Competition has increased dramatically since Myntra, one of India's first focused fashion e-commerce players, which was first launched in 2007, then acquired by e-tail giant Flipkart in 2014, which in turn received a majority investment by Walmart two years later saw.
In an exclusive interview with WWD, Nandita Sinha, CEO of Myntra, was quick to point out that differentiation and trend-setting have become crucial.
More from WWD"We have the largest premium customers in the country and that continues to grow. We have 6 million customers who visit us 30 times a month, so we're like their Instagram, they come to us for inspiration - then they find the products and make purchases. This adds to the large premium customer base we have built over the last few years, allowing us to build and scale new brands in this country. We are adding new brands, but we are also adding Gen Z and young customers, approximately 175 percent year-on-year growth in customer numbers," she said, adding that the reach expanded to more than 19,000 PINs across the country .
The numbers have grown: 75 million new users on Myntra who visited for the first time last year; Last year, 55 million to 60 million users visited the platform every month; According to company statistics, Myntra Minis, the platform's proprietary short video content format, receives an average of one million views per day.
Analysts see 2024 as a turning point for fashion retail in India, and competition has grown, with industry groups Reliance Retail (ajio.com) and Tata Ltd. (tatacliq.com) have deep pockets and aggressive growth plans. Amazon India and Flipkart remain major players, while Nykaa fashion is gaining ground.
The story continues
Sinha is clearly excited about consumers' focus on global brands, and their appetite for them, which continues unabated.
British retailer Next signed up late last month to open branded stores in India and scale up its omnichannel presence through Myntra, with plans to open eight to 10 stores in key Indian cities including New Delhi within the first few months. Mumbai and Bengaluru. years of operations, along with an extensive online presence on Myntra's platform.
"With a successful journey to grow Next online in India, our first year of collaboration has resulted in identifying the right product, right target group and right price point in the country. With a strong playbook in exponentially building adoption for global brands from the ground up, we look forward to unlocking the next phase of growth in scaling the brand in India," said Sinha.
The joint venture with Spanish brand Mango to open physical stores as well as an e-commerce site and omnichannel segment has worked well, she said, with more than 110 physical stores across the country since 2017, when the omnichannel association began. The deal gave Myntra master franchise rights, meaning its B2B wholesale business would manage Mango stores in India through its network of third-party retailers.
Bollywood actress Kiara Advani for Mango.
The focus on acquiring global brands - which already includes H&M, Levi's, US Polo Assn., Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Philippe, Jack & Jones, Mango, Forever 21, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Puma, Crocs and Fossil - has been stepped up .
The market is far from saturated, Sinha explains. "With 30 international brands in 2016, this number has already increased to more than 400 leading international fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands on our platform," she said, adding that 50 brands will be launched this year..
"There are many opportunities to build brands in this country. The progress we have made with international brands has been a huge step forward, not just for ourselves but for Indian retail in general. We have built this strategically, with growing opportunities in all retail chains. There is a lot of room for growth. If you look at the entire fashion market, it's a $100 billion market, but only 40 percent of that is branded clothing.
"As we went through this journey of scaling brands, we realized that it is very important to have an online-first conversation, which is then supported through omni and offline as the ambition of international brands spreads across the country is. We were able to scale significantly when we brought the offline and online together, for example with Nautica, in the three years since we took over the license. The same goes for FCUk, which we launched [this January] and has grown almost 2.6 times its previous size by bringing these two elements together," she said.
There has also been a geographical shift of consumers within India.
"If you look at Tier 2 cities [the second-largest after the metro cities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru]they represent almost 45 percent of our total turnover and that is really a testament to the kind of demand that exists outside the big cities where it is easier to get a quality retail footprint," said Sinha.
Her point is confirmed by analysts. A survey by real estate consultant CBRE South Asia earlier this year found that both international and Indian brands were entering smaller cities as they reached out to these more 'conscious' consumers.
"E-commerce growth, tech-savvy consumer base, growing aspirations and rise in discretionary purchases are driving retail growth in Tier-II cities," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO of India, Southeast -Asia, the Middle East and Africa. at CBRE.
Fast-growing cities outside the existing retail strongholds of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru include Chandigarh, Jaipur, Indore, Mangaluru, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam, Mysuru, Coimbatore and the state of Goa, with 14 of these cities have a total of 29 million square feet of retail space from September 2023. Jaipur, Lucknow and Chandigarh each had retail inventory of between 3 million and 7 million square feet, CBRE said.
Then there's Maya.
Looks from Myntra's spring-summer collection.
While the word itself means illusion, Maya is an AI-created influencer that helps mix, match, choose and plan style preferences, bringing in fun and technology - which Sinha described as a key part of the way forward.
"We have deployed generative AI in a very big way. Last year we launched a few tools with generative AI that were purely for support, because fashion is a category that requires both assistance and inspiration. We launched 'myfashiongpt', which provides the right set of recommendations, and 'mystylist', to help combine things to create a look. Maya contributes to these relief instruments," Sinha said.
As revenues continue to grow, so do losses. In the financial year ending March 31, 2023, Myntra saw revenues rise 25 percent to 43.75 billion rupees, or $525.09 million.
But net losses rose 31 percent year-on-year to 7.8 billion rupees ($93.90 million) in the 2022-2023 financial year, up from the previous loss of 5.9 billion rupees ($71.72 million).
Sinha seems unfazed.
"We've grown e-commerce by about twofold over the last two quarters and that's something we'll continue to do. Even at size, we continue to outpace the growth of e-commerce in fashion and so we are very clear about our value proposition, about our customer and we continue to see us gain market share as a result," she said.
"I think the other opportunity that everyone is talking about this year is customer premiumization. If you look at the recent Goldman Sachs report, 60 million affluent Indians will become 100 million in the next three to four years. A few years ago this was still 35 million, so you can already see that there is growth. This will continue to grow and drive the market, and has been a focus for us, helping us stay two times ahead of the market."
While Bollywood remains an obsession, trends are also driven by social media influencers, Sinha noted. Storytelling has been an important source of inspiration, together with 'social squads'.
Even though Sinha modestly acknowledged that she has had a "great group of colleagues, mentors and support from her family," she does not shy away from the fact that she is also setting the stage for a different kind of growth.
"I think we need more women leaders because everyone needs to see a role model of their own kind, so hopefully people who see me as a role model will have the opportunity to create an environment and journey not just for myself but for many others. people around you," she said.
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