a social shopping marketplace that specialises in second-hand clothing, bags, etc. in categories like fashion, home décor and beauty.

Decoding Poshmark’s Expansion Strategy

Poshmark has been consistently focused on expanding to new markets. They are headed to markets where the e-commerce opportunity is booming, and that place is definitely India. To support its global expansion, Poshmark has upgraded its leadership team as well which demonstrates to start-ups and small businesses that expansion to new markets needs to be backed by solid, dedicated leadership. Their expansion strategy has been clearly centred around tapping into a populous market. E-commerce start-ups need to target such populous and fast-growing markets with a consumer base in the millions.

Poshmark chose India as its first step towards global expansion since India has a massive internet user base comprising of 622 million active users. This is a goldmine for e-commerce and social commerce start-ups. The community of shoppers and sellers in India is very diverse which is a very lucrative opportunity for social commerce start-ups. Depending on your social commerce business model, pick a market that will gel well in terms of the cultural and business perspective.

The post Social Commerce Platform Poshmark’s Expansion Plan appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Tapping the Rural E-commerce Market: Opportunities for MSMEs

Shalmoli Sarkar — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 03:35:13 +0000

It is good news for the MSME businesses to foray into the rural e-commerce market that has long remained untapped. According to a joint study titled “Digital in India” conducted by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and research firm Nielsen, the number of internet users in rural areas is 227 million active users that have surpassed the user base of 205 million in tier-1 cities. Moreover, with initiatives like Digital Bharat and Digital Village, the government is enabling the rural population to use digital banking, payment services and providing internet access as a tailwind for rural e-commerce growth.

The newfound love for e-commerce or online shopping among rural people can be attributed to increasing aspirations. The limited number of brands available in brick-and-mortar shops in smaller cities and towns is what creates the love for branded products, to which e-commerce MSMEs can capitalise by introducing a wide array of products at discounted rates. This gives rural shoppers not just branded products at low prices but also more value in features, and trends thus luring more rural customers to shop online.

‘‘

According to a joint study conducted by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and research firm Nielsen, the number of internet users in rural areas is 227 million active users that have surpassed the user base of 205 million in tier-1 cities.

Segments where MSMEs can look to serve the rural e-commerce market

Shopping without touch and feel is something to which rural shoppers are alien, therefore the first step that MSMEs need to take while tapping into rural e-commerce is customising applications in vernacular content. As 88 percent of the population is non-English speaking, developing regional language across various touch points such as mobile apps, customer service is crucial for increasing trust in online shopping. Here are some of the segments that MSMEs can look to tap in rural:

Last-mile delivery and logistics: Remote parts of India are devoid of good roads making it difficult to have a well-defined logistics network. To serve this market, MSMEs will have to develop a distributed logistics network using a pool of local people as delivery agents. This strategy will induce effective cost management and access. MSMEs can also explore alternate delivery models such as the use of crowdsourcing platforms to connect businesses to non-professional couriers that can deliver goods instantly.
Assisted E-commerce: The rural shoppers are yet not tech-savvy with the smartphone functions and online shopping processes. Small and medium-sized e-commerce companies can create assisting groups of individuals that will enable them to shop online from digital catalogues. MSMEs can also leverage Kirana stores, cooperative banks and kiosks that will collect bulk orders through company apps.
Products for rural consumers: Considering their low disposable incomes, the price point will play a crucial role in online shopping. The product catalogue of a rural e-commerce platform should have a mix of both branded and unbranded products since unbranded they have been buying to date and the transition to a brand will take time. This will help alleviate the shopping experience for rural people by creating the right category-product mix.

Startups serving the rural e-commerce market

Boonbox is a Chennai-based logistics startup that offers last-mile delivery to customers staying in remote locations that do not have pin codes or proper addresses. Boonbox fulfills customer demand by taking orders through affiliates who have downloaded the Boonbox App. After receiving orders, they source the products from the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) through a hub-and-spoke logistics capability and deliver the products at customers’ doorsteps in remote areas.

