The Indian platform Meesho closes its grocery business

Social commerce company Meesho has reportedly closed its Indian supermarket Superstore.

Superstore has been shut down in over 90% of Indian cities, with the only remaining hubs being Nagpur and Mysuru, and job losses have come with it – nearly 300 employees have had their jobs cut, according to a Livemint report.

The report notes that “low income and high cash burn” were the main reasons for the decision. Previously, the company planned to further expand Superstore by the end of the year.

Meesho did not respond to a request for comment from PYMNTS.

Meesho renamed its Farmiso grocery service to Superstore in April, focusing more on meeting consumer demand for basic necessities.

But the company laid off more than 150 employees, mostly from Farmiso, as it tried to integrate its grocery store app into the company’s main app. The company also laid off 200 people at the start of the pandemic.

Meesho’s marketplace service provides small businesses with access to millions of customers from hundreds of categories as well as logistics, payment services and customer support capabilities.

Earlier this year, Meesho partnered with Cashfree Payments to enable instant refunds for cash on delivery orders, PYMNTS wrote.

Read more: Meesho and Cashfree Payments team up to provide instant refunds

By integrating Cashfree Payments, Meesho customers were promised a better shopping experience with less manual intervention.

Cash on delivery is a preferred payment method in India and reduces refund processing time, improving customer experience and trust in e-commerce. The partnership would provide refunds in less than two hours and reduce issues related to technology failures or bank downtime. It also helps automate vendor payments and enables UPI payment.

Meesho Product Manager Kirti Varun Avasarala said Meesho wants to solve customer problems and move closer to becoming “the preferred shopping destination” for more Indian customers.

NEW PYMNTS SURVEY FINDS 3 IN 4 CONSUMERS HAVING HIGH DEMAND FOR SUPER APPS
About: Results from PYMNTS’ new study, “The Super App Shift: How Consumers Want To Save, Shop And Spend In The Connected Economy,” a collaboration with PayPal, analyzed responses from 9,904 consumers in Australia, Germany, UK and USA. and showed strong demand for one super multi-functional app rather than using dozens of individual apps.