麦肯锡 -Meesho：让电商成为人人可做的生意 Meesho Making e-commerce everyones business

October2026

McKinsey

&Company

Meesho:Makinge-commerce

everyone'sbusiness

Scalingane-commercestart-upinIndia'sdispersedmarketsischallenging,butinnovation,patience,andpassionatelysolvinghardproblemshave

enabledMeesho'sfounderstosucceed.

Fromastart-upfoundedbytwo24-year-oldsin2015,MeeshohasbecomeoneofIndia’s

leadinge-commercemarketplace.ItsmissionofenablinganyoneinIndiatostarttheirown

businesswithzeroinvestmenthasempoweredentrepreneursandledtoapproximately250

millionannualtransactingusers.1Meeshowentpublicin2025,withsharesjumping60percentafterits$603millionIPO.

InthisLeadingAsiainterview,ViditAatrey,CEOandcofounderofMeesho,talkstoMcKinseyseniorpartnerSathyaPrathipatiaboutthedifficultiesofbuildinganonlineshoppingplatforminacountryasfragmentedasIndia.Heelaboratesonhowheandco-founderSanjeevBarnwal

builtthecompanyintoatechretailpowerhousethatisaffordableandeasytouse.

Aneditedversionoftheconversationfollows.

SathyaPrathipati:Takeusbacktonavigatingthoseearlypreproduct,market-fitdays.WasitdifficulttocraftMeesho’smission?And,ifso,whatstoppedyoufromtakingaregularcorporatejob?

ViditAatrey:SanjeevgrewupinHazaribagh,Jharkhand,andIwasborninMeerut,Uttar

Pradesh.In2015,Bangaloretechcirclesthoughte-commercewasdone,butinourhometowns,nobodywastradingonline.So,westartedwithasimplemissiontobringeveryoneinIndia

online.

IwouldhaveshutdownthecompanysoonifI’dstarteditwithanyoneotherthanmycollege

roommateSanjeev.In2015,hecalledmefromTokyo,boredofcorporatelife.Isaid,“Let’sbuildsomethingtogether.”Heresignedthenextday.

Innovationisneverlinearandweknewmoststartupsfail.So,wemadeapacttotaketheoptionofshuttingdownoffthetableforthefirsttwoyears.Thatperiodwasajourneyoftrialanderror.Wewere24-year-oldswhohadneverrunacompany,failingeveryday.Butthattaughtus

patienceandwemotivatedeachother.Iseefounderswithoutthatdeeptrustblamingeachotherwhenchaoscreepsin.Forus,trustwasthesurvivalmechanism.

Ourfirstbiginsightwaspre-Jio,whenmobiledatawasexpensiveandpeopleavoidedshoppingappsthatconsumeddata.2SinceWhatsAppwastheonlyapptheyalreadyhadthatdidn’tauto-downloadimages,webuiltamodelallowingconsumerstobuydirectlythroughWhatsApp.Atitspeakin2020,wehadtenmillionWhatsAppgroupsoperatingacrossIndia.Thenwesolvedthesellerequationbyintroducingzerocommission—afirstinIndia—andoveramillionactivesellersjoinedus.

Weappliedthesameapproachtologisticsbybuildingatechnologylayeroverunderutilized

locallogisticsassets.Itbroughtcostsdownandmadeonlineshoppingaffordableforthemass-market.

SathyaPrathipati:Indiaisfamouslynotonemarket,butMeeshoserveshundredsofmillionsofcustomers.Howdoyouscaleacrossamarketasfragmentedasruralandsemi-urbanIndia?

1“MeeshoShareholders’LetterQ3FY26,”Meesho,January30,2026.

2JioisatelecommunicationsanddigitalservicescompanyinIndiaofferinglow-costdataandcheapandfastinternetaccess.

Meesho:Makinge-commerceeveryone’sbusiness2

Meesho:Makinge-commerceeveryone’sbusiness3

ViditAatrey:Thetoptenor12citiesinIndiaarefairlyhomogeneous,butbeyondthem,the

countrybecomesveryheterogeneous.Forcontext,whenwemappedregionalfestivalsto

designsalesevents,weexpected50or60,butfound460majorlocalcelebrations.So,for

example,ifyouonlyrunaDiwalisale,millionsofcustomersfeellikeyoudon’tcareabouttheirculture.