Frontier Markets a social tech enterprise operates on an assisted commerce model through its network of rural women entrepreneurs known as Saral Jeevan Sahelis. Similar to Boonbox app, the women use The Meri Saheli app to demonstrate products, facilitate online sales, and collect insights into the requirement of rural families. The platform offers a wide range of products in FMCG, Agri, durables, electronics, and digital services for doorstep delivery.

Besides, e-commerce, social commerce apps like DealShare, ShopG, Meesho, SimSim are offering an interactive video shopping experience to promote the community group buying model. Such platforms are offering multi-category consumer products at lower prices targeting the non-metro and middle-income Indian consumers.

What lies ahead for startups in the rural e-commerce market?

On the back of rising smartphone and internet penetration, the e-commerce market is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.6 percent between 2019 and 2023 to $100 billion as PwC. The numbers showcase the future of online shopping and can prove to be lucrative for rural e-commerce startups to venture into the underserved markets. Not just FMCG and grocery but consumer durables, doorstep delivery of agricultural products such as seeds and fertilisers, and medicines will find ample business opportunities in the rural e-commerce market.

The post Tapping the Rural E-commerce Market: Opportunities for MSMEs appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Being a Part of YouTube, This is How SimSim Can Achieve its Mission

DU Desk — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 08:35:07 +0000

As smartphones and data plans become more affordable, the gambit of online shopping will penetrate deeper into the tier-2 and tier-3 cities of India. The new internet shoppers from India are craving an interactive seller-led experience resembling the offline e-commerce experience. The buying decisions of online shoppers today are largely influenced by product video demonstrations which are engaging. People find online videos to be the primary source of information regarding a product or service review, its functioning, etc.

To align with the new shopping behaviour, the e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart have introduced their respective ad-supported video streaming services where users can watch video content on products and services, translating to increased sales since consumers will buy what they see.

According to FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2021, the number of video viewers has increased by 15% in 2020 to reach 468 million and this number is expected to grow to 650 million by 2023.

Social commerce platforms like SimSim -a Google-backed firm, that targets shoppers from India’s small cities and towns are not behind in video-based shopping as well. The platform leverages the power of video content and micro-influencers to attract customers and has been recently acquired by YouTube.

YouTube acquiring Social Commerce Startup SimSim

Since consumer social platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube cannot meaningfully monetise through advertising finance models, this acquisition will benefit YouTube to build a new integrated shopping experience that will allow viewers to buy products they see in videos from trusted creators and will offer new revenue streams for micro-influencers that will increase retention on its platforms and expand the user base of YouTube.

SimSim in its short span of two years in 2020 has acquired $17 million in its Series B financing round.

‘‘

According to FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment Report 2021, the number of video viewers has increased by 15% in 2020 to reach 468 million and this number is expected to grow to 650 million by 2023.

How this Acquisition will benefit SimSim

Leveraging YouTube’s expansive reach of 450 million users in India, SimSim plans to help small sellers and brands by showcasing and selling their products using the power of content creators on YouTube’s platform will aid to increase the reach and customer base of SimSim in remote parts of India.

Video Marketing and Micro-influencers: The game-changers in e-commerce

Here are the reasons why social commerce platforms are widely using product videos and micro-influencers in their platforms:

Major Influencer in purchasing decision

Informative and demonstrative product videos will influence customers in making purchases due to the better representation of a product’s unique selling proposition.

Builds Customer trust and credibility

Appealing video content from micro-influencers builds trust and credibility among customers as the audience perceives them to be one of them and easily connects with their ideologies. This also increases a brand’s website conversion and traffic.

Niche Audience and Loyal Brand advocates

Micro-influencers, through their unique content creation style, target a narrower section of the audience, where the engagement rates are higher.

