“I turned Meesho into the biggest destination for kurtis in India with three sure-shot guiding principles”

I joined Meesho to experience scale and work with people who inspire me everyday. Mission achieved!

I joined Meesho as an Assistant Category Manager (ACM) for Kurtis in 2019 and my biggest inspiration was to experience scale. Having worked in startups for most of my career, I was well-versed in the hustle, but at Meesho, what I wanted to experience first hand was solving big problems and creating bigger impact. As an Assistant Category Manager, your job is all about executing strategies, and at Meesho, even then our sales volumes were about 10X more than what I was used to. My expectation in terms of handling dynamic and big problems was definitely fulfilled.

My next big goal was to work with people who inspire me. And, my two-year-long stint at Meesho is a testament to how much I appreciate and learn from my fellow Meeshoites. In the Category team especially, I am constantly surprised by the differing perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking exhibited by my peers.

Revolutionising Kurtis

As an ACM for Kurtis, one of my first decisions was to hire a team that understood user demands and requirements. From patterns to fabric and price points, everyone in my team knows the a to z of kurtis. I built the current team from scratch, and took utmost care to ensure that the objective of each and every individual we hired aligned with that of the Category org.

Further, I needed to educate myself about the category in order to speak to the users and suppliers at their level. So, just a couple of weeks into joining Meesho, I travelled to Jaipur, one of the biggest hubs for kurtis, and spent time with several of our potential suppliers there. Our biggest challenge at the time was a lack of supply, and my solution to that was to walk into different shops selling kurtis in Jaipur and speak to the owners and understand why they were hesitant to sell online.

From sizing to stitching and design, there are many specifications when it comes to kurtis and suppliers were unsure about catering to the needs of online users. We tied up with thousands of enterprising kurti suppliers from across the country who wanted to grow their business online, but needed some guidance from us. From that day till date, we have been engaging with our suppliers on a myriad of features including key trends, optimal merchandising, effective pricing, and good ratings.

Understanding our users

As Kurtis became a strong category on the Meesho app, we became sharper in our understanding of its subcategories and nuanced trends that could position us strongly in the online market as well. Because Meesho’s users are so different from the users of other popular e-commerce platforms, their needs were niche too. Maternity kurtis and dupatta ssets, for example, were unique to our target group of 25–35 year old women in tier 3 and 4 towns.

We are one of the biggest platforms for maternity kurtis right now, and we did that through User Indication and User Research. We not only spoke to our users and understood their requirements, but we also deep dived into our search function to see what our users were searching for. Once we learned about their specific needs, we convinced our suppliers to sell them, matching the supply to meet their demand.

One of my biggest learnings at Meesho has been in user understanding. All our indicators for growth come from our users now, and the kind of output we received has been really impactful.

From ACM to CM

While my function as ACM prioritised execution and team building, since becoming a Category Manager, my focus is now more on strategy. There are two ways to grow, according to me — (a) Looking at the internal data and planning your growth strategy accordingly. (b) Looking at the data outside, and leveraging market research to grow the category. As a CM my focus is on the latter. This is to say that my focus is not just making Kurtis the biggest category on Meesho, but also making Meesho the largest destination for kurtis in India.

In this role, my two biggest learnings have been cross-team collaboration and effective communication. I work with the leaders and org members of teams like Product, Fulfilment, Experience, Cataloging, and Seller across Meesho to continuously define success for my category. I am able to understand the priorities of different orgs and align with them for a common goal.

A team that grows with me

As a manager, I have always been cognizant of the fact that my team members are on a growth trajectory just like me. And, it makes me incredibly proud that many of our Key Account Managers (KAM) are Senior Key Account Managers and Associate Category Managers (ACM) today.

As a KAM, our team members are generally tasked with interacting with and understanding the needs of our suppliers and users, and sourcing the right products among other things. But I wanted to ensure that my team members were able to take on responsibilities that they would be expected to take on at a senior level as well. So, over time, I would encourage them to take on complex tasks such as analysing and identifying the growth levers of category, mentoring new KAMs, and even project management. With all of them getting to practice skills that they would need at a senior level when an opportunity is available

I started this practice because as a non-MBA holder, I picked up all my management skills on the job. I learned not just from my managers, but my peers and those who report to me. I wholeheartedly believe in peer-to-peer learning and wanted to facilitate this upskilling opportunity for my team members as well.

My sure shot guiding principles for good management

1. Build a great team and empower them — This is what makes Kurtis a great team. I trust all my team members with the responsibility delegated to them.
2. Ask the right questions, and make data-driven decisions — If you are able to ask the right questions, finding the data to come up with solutions is pretty straightforward. Utkrishta Kumar (General Manager & VP — Business) and Vidit (Aatrey, Co Founder and CEO) are my biggest inspirations when it comes to asking the right questions. There is no decision we make in the Meesho category that is not backed by sound data, and we stick with this, even if it means spending more time on problem discovery than on solving the most obvious problem.
3. Look at the bigger picture — A downside of going too deep into data is that you only see what is right in front of you, and forget your overarching aim. And, you end up making contradictory plans. Always remember to look at the bigger picture.

At Meesho’s Category org, I have thrived as a manager and a leader, and so has my team. If you are looking for a place to function at scale, where talented individuals with differing perspectives work together for a common purpose, Meesho is the place for you.

Check out if we are hiring for your profile in Meesho’s Category team here.

Niranjan Yadav works as a Category Manager at Meesho and has worked on Kurtis and Jewellery categories before taking on his current role leading the Footwear and Accessories category.