This new shopping app is exclusively for content creators on Instagram

Its the era of Gen Z entrepreneursmdashwe are just living in it Armed with tech three twentysomethings have launched a niche app proving this is the way forward In a world where even underwear can be delivered in 10 minutes what more could ecommerce do Perhaps offer discounts and cashback that users would want to download the app forRiding on the notion that everyone loves a good deal Cherry launched in October 2024 The app is exclusively for content creators on Instagram Your followers are all the currency you need to get access to shop on the app How it works The app scans your Instagram profile The first criterion You need to have a public account with over 1000 followers Second once you shop you need to post about the brand on your account and tag the brand Upload screenshots of the post and your bill to the app and you get cash back Who could have thought that empowering nano influencers with tech was possibleAll this was made possible once Samarth Mahapatra Yash Kewalramani and Sharnam Singhwal came together The three met while working as product managers at Jupiter the digital banking platform And the insights acquired at the job were enough inspiration to head out and work on something they could call their own ldquoI was working on the rewards team specifically and I figured out that people go to great lengths to actually save money on their expenses I could see that people were fighting for 1020 rupees and spending a lot of time trying to get that cash backrdquo says Mahapatra adding that it gave them the confidence they needed to design Cherryrsquos USPThe second source of inspiration to make this a creatorsonly app was by decoding their own Instagram engagement Working in Bengaluru the three would often go for a drink at a local bar Posting stories on their social media accounts would usually garner a lot of attention from followers who began finding a place ldquocoolrdquo to hang out at based on Instagram stories that they saw the three post ldquoWe realised that convincing someone what is nice or what is not nice is possible on Instagram So we concluded that relatable influencers could drive decisions or letrsquos say influence people to go to a certain placerdquo says Singhwal Itrsquos also why Cherry first offered discounts at restaurants cafes and bars but gradually switched to beauty and fashion brandsWe discovered Cherry while doomscrolling on Instagram Simply talking to the camera Kewalramani is the face that speaks on the brandrsquos account Their views on Instagram are rising so much so that their app downloads have spiked and even resulted in an app crash last week ldquoWe had set a limit for the number of requests per minute at around 150 Once one of our videos went viral after two hours of that video being released the number of active users went up to 10000 On average that number used to be 12rdquo explains Singhwal Normally an app crush would worry new founders but 10000 hits per minute is not a small number ldquoIt was the luckiest and honestly the happiest wersquove ever beenrdquo adds SinghwalFor nano influencers Cherryrsquos model allows them to start building a portfolio to work with bigticket brands in the future On the other end naturally brands are happy Itrsquos influencer marketing without the woes of spending lakhs and dealing with agenciesCherry has only 3540 brands listed on their app so far including Pant Project Hibiscus Monkey Kitsters Inde Wild TYPE Beauty Snitch and New Me among others For directtoconsumer brands that are homegrown in India Cherry could be a lifesaver However many brands are still on the waitlist ldquoWe have a long waitlist especially since the last few weeks The reason we havenrsquot converted our waitlist is because we want to curate it which is why wersquove been very strict about who we are listing especially in the early daysrdquo says KewalramaniBut is exclusive shopping the way forward and why is an app targeting creators or influencers alone ldquoThe convenience part of ecommerce is becoming more and more saturated with more and more players in the market What I feel is an app like CRED but for shoppers or influencers is the future of ecommerce wherein you have influential people purchasing from brands and brands shifting their entire brand marketing spend to thisrdquo explains Mahapatra A quick Google search will explain to you how membersonly apps are the future And possibly a trend that we are going to see more of in 2025 As these apps offer convenience personalisation and engagement more users are likely to switch to such appsPost an app crash a spike in downloads and users and a waitlist full of exciting brands the three founders are tweaking their code They have switched from manually approving users to automating the process and have also managed to raise an angel round of funding The near future seems to have a lot of work in store but the three are already dreaming of going global someday ldquoItrsquos time we see an app from India for the worldrdquo concludes Mahapatra