The best advertisement a brand can receive is from those individuals who are already using the products. Micro-influencers fall in these categories and this makes them loyal brand advocates. Sellers on social commerce platforms do not need to maximise efforts to develop the brand relationship from scratch.

What Lies Ahead for the Social Commerce Startups

According to a report from Bain & Company, the overall social commerce market is expected to grow to $16-20 billion by 2025 from a $2 billion market in 2020. The tailwinds to the growth of social commerce startups will be a deeper reach of the internet and increasing aspirations for a better life. Social commerce will leverage the emerging number of micro and vernacular influencers to showcase small sellers and business products on online platforms through interactive video content.

The post Being a Part of YouTube, This is How SimSim Can Achieve its Mission appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

DealShare, Promoting the Community Group Buying Model

Shalmoli Sarkar — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:35:08 +0000

If we look 10 years back, the phenomenon of online buying was a luxurious privilege that was limited to Tier-1 cities only. With smartphones becoming ubiquitous and falling data prices, the appetite for online buying is picking up in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

Indians are fond of slashed prices and discounts. Latching on to this trait DealShare, an e-commerce platform, has introduced the consumer group buying model. This is a new online shopping model to serve the consumers belonging to middle and lower-income groups allowing them to buy in bulk to avail mind-boggling discounts from the merchants. In FY 20-21 fiscal, DealShare’s business ballooned five times to reach a $200 million annual GMV (gross merchandise) run rate.

DealShare is generating revenues by leveraging the community group buying model by bringing innovations in-app experience and building its AI capabilities to offer a personalised, fun-filled, gamified and vernacular shopping experience to its first-time internet consumers. It has developed a community leader network DealShare dost which aids DealShare to operate at ultra-low-cost delivery mechanism, ensuring best-in-class unit economics.

DealShare’s app is used for shopping by its users more than 40 times a month making it one of the most engaging e-commerce app. The app’s strong seller base of 1000 micro-entrepreneurs drives the community group buying model and parallelly generates a host of employment opportunities across all tiers of cities and towns.

What is DealShare?

DealShare is a social e-commerce startup founded in 2018 by Vineet Rao, Sankar Bora, Sourjyendu Medda and Rajat Shikhar. This social online buying platform houses multi-category consumer products at a much-bargained price primarily targeting the non-metro and middle-income Indian consumers.

‘‘

In FY 20-21 fiscal, DealShare’s business ballooned five times to reach a $200 million annual GMV (gross merchandise) run rate.

Why was DealShare Started?

Witnessing WhatsApp’s gigantic reach of 400 million where more than 95 percent of Indians use the app everyday according to App Annie, a mobile insights firm, is the biggest reason that led DealShare to build its e-commerce platform on a messaging app to offer a wide range of products to consumers in small Indian cities and towns.

Forecast and Future of the Community Group Buying Model

The pandemic has nudged people indoors who spend a significant amount of time on social media and messaging platforms for communication and entertainment. This new behaviour is being leveraged by social e-commerce companies to set up their online marketplace.

According to a report from Ernst & Young by 2025 India’s e-commerce market is expected to reach $220 billion with social commerce to be $50 billion in terms of GMV (Gross Merchandise Value).

Startups that are acing the community group buying Model

CityMall, an online group buying portal founded in 2019 sells multi-category products ranging from grocery, FMCG to home and kitchen-related products at discounted prices enjoys a customer base of over 2 lakh customers and works with 20000 sellers.

Similarly, Mall91 started in 2018, is a social group buying e-commerce platform that uses the ‘Mohalla network’ to sell a wide range of products from clothing to electronics to home décor. The platform’s USP lies in video-based social shopping and showcasing product catalogues in vernacular language with WhatsApp-based checkouts that have established its reach in more than 2000 smaller cities and towns. Mall91 has received more than 15 million app downloads with average users spending 10 minutes on the app.

