GenZ, Tier IV cities takes top spot in e-commerce purchase: Meesho report

One in every three users of Meesho — one of India’s leading marketplace — are under the age of 25, making Gen Z the fastest-growing demographic to adopt e-commerce. From demographics, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are leading in e-commerce user growth, showcasing the remarkable potential and adaptability of these states, according to Meesho’s Smart Shopper Report.

Meesho released the first edition of its report, offering a comprehensive analysis of the country’s dynamic online shopping trends in first half of calendar year 2024 (H12024). This report explores the changing habits and tastes of mass customers, who currently make up 80% of the population that shops online.

Meesho has also witnessed users from Tier IV+ cities emerge as the most frequent repeat shoppers in e-commerce. More than 80% of Indian online shoppers come from Tier II and beyond cities such as Ambur, Rourkela, Sangli, and Zirakpur. Projections by Redseer indicate that by 2030, mass consumers will dominate 65% of the retail market as they increasingly transition from traditional to digital retail, driven by expanding internet accessibility.

According to the report, adoption of vernacular languages and voice search has skyrocketed by 162% and 40% respectively, underscoring mass consumers’ strong preference for regional languages and intuitive features.

With about 80% of its 15 crore annual transacting customers coming from Tier II and beyond, per the report, the platform caters to mass consumer bases in e-commerce, serving customers in diverse locations such as Bhilai, Imphal, Jalandhar, Jhunjhunu, and Nellore.

From category choices, home & kitchen is capturing a growing share of customer budgets, with approximately 10% of spending dedicated to this category, reflecting a 50% year-on-year growth. Tier 2+ cities significantly outpaced Tier I cities in orders for electronic accessories, with more than double the number of purchases.

Meesho saw significant orders for products like bluetooth headphones and earphones, power banks, smart speakers, screen magnifiers, and keyboards from diverse Indian cities such as Alwar (Rajasthan), Bettiah (Bihar), Pursurah (West Bengal), Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh), Sindkheda (Maharashtra), Sirsa (Haryana).

Fastest-growing categories for Meesho include books, office supplies and stationary, home improvement, furnishings, and pet supplies. Personal care and self-care products, grooming essentials, draping essentials etc also saw a surge in demand in the first half of the year.

Meesho consumer spotlight from report:

• The Meesho app has been downloaded over 200 million times this year. ​That’s 10,00,000 downloads per day
• Customers spend more time on Meesho than other horizontal e-commerce platforms
• Meesho has welcomed 300,000 new sellers in 2024, nearly doubling the number from the previous year.
• Customers in the Northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim are increasingly making e-commerce purchases based on influencer content, contributing to an impressive 40% of all orders from these states
• Meesho customers are highly engaged, contributing to 692 million ratings, 185 million reviews, and 47 million pieces of user-generated content (images and video)