Inspiring Journey of Myntra
With the growing availability of e-commerce businesses, India is seeing tremendous growth in its online e-commerce business. Online fashion retail of India is emerging as a tremendously growing sector that offers its customers a diverse variety on its platform, and Myntra is one of the top online fashion retailers in India.
- The Beginning
- Growth of Myntra in India
- Myntra’s business model
- Myntra Key Milestones
The Beginning
Myntra, the fashion e-commerce of online fashion retail in India, was founded by 3 IIT alumni in 2007. Mukesh Bansal, Vineet Saxena, and Ashutosh Lawania founded Myntra in Bangalore. The company originally focused on selling customized products on their platform. They believed that online fashion retail in India had huge potential if it was organized and targeted towards providing personalized fashion products. But, in the beginning, Myntra’s business model was focused on creating corporate gifting and personalized merchandise, and this was a difficult idea to scale because of its low margin and complexity in the operational department. Eventually, the founders quickly understood the potential of the online fashion retail of India and decided to tap this market. In 2011, Myntra decided to take a huge leap towards fashion retail e-commerce from its original customized products. This shift of focus towards fashion retail started with onboarding various international and domestic fashion brands, eventually transforming Myntra into a leading global platform for the online fashion marketplace. This tactical move at the right time was a smart step that perfectly aligned with the rise of the digital ecosystem and smartphone usage in India. The growth of Myntra in India was an undeniable truth due to its offerings of selective brands, personalized user experience, and better customer service. This brand also offered various features like fast delivery, easy return, brand partnerships, etc. By 2014, Myntra became India’s largest fashion platform. Myntra’s success story led it to be acquired by Flipkart for $300 million; at the time, it was one of the biggest deals in India. Mukesh Bansal still led Myntra post-accusation by Flipkart.
Growth of Myntra in India
There are many reasons for Myntra’s success story. This online fashion retail of India focused on building a superior user experience with efficient logistics and quicker delivery. It also was very aggressive with its marketing campaign and was partnering with various domestic and international brands. After being acquired in May 2014 for $300 million, Myntra continued to operate independently, but now with Flipkart’s logistic support. This was a smart move for Flipkart as it was now directly competing with Amazon at par. Myntra‘s business model allowed it to acquire other struggling retail brands like Jabong for $70 million in 2016. The growth of Myntra in India is also catered towards its innovative initiatives like end-of-season sales, where online fashion sale events with massive discounts happen annually. It also produces private labels by partnering with celebrities like Roadster, HRX, House of Pautadi, etc. Eventually, by 2018, Flipkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion, providing Myntra with global expertise. Myntra currently has more than 5000 brands, which is a factor in Myntra’s success story.
Myntra’s business model
Myntra is a B2C e-commerce platform that specifically caters to lifestyle products. The key component of Myntra’s business model is the marketplace model. Here, Myntra connects sellers with customers with its platform. The company does not have its inventory. Rather, it acts as a facilitator between the buyer and the seller. This has helped it to lower the operational cost and reduce the inventory risk. Another smart move of Myntra‘s business model is to have private brand labels. These private label brands generate higher profit margins as Myntra has complete control over its pricing, design, and production. Myntra uses various machine learning algorithms that help to enrich the customer experience. This helps it to provide better product recommendations and personalize deals and discounts. Having various sales campaigns like the end-of-season sales and big fashion festival is a smart move in Myntra’s business model. The logistics and supply chain ensure same-day or next-day delivery options in various metro cities as well as effective return policies, which is due to its in-house logistics, Ekart logistics.
Myntra Key Milestones
Myntra, the online fashion retail of India, has the below key milestones.
- Myntra was founded for selling personalized products in 2007 by Ashutosh Lawania, Vineet Saxena, and Mukesh Bansal.
- Myntra’s fashion e-commerce shift happened in 2011 by partnering with various domestic and global lifestyle and fashion brands.
- By 2013, Myntra’s success story was hitting new heights due to its collaboration with more than 500 brands as well as launching its own in-house brands.
- In 2014, Myntra was acquired by Flipkart for $300 million, but still it didn’t affect Myntra’s business model. Now the growth of Myntra in India was such that it was indirectly competing with Amazon Fashion.
- By 2015, Myntra was now available only via its app.
- Myntra’s fashion e-commerce decided to acquire another popular fashion e-commerce company, Jabong, in 2016 for $70 million.
- In 2017, Myntra successfully launched various in-house brands by collaborating with various celebrities like HRX House of Pataudi, etc. These gave a boost to the growth of Myntra in India.
- Later on, by 2018, Flipkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion.
- With the rise of influencers, Myntra decided to launch Myntra Studio in 2019.
- During COVID-19, when everything shifted towards online, Myntra saw rapid growth. This was a major cause of Myntra’s success story. Eventually, Myntra started adding various strategic sales campaigns as well as providing AI learning mechanism features, which helped the shoppers by providing a better experience. Myntra is currently considered one of the top e-commerce platforms in India.