Takeaways for the Startups in community group buying model

The social e-commerce space will witness growth in rural towns and cities with the increased usage of social media and messaging apps.
The community group buying model lowers the delivery and logistics costs adding more savings to business and enabling social e-commerce companies to penetrate deeper into India’s remote towns.

The post DealShare, Promoting the Community Group Buying Model appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Meesho: Creating India’s Largest Social Commerce Platform

Shreyansh Mangla — Mon, 24 May 2021 11:30:11 +0000

Somewhere in India’s rural town, a housewife struggles to pay her electricity bill online using her smartphone. After hours of hassle, she finally gives up and jumps on to her social media apps. Surprisingly, she scrolls her way through three different apps without a hitch!

This ‘social media comfort’ and its ever-growing base was together mixed with e-commerce popularity by start-up Meesho, which ‘double tapped’ this billion dollar opportunity six years back.

E-commerce has been relentlessly making inroads in every corner of the country, providing small businesses and entrepreneurs a platform to buy and sell. The convergence of social media with the same pushes the success rate, convenience and most importantly adoption of such platforms. Imagine if you give a platform to an aspiring entrepreneur housewife to buy, sell or resell products through a medium she is most comfortable, familiar and connected with.

This has given rise to “social commerce”. In simple terms, it means selling products directly through social media networks and Meesho stands at the top of this game in India.

Bringing Business in ‘Social’ Culture

In social commerce, the buyers are connected with the sellers via social media and can directly interact with them. The former can make a deal by interacting on various social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.

According to a report by Bain and Company, the social commerce market in India was estimated to be at $2 Billion in 2020 and is aimed to hit $16-20 Billion in 2025. This meteoric rise is credited to the smartphone penetration across the country, especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 and the declining cost of mobile internet. There are about 400 million internet users in the country and the number is ascending by seconds. This has been complimented with the parallel growth of payment gateways and its adoption.

Hence, the opportunity to enter ‘anything digital’ has never been so ripe. Vidit Atrey and Sanjeev Barnwal planned to combine the two opportunities — social media and e-commerce— and hence the inception of brand Meesho.

Meesho had, however, culminated out of another start-up started by the duo, called Fashnear.

In 2015, India was witnessing a rise of “e-shops”, an online business that sells a variety of products and services. They were just like any other retail store, but online. The duo came up with a similar hyperlocal online platform/store for fashion and named it Fashnear, which unfortunately did not see success. The founders started working on a prototype to let offline retailers sell through social media platforms. Thus Meesho (Meri-shop) was born.

‘‘

E-commerce has been relentlessly making inroads in every corner of the country, providing small businesses and entrepreneurs a platform to buy and sell.

Creating ‘Digital Entrepreneurs’

According to the founders, the most special thing about Meesho platform/app is that it allows any person to be an entrepreneur without any investment, from the comfort of their homes. It’s a ‘zero investment’ proposition which creates ‘digital entrepreneurs.

How does the app work? To begin with, starting a business on Meesho app doesn’t require any investment or qualification. The start-up follows the concept of reselling. Once the user enters the app, there is a well-established catalogue of products ranging from clothing to kitchen equipment. All a user needs to do is resell those products to their contacts by sharing the catalogue to friends, family or others on various social platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and generate sales. A commission is earned on every order besides bonuses.

Users also have the option of listing their own products by enrolling into Meesho’s seller account following which they can broadcast themselves on various online social groups and start earning.

Building this app was not easy. Like every start-up, Meesho founders had their share of struggle during the initial days, right from developing the app to deciding on the language. But every decision they made, it was taken in the direction of creating a ‘user-focussed’ business. The start-up wanted to reach out to as many sellers as possible during their early stage itself to get the head start without any risk.

Around 10% of Meesho users are influencers on Instagram and Youtube who are able to make a handsome income by reselling products on the platform. A large chunk of their users also consists of women and students, who are usually very active on social media and are thus able to leverage the opportunity, following small store owners in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

In an interview with Y-Combinator, a California-based seed accelerator, Aatrey had mentioned that they imbibed a lot of patience, especially during the initial days and hired like-minded people from their own network. He terms this as the “single best decision” of his life while reinstating the value of having a strong foundation.

