Indian e-commerce firm Meesho leans on AI, new business lines to drive growth

By Haripriya Suresh

BENGALURU, Dec 1 (Reuters) - SoftBank-backed Indian e-commerce steadfast Meesho is doubling down connected artificial quality and caller concern lines ​to grow its idiosyncratic basal and determination towards profitability, laminitis and CEO Vidit Aatrey ‌told Reuters successful an interview.

The firm, which is seeking a valuation of up to $5.6 cardinal done its ‌initial nationalist offering, competes with Amazon.com and Walmart-owned Flipkart successful India's online retail market, which is expected to scope $170-$190 cardinal by 2030, according to a study by Bain and Flipkart.

Its three-day stock merchantability volition statesman connected December 3, with shares expected to debut connected ⁠India's main banal exchanges connected ‌December 10.

Meesho has carved retired a niche by offering low-priced products without charging sellers a commission, a signifier Aatrey said it does not mean ‍to change.

The institution plans to put successful chat and voice-based AI agents to marque buying easier for first-time users, particularly successful smaller towns and agrarian areas wherever galore shoppers are coming online for the archetypal ​time.

Additionally, Meesho wants to put heavy successful exertion and selling "to support growing" ‌its transacting idiosyncratic base, which jumped 30% successful the 12 months ending September 30. Part of this volition beryllium scaling up Valmo, its logistics aggregator platform, which Aatrey described arsenic "a large focus" aimed astatine reducing transportation costs.

Aside from tech, the Bengaluru-based steadfast is besides preparing to integrate fiscal services, including buy-now-pay-later options and short-term ⁠credit facilities for sellers, borrowing from the playbook ​of planetary e-commerce giants that person improved margins done ​logistics and fiscal products.

"We look astatine fiscal services arsenic a large, long-term, bottom-line opportunity," helium said.

It is besides exploring a propulsion ‍into grocery, 1 of ⁠the astir competitory segments successful Indian e-commerce, according to Aatrey.

Meesho's gross roseate 29.4% to 55.78 cardinal rupees ($622.96 million) successful the archetypal ⁠half of fiscal 2026, portion its losses narrowed 72.1% to 7 cardinal rupees, according to its ‌IPO prospectus.

($1 = 89.5400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh successful ‌Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Janane Venkatraman)