Meesho sellers protest over tightening products return policy: Report

Meesho’s sellers are reportedly protesting as the ecommerce platform moved to tighten the product returns on its platform. 

A report by Economic Times, citing merchants from Surat, said some sellers have given the unicorn negative reviews and ratings on its app and stopped processing orders through the platform.

It added that Meesho has streamlined the returns policy at a time when internet firms are cutting costs because of a funding squeeze.

Due to logistics expenditure, returns make up a significant cost area for ecommerce players in India, and in FY22, logistics and fulfilment costs were the largest expense for Meesho in FY22, growing 4.4X to Rs 2,829 crore from Rs 632 crore in FY21, the report said.

“We are continuously evaluating feedback from our sellers to improve their experience on the platform. The recent changes in our policy provide greater transparency across the logistics chain and put the power back in the hands of our sellers,” said a Meesho spokesperson.

YourStory has not been able to verify the report independently.

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“For instance, sellers now have the flexibility to choose their preferred courier partner for order returns based on their specific needs. Any policy change undergoes a rigorous assessment, and all changes are made to ensure a better experience for our end users,” the spokesperson added.

To ascertain that the seller experience remains optimal, Meesho said it will ensure all policies and processes are followed rigorously through regular audits and checks. 

With a vision to enable 100 million small businesses, including individual entrepreneurs to succeed online, Meesho claims to be democratising internet commerce and bringing a range of products and new customers online.

The Meesho marketplace provides small businesses, which includes MSMEs and individual entrepreneurs, access to millions of customers, a selection from over 700+ categories, pan-India logistics, payment services, and customer support capabilities to efficiently run their businesses on the Meesho ecosystem.

In September 2022, Meesho secured $192 million from its parent company Meesho Inc, according to regulatory filings. The company also announced that it witnessed its best-ever festive sales season, receiving about 3.34 crore orders during the five-day event—up 68% from the previous year’s sales. 

Vidit Aatrey, Co-founder and CEO at Meesho, said that close to 60% of all orders came from Tier IV and beyond cities.