In 2016, the start-up was one of the three Indian companies to be selected by Y-Combinator for a three-month summer programme besides being a part of the first batch of Google Launchpad – Solve for India program.

Meesho secured its first funding of $120,000 from the california-based seed accelerators. Since then, the start-up has raised a total of $515.2 million in funding over 9 rounds; the latest one being Series E in April 2021 which gave the six-year-old start-up a valuation of $2.1 Billion and an entry into the prestigious unicorn club.

In June 2019, Meesho became the first start-up from India to receive an investment from Facebook. The start-up managed to grab the Big Tech’s attention due to its target audience—women and students— and their common goal of enabling small communities and businesses to grow. This partnership was also a part of the tech giant’s strategy to expand its presence in the rising internet market. Facebook has more users in India than it does in any other country and the number is on a steady rise. With India emerging as the second biggest smartphone market, the opportunity is immense.

‘‘

The common communication tone that Meesho has built around its product since inception -- ‘empowering people to fulfil their dream of becoming entrepreneurs’.

Power to User: A ‘Zero Investment’ Proposition

A plethora of social media apps have opened up new opportunities, especially for women, students and others, to work from home and earn an income. One of the biggest advantages of using these apps is that one does not need to have any special skills, resume or a college degree to start business. All you need is a smartphone. With the Meesho app, users have the power to select the products they want to sell to their online social community. They also have the power to choose their profit margins and the selling price besides the brand name and identity. Once the customer buys your product, they will be aware of the brand and not just Meesho.

The company came up with an online series— Real Heroes of Meesho/My Meesho Story— to bring to the fore their users’ experience (A smart marketing strategy as well!).

One of them narrates the ordeal of a housewife who was battling depression. She was looking for a job online when she came across Meesho’s advertisement on YouTube stating ‘start your online retail business with zero investment’. Hesitant at first, as most of the users are owing to online frauds, she signed up and started selling a range of products like handbags, clothes, kitchen accessories on WhatsApp. The business earned her over 1 lakh in bonus, which surpassed her own weekly sales target.

This is the common communication tone that Meesho has built around its product since inception — ‘empowering people to fulfil their dream of becoming entrepreneurs’. This communication will continue to be the product differentiator and a strong USP for Meesho.

The founders mention that it is difficult for people to trust the whole online system, but they do trust their social community. This is exactly where Meesho comes in and builds its platform on an already built solid one. It consolidates the trust of their customers in the entrepreneurs who appear as influencers on the app.

There are close to 9 million such women entrepreneurs on the platform today and the number is likely to touch around 250 million by 2025.

Not only has Meesho been able to amass a huge user base over the years by targeting the right audience with its clean and simple proposition of ‘Zero Investment Business’ but also retained them with bonuses on extra sales and referral programs.

The company understood the fragmented digital knowledge among people and therefore kept the app simple. The user interface of Meesho is extremely simple and easy to use.

This is also combined with the necessary logistics support and payment tools. The delivery operations are managed directly by Meesho. Since most of the products are non-branded, the company lays heavy emphasis on quality.

Building a strong channel was a priority which was targeted in the initial days itself. Majority of the suppliers who sold their inventory through Meesho, relied on the company for the majority of their income. So in its initial phase, its entire focus was on setting up a minimal logistic network. This was quite a challenge as each state had different rules surrounding entry and exit of vehicles. Overcoming their hurdles and keeping the focus intact, Meesho has managed to build a robust marketplace for resellers and suppliers, wherein the app doesn’t communicate with the end consumers, their resellers do.

