E-commerce platform Meesho has introduced a content creator marketplace as part of its broader content commerce strategy, aiming to tap into India’s growing influencer-driven shopping trends. Backed by SoftBank, the company has also launched the Meesho Creator Club, an in-house affiliate program designed to empower social media influencers with real-time performance analytics, faster payouts, and collaboration opportunities.
The platform also includes ‘video finds’, a feature that offers short product videos hosted directly on the Meesho app, enabling users to discover and shop through immersive content. Additionally, ‘live shop’ provides interactive sessions where sellers and influencers showcase products, engage with customers by answering queries, and drive real-time sales.
“Customer engagement and retention are quite high in content-related shopping because users spend more time on the app and interact with the more engaging content. That’s why across the country, we see content consumption keeps increasing significantly year after year,” Prasanna Arunachalam, general manager of monetisation and content commerce at Meesho, said.
Meesho’s content commerce initiative, launched last year, has attracted 14.5 million annual transacting users and collaborated with over 21,000 influencers. This strategy has fueled nearly 10x growth in key categories, including women’s western wear, jewellery, footwear, home décor, furnishings, kids’ wear, toys, and beauty & personal care.
According to the company, between January and December 2024, orders placed through content commerce grew three times faster than Meesho’s overall order volume growth.
“Everything we have done in the last year has been to prove product market fit that this works. We have been able to get enough creators to make content for Meesho, and they are able to get enough earnings and are sticking to the platform. At the same time, there is a lot of value for the sellers in doing this,” Arunachalam added.
He said content commerce is helping customers explore product categories they hadn’t purchased from before.
“Sixty per cent of orders in content commerce come from categories that customers have never transacted in before. For the first time, they are discovering these new categories,” he said.
Meesho’s latest developments come on the heels of a major funding round. On January 27, reports revealed that the company secured $250-270 million in fresh investment, with Tiger Global, Think Investments and Mars Growth Capital participating. This investment brought Meesho’s total funding to approximately $550 million.
Additionally, the company is working on a reverse merger of its Indian unit, FashnearTechnologies, with its US-based parent, Meesho Inc. This move is a strategic step toward its initial public offering (IPO) in 2026.
For FY 2023-24, Meesho reported a 33% year-on-year increase in revenue, reaching ₹7,615 crore, while significantly reducing its adjusted loss to ₹53 crore, a 97% decline YoY. According to filings with the Registrar of Companies, the company also achieved operating cash flow positivity, but its net loss after taxes stood at ₹304 crore.
Over the past year, Meesho introduced Meesho Mall, a brand-focused marketplace that earns revenue through commissions from listed brands. Meesho generates income from advertising and logistics services.
Looking ahead, Meesho plans to expand its Creator Club, onboarding a diverse mix of micro and nano-influencers and larger content creators to strengthen its content-driven shopping ecosystem further.
