Introducing Samrat Sengupta, Founder and CEO of Socialee, a unique e-commerce platform. With this organization, Samrat aims to bring honesty and transparency to the e-commerce space, helping consumers make better purchasing decisions and turning content creators in the GCC into entrepreneurs.
The CEO has over a decade of experience building successful businesses from scratch in some challenging geographies. In this insightful interview, Samrat Sengupta shares his career journey, educational choices, challenges, lessons, and plans for the organization while offering invaluable suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Beginnings First
We started the interview by asking, “Could you share a brief overview of your career journey, including key milestones and transitions?”
Samrat shared, “I have over a decade of experience working with the biggest e-commerce players over 4 continents. I started my career with the German startup incubator and VC, Rocket Internet, and in the 5 years with them, set up multiple e-commerce businesses from scratch, including Fabfurnish & Jabong, which are sold to Flipkart in India, Daraz, which was sold to Alibaba in Bangladesh and Jumia, listed on the NYSE in 2019 in Africa. I was part of Rocket Internet’s venture development team, and my roles gave me a complete grasp of how an e-commerce business should be runned.”
He added, “After Rocket Internet, I was leading the fintech business for Tokopedia, which was also backed by Alibaba and is the most significant e-commerce player in Indonesia, after which I had a short stint with South East Asia’s biggest e-commerce platform, Shopee where I set up their Shopee Mall and Premium businesses across Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia. I moved to Dubai in 2019 to help set up the MENA office for American Decacorn Pattern and then joined GMG to head their omnichannel and e-commerce businesses, spanning Sun and Sand Sports, Nike, and others.
Since December of last year, I have started working on driving equitable payout for creators and nano influencers in the region. I understood how both creators and consumers are tired of paid promotions and dishonesty on social media, and that’s how Socialee was born, which we launched in Aug in the UAE & in Oct in KSA.”
Influence Of Education
Educational choices play a crucial role in shaping one’s career path. So, we asked Samrat Sengupta, “How has your education influenced your career choices and success in this industry?”
He responds, “I am an MBA from IIM Calcutta, India’s best b-school, and it helped me meet some of the smartest people I know. My entry into Rocket Internet and the world of e-commerce happened after a friend and senior convinced me to join and not take up the Mckinsey offer I had from campus. Post that, I have never looked back because I fell in love with the ever-expanding digital world.”
Adaptability Amidst Challenges
Challenging phases are an inevitable part of any business journey. To learn more about the hurdles faced by Samrat Sengupta over these years, we asked, “How do you tackle challenges in your field amidst changing market dynamics and technological advancements? How did that influence you into building Socialee?”
“Given the industry I am in, and especially as a founder now, I have to stay abreast of all the technological advancements in the world. Socialee also came into being as I understood through my previous roles the importance of influencer marketing and the creator economy. More than 300 million creators are worldwide, but only the top handful can make any money. The creator economy is set to double in the next 5 years and this problem will only increase. Any P&L owner worth their mettle will tell you that nano creators, people who have between 7 to 20,000 followers on social media, drive the best returns, but did you know that 61% of these creators make no money? We are setting out to solve this through the only thing I know best – e-commerce.” Samrat shared.
Tapping Into Fresh Trends
We were curious to learn about the trends that Samrat Sengupta adopts for Socialee. So, we asked, “Which emerging trends is Socialee tapping into?”
He replied, “The most significant shift in commerce is happening in front of our eyes. What I call commerce 3.0 is video commerce. More and more consumers are looking at product tutorials and influencer recommendations online before purchasing. However, with brands paying creators for endorsements, consumers lose trust in what is being said and promoted on social media.
Globally and in the GCC, consumers, especially Gen Z, want authentic recommendations, which Socialee is fundamentally built on. We are trying to make an honest, authentic platform that gives voice to real people and original creators. In a way, we aim to democratize creator-preneurship by providing the power of selling back to the consumer and then helping them monetize their content.”
Plans We Asked Samrat Sengupta
We further asked, “What are your plans or goals for your career and company?”
Samrat continued, “Well, my goal is to make sure Socialee can transform the creator economy first in the region and then globally and build a business that impacts people’s lives for decades. Imagine a world where commerce is honest, and everyone can become a consumer goods entrepreneur; all they have to do comes to Socialee. We will provide them a platform to create, manufacture, distribute, and market their products. This is my and our company’s end goal.”
Worth-Sharing Lessons
Every individual comes across specific life lessons that shape their career trajectory. We asked, “What valuable lessons have you learned throughout your career?”
“The most important lesson I have learned is that a captain is as good as his team. A leader’s main and maybe only role is to motivate & coach people to ensure professional and personal growth, all while keeping everyone focused on that one north star. I have been fortunate to have worked with amazing leaders in my career, and I only wish to emulate them and pass on what I have learned.” Samrat shared.
Setting Socialee Apart
To build a strong brand presence and ensure sustainable success, it is paramount to offer unique services. We asked, “How do you differentiate Socialee from competitors in the current market?”
He responds, “Socialee is in a niche of its own in the GCC, though there are some heavyweights in other markets. We are the Amazon + TikTok for beauty but with a twist. You have curated content across the category, be it makeup, skincare, hair care, or fragrances, which consumers need help finding on social media, or if they can, they get lost in the plethora of content available. Our commerce experience is entirely video-based, while e-commerce incumbents rely on search. This works exceptionally well for categories like beauty, where consumers need expert advice about using a product, its ingredients, and its benefits.
In essence, we are a video discovery and shopping platform. In more advanced markets like China and the US, video commerce accounts for a quarter of all e-commerce sales. The other big differentiator is, of course, our creator monetization platform. Nowhere else can a creator with 10-20k followers monetize their content from Day 1. We are trying to do what Spotify did for musicians: give long-term monetary benefits to creators every time someone watches, engages, or buys through their content.”
Sailing Through The Market Trends
We were curious to learn how Samrat Sengupta ensures effective navigation through the global market trends. So, we asked, “How has your company effectively navigated and capitalized on emerging global market trends or shifts in consumer behavior?”
He shared, “Consumers are moving towards video commerce, and we are trying to bring that to the region. We have also incorporated a machine learning recommendation algorithm to drive personalization for users because, in today’s era, the consumer expects a business to know them and treat them accordingly.”
Words Of Wisdom
We ended the interview by asking, “What are the most important qualities or skills you believe beginners should cultivate to thrive in this industry?”
He concluded, “The most important skill set for anyone starting, in whichever industry, is ambition and the appetite to learn. I encourage my entire team to try out as many things as possible and as fast as possible so that they can learn from their mistakes. We as leaders should also build and foster a culture of failing but failing fast. As one of my mentors told me, “You have done nothing if you have made no mistakes, but you have learned nothing if you make the same mistake twice.”
Follow Samrat Sengupta on LinkedIn.
Find Socialee on LinkedIn or visit here to learn more.
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