 "Meesho app")
Bengaluru-based e-commerce firm Meesho has emerged as the world’s fastest shopping app to cross 500 million cumulative downloads across Google Play and iOS App Store combined, reaching this milestone in six years, according to data.ai (formerly App Annie), the leading mobile data analytics provider.
More than half of these downloads (274 million) came in 2022, with value-seeking consumers across India flocking to the SoftBank-backed e-commerce platform. Meesho competes with players such as Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon and Reliance’s JioMart.
The entry into the 500 million club comes on the back of strong value propositions and unique tech innovations. At just 13.6 MB, Meesho’s Android app is the lightest e-commerce app in India on Play Store. This makes it compatible with low-end smartphones and ensures a seamless shopping experience even in areas with low internet bandwidth.
“Meesho has demonstrated rapid and sustained growth in app downloads over the last couple of years, besides strong progress on user engagement and stickiness,” said Lexi Sydow, Head of Insights at data.ai. “Through a strong focus on making the customer journey frictionless, the company is able to retain users and get them to revisit the app. With over 500 million downloads across the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, Meesho has positioned itself as one of India’s fastest-growing online marketplaces.”
User engagement on the Meesho app is high – it was the top breakout shopping app by monthly active users globally in 2022, gaining an additional 97 million average MAU during the year. At 2 minutes and 27 seconds, the app recorded the highest average session duration among India's top 10 e-commerce apps by monthly active users last year.
“This milestone is a great validation of our User-First mantra, which helps us continuously spot and address customer pain points to deliver an immaculate online shopping experience,” said Megha Agarwal, CXO, User Growth at Meesho. “At the same time, our promise of everyday low prices and relatable merchandise mirroring local markets has helped us make inroads into the homes of millions of first-time internet users. India has 750-800 million people with smartphones and internet access, and it presents a huge opportunity for us to spark the next wave of e-commerce adoption in the country.”
More From This Section
Earlier, Meesho announced that it recorded 140 million annual transacting users on its platform in 2022. With 1.1 million sellers and over 100 million active product listings across 30 categories, the company said it is fueling discoverability of a wide assortment of products at everyday low prices for customers across the country.
In another development, Fidelity Investments, an investor Meesho, recently marked down the company’s valuation by 9.7 per cent to $4.4 billion as of March 31, according to the regulatory filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Fidelity holds stakes in the e-commerce firm through multiple funds such as the Variable Insurance Products Fund III and IV, and Fidelity Central Investments Portfolio LLC. The firm, alongside Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin-led B Capital, had led a huge $570-million series F funding round in Meesho in September 2021 at a valuation of $4.9 billion.