That’swhyMeeshodoesn’tholdinventoryorlaunchprivatelabels.Youcannotbuildasingle

privatelabelforabilliondiversepeople,butyoucanbuildaplatformthatconnectslocal

businessestolocalbuyersanddesignstrictlyfortwouniversalcommondenominators,namelyaffordabilityandsimplicity.

AffordabilityinvolvesbalancingIndia’slimitedincomeswithitsmassiveaspirations.Wesolve

thisbykeepingpricesincrediblylow,removingtraditionalfrictionbyofferingzerocommissiontosellers,andengineeringhyper-efficientlogistics.

Thesecondissimplicity,becauseavastportionofthepopulationstillnavigatesasteepdigital

learningcurve.WebuiltMeeshothesameway.Whenauseropensourapp,theyjustswipe,andAIrecommendswhattheywant.

SathyaPrathipati:Whatwasthebiggest“betthehouse”decisionyoumade,andhowdoyouthinkaboutunmodelablerisks?

ViditAatrey:In2021,wefacedanexistentialcrisis.WewereaB2B2Ccompanybuilton

WhatsAppresellers,butwhenJiodemocratizeddataandthe[COVID-19]pandemichit,

consumersrapidlyshiftedtodirectshoppingapps.Wehadjustraisedcapitalaroundtheoldmodel,butitwasclearwehadtochange.

Weshutdownabusinessgrowingfivefoldyear-over-yeartobuildanewone.

Mostcompetitorsnevermadethattransition.InJuly,2021,welaunchedtheMeeshoapp,whichquicklybecamethetopapponthe[Google]PlayStore.

Thathigh-stakespivotsolidifiedhowIcategorizecorporatedecision-making.First,therearethosewithamodelableROI—involvingmovesyoucanaccuratelyestimate,frame,and

decentralize.Idon’tgetinvolvedinthose.ThentherearedecisionswithanunmodelableROI,whereyoucannotcalculateafinancialreturn.Thefatalmistakeisjudginglong-term,

unmodelabledecisionsbytoday’smetrics.Rather,myframeworkistolivein2030,askingmyself:WillIregretnotdoingthis?Iftheanswerisyes,weexecute.

Thepost-pandemiccorrectionforcedustopivotrapidlyfromgrowth-at-all-costtoprofitabilitytoprepareforpublicmarkets.Itrequireddifficultdecisions,includingouronlycompanylayoff.

Meesho:Makinge-commerceeveryone’sbusiness4

Wesurvivedtheinitialshockofthepandemic,whenourrevenuedroppedtozeroforthree

monthsduringlockdowns.Yet,whilethepost-pandemiccorrectionandCOVIDshockswere

severecorporatehurdles,theyweren’texistential.Everythingafter2017wasaboutnavigatingscale;before2017,everysingledaywasabattleforsurvival.

SathyaPrathipati:Howdoyouremaincompetitiveagainstglobalcommercegiantswhenyouroriginaltechthesis—expensivedataandWhatsApp—evaporates?

ViditAatrey:Wehaveauniqueadvantage.Mostotherslookatthismarketdispassionately,

focusingonGMV[grossmerchandisevalue],profitandloss,andhigher-incomeurban

customers.Westayfocusedonthenextbillionusersandhowtofigurethingsoutbeforeanyoneelse.Ourteamsspendextensivetimeonthegrounddiscoveringuserproblems.Ourcultureis

hardtoreplicate:Difficultproblemsrequirefocus,passion,andstayingpower.

SathyaPrathipati:WhatdoesittakeforanIndiancompanytoscaleglobally?Iknowyou’restillearlyinthatjourney,butmuchofMeesho’ssuccesscomesfromadeepunderstandingofthe

Indianconsumer.

ViditAatrey:IthinkalotofwhatI’vesaidstillapplies.First,appreciatingdiversityandbeingaslocalaspossiblearestrengthsforbuildingaglobalcompany.Youlearnnottoassumeevery

customeristhesame.BuildinginIndiateachesyouthatveryearlyon.Theotheradvantageiscoststructure.IfyoucanmaketheeconomicsworkinIndia,it’seasiertomakethemworkin

countrieswithmuchhigherper-capitaincome.Goingupiseasierthancomingdown.Thatsaid,thisisstilltheoreticalaswehaven’tgoneglobalyet.

