Lucknow, Aug 4 (PTI) Bengaluru-based e-commerce platform Meesho is planning to deliver furniture items to customers in some pockets of the country by Diwali this year, a company official said.

Referring to the Manipur incidents, the company official said that the business has been impacted owing to the recent violence in the North-East.

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Meesho's Director of Fulfillment and Experience Sourabh Pandey also feels that cracking the supplier ecosystem in Uttar Pradesh will be a big challenge.

Pandey, who was in Lucknow on Wednesday to attend a roundtable meeting, told PTI, "Ethnic wear has been a strong point for us, but cracking the western wear market is very, very important. Kids wear, we are focussing on. Beauty and personal care is doing well and is growing very quickly for us.

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"We are also getting into branded products now, we have launched Meesho mall. We will start doing furniture very soon, and by Diwali, Meesho will be delivering furniture items in pockets on a pilot basis," Pandey added.

On being asked about the items in demand in Uttar Pradesh, Pandey said that it is sarees, kurtis and kurtas from a category perspective.

"Electronic gadgets are an emerging category for us. We have not penetrated that market very well, we are growing fast, but we are on the verge of penetrating that market fully. So, that's not a very big market from the perspective of the number of orders, it is very big from the value perspective, as there are expensive items," he said.

When asked if there was some impact on the business due to the recent incidents in the North-East, Pandey said, "The internet was down, so obviously there has been some impact. We tried to ensure that anything the customers have ordered has been delivered, but obviously, whenever there are internet downtimes in small places, in pockets, it does impact the business. But, again these are small pockets anyways."

He added that every day, the company is reaching to anything between 13,000 to 15,000 PIN codes in the country.

Further, Pandey said, "In terms of supply, we are having 11,000 sellers in Lucknow alone, and 1.3 lakh sellers from UP. So, from the supply point of view, it is a big market in itself.

"From a demand perspective as well, UP is one of our biggest states. It is the number 1 state in terms of demands, from where we get our orders from," he added.

He further said that cracking the supplier ecosystem in Uttar Pradesh is going to be a big challenge for the company.

On the suitability of the state government policies for the business, Pandey said, "I think from a manufacturing capability perspective, from things which can be built out of UP, there is a lot that can be done...you have leather in Kanpur, footwear in Agra, Chikan in Lucknow.

"We have to ensure that we create an ecosystem where they see value in online selling. I think that there is a lot of headroom for us to go and get people online a lot more. The policies are obviously in terms of enabling some of these."

Asked about how the company looks after the delivery personnel, Pandey said, "We work with Third Party Logistic Partners. Now, what we work with on delivery boys specifically is what type of incentive policies are being created for them.

"How are we ensuring the right framework, so that they are able to do their job better, work a lot on the tech (technology) side if they are having a problem in finding the address (of the customer), and how do we provide them payment solutions on the last mile? If their job becomes easier, they are able to serve the customers better."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)