Continuing the ‘Empower’ Strategy

Meesho has been evolving over the years with advanced technology. The start-up till date has delivered orders to over 1,00,000 suppliers to over 26,000 pin codes in over 4,800 cities, generating more than Rs 500 crore in income for individual entrepreneurs. It boasts a user community of over 10 million and growing.

Meesho has been evolving over the years with advanced technology. The company’s asset-lite nature and capital-efficient stance will act as a differentiator and will keep it pushing in this competitive market.

Meesho plans to branch out into new geographies and shift its attention from women-led resellers to small businesses spread across the country. Considering that India has about 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) currently, Meesho’s is on the right track.

Besides long-term vision, the company at present is focusing on safeguarding their relationships with the resellers and vendors and overcoming the supply chain disruption. During the lockdown, the company was forced to shut shop like everyone else but didn’t give up on ideation. They started experimenting with new categories like grocery, which turned successful. This reflects the scalability of the Meesho product which is up for further disruption.

The post Meesho: Creating India’s Largest Social Commerce Platform appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Here is How Hyderabad-Based Startup HESA Connecting the Rural Value Chain to the Urban Market

Shalmoli Sarkar — Mon, 10 May 2021 06:35:04 +0000

Rural India has long been eluded in the past from getting access to the long-term market-based knowledge and skills to unlock new business opportunities. However, with the burgeoning startup culture in India, various startups are stepping forward to bridge the digital divide that has been preventing rural entrepreneurs to discern new income opportunities driving the rural markets and economies. By leveraging technology, digital marketing and the approach of going local, social startups like HESA are bridging the divide by offering easy business marketing solutions to connect the rural value chain to the urban market.

Vamsi Udaygiri the founder of the social startup HESA Global is providing last-mile physical and digital connections to rural India. To date, the companies have shown interest in tapping the last mile but are yet to invest in deep doorstep customer access that is currently preventing them from penetrating deeper into this massive rural market.

‘‘

According to a report by Bain & Company, India’s social commerce space is estimated to grow by $16-$20 Billion by 2025.

How is HESA bridging the divide?

HESA Global although founded in the year 2019 by Vamsi Udaygiri went alive with its app in 2020. HESA initially began as Rural Yellow Times offering jobs for rural India through its app. The startup aims to create a single destination for the rural marketplace for buying and selling products and services including financial transactions. By enabling technology, HESA acts as an integrated platform for the brands who are willing to buy, sell, promote and deliver their products, services including various banking and financial services in rural markets.

HESA also partners with rural entrepreneurs including farmers to sell their products in the urban market. HESA organises various rural promotions, BTL ( Below the Line) Campaigns and emerged as an independent event management startup organising events independently such as AgriHorti Tech, HealthPlus Asia, Back to Farming & Janatha Expo. HESA’s association in rural projects such as Dodla Dairy has allowed 60,000 dairy farms to strategize their supply and earn a profit is empowering the local milkmen, a means to earn a decent livelihood.

Right from building awareness of a rural entrepreneur or brand through promotions and event marketing to creating a local sales force, HESA ensures last-mile distribution and delivery.

Network of resident village- consultants – Hesaathis assisting rural entrepreneurs

HESA has its physical network of resident village consultants known by the name Hesaathis who are spread across the villages and can he/she can be contacted for any challenge or difficulty that a rural individual counter while buying, selling, and while managing customers. The ‘Hesaathis are well-equipped with digital know-how to enable buying and selling and resolving any hurdles faced by them.

To help farmers with the smooth functioning of the agricultural processes, the platform has features such as microfinance banking, insurance, FMCGs, money withdrawal, cash transfer, Agri inputs, purchasing Agri produce, microloan repayments, etc. Currently, HESA has a customer base of more than 7.5 lakh rural customers in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with more than 5000 Hesaathis.

What is in it for social commerce startups?

According to a report by Bain & Company, India’s social commerce space is estimated to grow by $16-$20 Billion by 2025. The impact of Covid-19 in India has created impediments in the growth of SME businesses that have created severe poverty and unemployment. In such trying times, such social commerce startups that offer support to the rural entrepreneurs will create avenues for livelihood, creating more rural jobs to tackle the covid impact.