Overthelongterm,Ibelieveeverycompanyshouldmakeitscountrymorecompetitive.Today,wemakelogisticsmoreefficient,workwithmanufacturerstoimprovequalityandscale,anduseourdatatobuildbetterproducts.Asthosevaluechainsbecomemoreefficient,IndiabecomesmorecompetitiveandouraspirationisforIndiatobuildthatsamemanufacturing

competitivenessandeventuallytakeIndianproductstotheworldefficiently.

SathyaPrathipati:WithMeesho’sIPObehindyou,whatcanthebusinessdothatitcouldn’tdoasaprivatecompany?AndwheredoesAIfitintothisnextchapter?

ViditAatrey:Twoyearsago,wewerefocusedonlistingandmaintainingapredictable,

profitability-drivenprofile.Wecouldn’teasilytakeanunconstrained,long-termview.Today,wecan.[AftertheIPO]Iimmediatelyannouncedafive-yearplanningexercisetoimagineandfundbold,mission-alignedideas.

AIispartofthatfrontier,buttechnologyconstantlyshifts.Ifyou’rebuildingatechbusiness,youhavetochasethefrontieroryougetleftbehind.

SathyaPrathipati:AsAIchangeshowcompaniesoperate,whatremainscoretotheCEO’srole,andhasAIchangedyouroperatingmodel?

Meesho:Makinge-commerceeveryone’sbusiness5

ViditAatrey:Idon’tthinktheCEO’scoreresponsibilitieschange,namely,settingdirection,hiringgreatpeople,buildingtheteam.AImakesyoudramaticallybetteratdoingthese.

Forme,settingdirectionstartswithbeingpresentontheground.Forexample,IrecentlyspenttimeinBihar,atwhatIcalltheconsumerfrontier;placeswherepeoplearebeginningtobuy

online.Thereyoucanunderstandwhat’sworkingornot,andwhatcapabilitiesyouneedtobuildoverthenextfewyears.Thisusedtotakemesixto12monthstodo,butIcannowdoitmuch

faster.

AIhasalsochangedtheresponsibilityofleadershipdevelopment.Allmymeetingsarenow

transcribed,sowhengivingfeedbacktosomeone,Inolongerhavetorelyonmymemoryof

whathappened.Icanlookacrosseveryinteractionandbemuchmorespecificandconsistent,becausethetranscriptremembersitforme.Wecallthistheuniversalcontextlayer.

WhenIwasintheUnitedStatesrecently,IkepthearingthatAIagentsareonlyasgoodasthe

contextyougivethem.Itconvincedusthatcontextiseverythingsothatknowledgedoesn’tstaylockedinsomeone’shead.Asagentsgetbetter,they’llbeabletousethatsharedcontextto

createmuchmorevalue.

SathyaPrathipati:You’vespokenaboutbuildingcompaniesthatstrengthenIndia’s

competitiveness.DoyoubelieveglobaltechnologychampionswillemergeinIndia,andwhatrolecanBangaloreplay?

ViditAatrey:Ido,andIthinkit’sjustamatteroftime.Bangalore’sbiggestcontributionhasbeenmakingsureeverymajortechnologywavereachesIndia.Wheneveranewtechnologyemerges,ChinaandtheUnitedStatesraceahead.PeoplewonderwhetherIndiahasbeenleftbehind.

ThenfoundersinBangalorestartexperimenting,whetherattheapplicationlayer,themodellayer,orsomewhereelse.

They’vebeenunderestimated,buttheycanhelpIndiacatchup.YoualreadyfindcompaniesinBangalorebuildingdrones,humanoidrobots,andotherfrontiertechnologies.What’s

remarkableisthatBangaloredoesthiswithouttheadvantagesChinaandtheUnitedStateshave.That’swhyI’moptimistic.

IfyoulookatChina,forexample,multinationaltechnologycompaniesfirstbecamenational

championsbybuildingmassivedomesticbusinesses.Thatcreatedanecosystemandthe

confidencetoexpandglobally.IthinkIndiawillfollowasimilarpath.Youneedcompanieswiththescale,balancesheets,andconfidencetotakerisksthathavenoprecedent.

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