social commerce

Meesho’s founders kept the mission of bringing Indian consumers and businesses online while changing the product several times as they learned from users and shifts in the market. The talk traces its path from Fashion Nearby, to tools for shops selling through WhatsApp, to Meesho Supply for online resellers, and finally to a consumer shopping app. The 2021 shift to a direct-to-consumer app followed cheaper mobile data and changing consumer habits; the speaker argues that it required a long-term commitment rather than an experiment. For the next phase, Meesho is exploring voice AI to make shopping more accessible, especially for people who find conventional app interfaces difficult.

Vidit Aatrey explains how Meesho helps people in India start social stores by connecting resellers with suppliers and enabling sales through platforms such as WhatsApp. He describes how the company discovered its audience, pivoted from a hyperlocal fashion marketplace, and grew as more people came online and became comfortable transacting digitally. The talk covers Meesho’s focus on trust, reseller income, user feedback, and balancing fast growth with product quality. Aatrey also shares lessons on choosing a co-founder, staying close to users, and building for audiences whose problems founders may not share.