Leading e-commerce platform Meesho is preparing for an aggressive expansion into rural India as the e-commerce platform looks to tap the country’s vast untapped online shopper base, according to Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vidit Aatrey.
Speaking during the company’s earnings call, Aatrey said Meesho plans to significantly step up investments in acquiring rural consumers over the next year while maintaining a disciplined approach towards marketing returns.
He said the company would continue investing aggressively as long as customer acquisition economics remain attractive, underlining Meesho’s long-term confidence in India’s digital commerce opportunity.
India’s online shopping penetration still at early stage
Aatrey highlighted that India continues to have one of the lowest online transaction penetration levels among smartphone users compared to other emerging markets.
According to him, only around 30% of smartphone users in India currently transact online, compared to over 80 per cent in several other emerging economies.
This low penetration, he said, is creating a massive runway for growth even at scale, helping Meesho grow its annual transacting user base by 33% year-on-year.
He added that continued product innovation and strong returns on investment would drive further expansion into new user segments across the country.
Meesho Mall emerges as a major growth engine
The company is also scaling up Meesho Mall as it seeks to strengthen its affordable branded products ecosystem aimed at value-conscious consumers across mass India.
Aatrey said several national brands have significantly expanded their presence on the platform over the last year, leveraging Meesho to reach consumers that traditional distribution systems often fail to access.
He stressed that Meesho Mall is not designed solely for premium buyers but rather for a broad base of consumers looking for affordable access to national brands, regional labels and emerging D2C challenger brands.
The platform, he said, is increasingly becoming a digital bridge connecting brands with underserved consumers in smaller towns and non-metro markets.
Platform opens doors for millions of small businesses
Meesho is also witnessing rapid growth in seller onboarding following regulatory changes that now allow non-GST sellers to participate in online commerce.
Aatrey noted that India has tens of millions of product-based businesses, many of which were previously unable to sell online due to GST-related restrictions.
He said the company’s technology systems, built over nearly a decade, ensure seller quality remains tightly monitored despite the rapid onboarding of new merchants.
According to him, sellers with poor quality metrics do not gain visibility on the platform, while reliable sellers continue to scale through stronger order flows and customer trust.
Returns remain stable despite rapid seller growth
Addressing concerns around product returns and seller quality, Aatrey said Meesho’s returns performance has remained stable and has continued improving over time.
He attributed this to the platform’s robust quality-control mechanisms, which filter seller visibility based on performance standards.
The company’s active seller metrics, he explained, only include merchants that are already generating sales on the platform after crossing internal quality thresholds.
Advertising ecosystem gains momentum
Meesho’s seller advertising ecosystem is also scaling steadily, with more than two-thirds of sellers, weighted by GMV, now actively using advertisements on the platform.
Aatrey said the more critical metric for the company is the number of products being advertised rather than just the number of participating sellers.
That metric, he revealed, has grown nearly 40% year-on-year, indicating rising adoption of performance-driven advertising tools among merchants.
Supply chain built for frictionless commerce
On logistics and order fulfilment, Aatrey said Meesho’s platform architecture is designed to minimise friction for users and optimise direct-to-consumer deliveries.
Unlike warehouse-heavy e-commerce models, many Meesho orders are shipped directly from sellers and factories to consumers, limiting opportunities for large-scale order consolidation.
As a result, the company’s focus remains on ensuring seamless transactions and efficient supply-chain optimisation rather than increasing the number of products per order.