The post Here is How Hyderabad-Based Startup HESA Connecting the Rural Value Chain to the Urban Market appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

How Did Meesho Spur New Models of Innovation?

Aakash Sharma — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 02:35:03 +0000

Meesho is a Bangalore-based social commerce platform founded in December 2015 by graduates of IIT Delhi, Vidit Atre and Sanjeev Barnwal. It allows small businesses and individuals to open their online stores through WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Meesho, which actually means ‘Meri Shop‘ (my shop), equips possible entrepreneurs with a practical digital shop. The company offers distribution access to 20,000 manufacturers through its platform. Meesho was one of three Indian companies selected for the Y Combinator in 2016. It was also part of the first batch of the Google Launchpad – Solve for India programme. In June 2019, it became the first Indian start-up to be invested in by Facebook.

Meesho Innovation Spree – Turning People into Digital Shopkeepers

Meesho has over 2 million people who it has successfully transformed into digital shopkeepers. The app allows users to set up online stores with over 21,000 small and medium-sized vendors offering new product categories such as clothing, jewellery, home kitchens, etc. Users can market these products on the network through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meesho receives a 10% to 20% sales commission on transactions.

Many ‘providers’ that are part of the Indian domestic household have a knack for business. With Meesho, they are granted the financial freedom to conduct business with the Meesho app without leaving home. These entrepreneurs do not usually have the capital to buy raw materials and indulge in simple brick and mortar trading centres. So, Meesho merchants don’t have to carry inventory; suppliers drop-ship items after they’re ordered.

Resellers can send payment links directly through social media, including WhatsApp. A relatively new sector is opening up in India with the massive leap in the country’s 4G infrastructure over the years. There are currently 2 million resellers and 700 cities in India and Indonesia on Meesho’s channels.

‘‘

New start-ups can tap the opportunity in connecting local and small businesses with large audiences using WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.

Meesho’s Innovation and Fervent Funding Liftoff

Raising money for a business is not easy. And the time it took for Meesho to raise Series A funds and the resulting confusion was challenging. Meesho received its first institutional loan of $3 million from SAIF Partners in 2017. This was followed by a funding round of $10 million from Sequoia Capital. Slowly, Facebook and Naspers also got on board.

Many investors did not believe in Meesho’s business model and saw it as new. But one thing that worked for the social trading platform was the user pull it gained. Although the start-up was unable to raise funds, it continued to snowball. Investors who didn’t consider investing initially suddenly revamped their decision as they saw the numbers grow. The idea of selling WhatsApp around 2016 and 2017 was very new, and no one had tried it yet.

Innovating Community Commerce

While the venture capital industry initially did not quite figure out the workings of offline community commerce, it saw a great opportunity in Meesho’s innovative models. On top of that, Meesho users have shown great gratitude for changing their business and lives effectively in so many ways, further encouraging the base of innovation.

And with this right time, funding and innovation of the digital marketplace, Meesho spurred new models and platforms for businesses across the spectrum to run smoothly and reach broad audiences.

What can start-ups learn from Meesho?

Meesho’s business model can clearly be a standard for aspiring entrepreneurs aiming to start out in the community commerce segment. While many aspects of the industry have now come to the forefront, there aren’t many big players yet who have occupied the space.

New start-ups can tap the opportunity in connecting local and small businesses with large audiences using WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. These platforms have dedicated services that encourage small businesses to grow using their means. A start-up can assist the millions of shopkeepers, kirana stores, bakeries, departmental stores, floweries etc. across India in realising their potential of mass reach.

With the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan at its peak and the prime minister’s call to go “Vocal for Local”, it can be a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs to connect the MSMEs with their vast markets.

The post How Did Meesho Spur New Models of Innovation? appeared first on Dutch Uncles.