Myntra, the country’s largest fashion retail portal, closed down its website
on Friday and moved to an app-only platform. Its parent company, Flipkart,
plans to follow suit within a year — the move will probably depend on how
successful Myntra is, but for now, it is in the works.
Many of us — the desktop generation — find the move to be a little
ludicrous. No way to access the site from the desktop? No presence on the
Internet as we know it? Not even a mobile website… isn’t it a little too
alienating; too risky? Won’t the app-only approach be an invasion of privacy?
But here’s what the desktop generation doesn’t see. The new India is
experiencing the Internet for the first time through the mobile; after all who
needs a desktop when they can buy a pocket-sized super computer for much less
money. Making your internet debut on your mobile also changes the way you
access the internet — it is more chat and app driven and very rarely do you use
the browser.
And that is the punt Myntra is making.
The company says that 95 percent of Internet traffic comes through mobile,
and 70 percent sales are generated through smartphones. So even if desktop
users abandon the website, they aren’t really losing too much.
Interestingly, over 50 percent of their mobile traffic is coming from Tier
II & III cities, which only goes to show that their core audience is in the
smaller cities (read as the ones who are going to access the internet through
their mobile first) and that will continue to grow.
Also, if you do have a store in the vicinity, you are likely to make the
trip and check out the fit before deciding on anything. Ordering clothes online
seems logical only when a certain brand isn’t available in your city and that
is why Myntra’s focus on Tier II & III cities makes even more sense.
According to a recent report from Morgan Stanley, online shopper penetration
in India is set to increase from 9 percent in 2013 to 36
percent by 2020, primarily led by mobile users.
The e-retail market in India is also expected to rise from $5 billion in
2015 to over $130 billion by 2025 and this is the space where Myntra is hoping
to make the first-mover advantage count.
One can fully expect Myntra to up the ante with app-only deals that will
make the user readily download the app — a win-win situation for those who
already access the site and for the new users too. Given how the app universe
works,users always have the option of deleting if it doesn’t work for them.
So in a sense, it makes the user more powerful and also means that Myntra
will really have to rise to the expectations. They will have to show that there
is value in downloading the app and keeping it.
Mukesh Bansal, Myntra CEO also feels that smartphones are going to drive
online shopping in the future. He says that the company will now put all its efforts
to leverage its mobile shopping experience.
“Fashion is a very personal experience. We believe that only mobile can
truly deliver this experience as it captures user’s lifestyle and context in
manner that no other medium does. Think of all the hardware and software
features that one can leverage like camera, contact, location etc. to
understand the user’s context and deliver the experience that is deeply
personalized,” he said.
Personalization has its benefits but it also means that there can’t be too
many notifications (too irritating) or too few (a danger of being forgotten).
Getting the balance right will be vital.
For the moment, main rivals Amazon and Snapdeal won’t be adopting an
app-only strategy but they will be keeping a close eye on things. Myntra, on
the other hand, will be hoping that it has not only seen a glimpse of the
future but also chosen the right time to jump in.
What are your views on Myntra’s app-only approach?
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