Launching an online store is now the easy part. Running it every single day, with stock changing, offers expiring and customers clicking on stale links, is where small brands quietly lose sales.
Kausambi Manjita, founder and CEO of Mason, has spent about 15 years building e-commerce products at IBM Commerce, Paytm and Myntra. On this episode she explains how no-code e-commerce automation can give D2C founders an operating system for their store.
What is no-code e-commerce? Kausambi Manjita’s core thesis
Kausambi’s argument is that platforms like Shopify made it simple to put a store online, but running it day to day still means massaging data and turning it into action. Mason aims to be the runtime layer that does that work for non-technical founders.
The product is built as a no-code system on purpose. The user is the founder or e-commerce manager who knows the products and customers well, but should not need developers to act on data.
- Operate, not just launch. The gap is in everyday store performance, not in coming online.
- Playbooks beat blank canvases. Early users want the top things to do, ready out of the box, rather than custom workflows.
- Full stack for small teams. A young team cannot stitch together several apps, so reading data and acting on it should happen in one place.
- No-code first, scalable later. Pair fast adoption with headless and API options so customers do not outgrow the platform.
What does Mason actually do for e-commerce teams?
Kausambi describes Mason as an operating system for the store. It reads business data such as inventory, pricing and customer behaviour, helps the team decide what to do, and then helps them act on it.
Her example is an Instagram story featuring a t-shirt that is out of stock or missing a size. Without automation, someone must notice and update every channel by hand.
- Understand the data: inventory, discounts, bestsellers and customer cohorts.
- Act on it: update listings, banners, offers and campaigns in one place.
- Learn and repeat: see what worked and improve the next decision.
How did Myntra shape the idea behind Mason?
At Myntra, Kausambi was hired to work out how to productise experience, so that e-commerce depends on more than offers and discounts. She and her co-founder built a content and brand engine there, which she says still powers pages such as the home page, offers and brand pages.
That firsthand view showed her how much content, social proof and presentation influence whether a shopper buys, and how hard these things are to manage without systems.
Why is no-code spreading from enterprises to individuals?
Kausambi points out that low-code was always around, from Excel macros to tools like Canva and Zapier. She says enterprises adopted it first for prototyping, and she recalls using spreadsheets and stitched-together tools for an early Paytm launch around 2013 to 2014.
Now, with the creator and maker economy growing, individuals can build and run products themselves, which is why no-code has become more democratic.
When should a startup choose no-code over custom code?
She frames it as a balance. No-code helps you go live faster and adapt when conditions change, while systems that need reliability at scale may justify more customisation. Customer-facing, communication-heavy areas are good candidates to keep nimble.
Can no-code tools really scale with a growing business?
A founder in the audience raised the common worry: security, performance and what happens at scale. Kausambi called it a fair concern and a pet peeve with many no-code platforms.
Her answer is vertical-first platforms that start no-code for speed but are also headless, so customers can use APIs to connect custom systems and scale on the same platform. She says Mason has thousands of D2C teams globally, with Dunzo among its customers.
- Start with out-of-the-box playbooks for quick adoption.
- Add customisation as the team grows.
- Use APIs and headless options to extend instead of rebuilding.
Which no-code tools should first-time founders know?
Kausambi says the answer depends on the vertical, but for general use she named a few tools that stand out. She also shared the tools her own team uses to run operations.
Her own team does not build Mason on third-party no-code tools, but uses them to run functions such as support and marketing.
- Airtable for catalogues and databases, even for non-developers.
- Zapier for everyday workflow automation.
- Webflow for websites and landing pages.
- Bubble (or similar) for web apps.
- Intercom, HubSpot and Retool are among the tools her team uses internally.
Further reading and sources
Frequently asked questions
What is a no-code operating system for e-commerce?
According to Kausambi Manjita, it is a layer on top of a store such as Shopify that reads business data and helps teams act on it without developers. Mason offers ready playbooks, for example keeping channels in sync when stock runs out.
Is no-code good enough for a growing D2C brand?
Kausambi says no-code is ideal for speed and for adapting quickly, but you should choose platforms that scale. She recommends vertical-first tools that also provide headless and API options so customers can extend them as they grow.
Which no-code tools should a first-time founder start with?
Kausambi named Airtable, Zapier, Webflow and Bubble as useful general-purpose tools. For e-commerce she also pointed to vertical tools such as Mason for store operations and Gorgias for customer support.
Conclusion
Kausambi Manjita’s message to founders is to use no-code for speed, but pick tools that will not box you in later. Know who your target user is and focus on one industry, then give that user playbooks they can use on day one.
If you run an online store, the next step is to list the repetitive decisions you make every week and ask which ones a system could handle.
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