Myntra scouting for tech talent to redefine fashion shopping on mobile app

Soma Tah & Sanghamitra Kar

In a 'cautious but optimistic' move, the fashion e-tailer Myntra, owned by Flipkart has decided to move on from the Web to app only mode from May 15.

Announcing the move Mukesh Bansal, CEO, Myntra, and Head of Commerce at Flipkart said, "We will change the perception of fashion shopping online and give the consumers a whole new experience. Today's decision is a small step towards that journey. "

It is indeed a significant move in the online fashion space as Myntra and Flipkart together command a market share of over 50 percent in the online fashion space. Flipkart, however, has set no specific timeline to shift to the app only platform.

Why has Myntra chosen to kill the Web version?

Explaining the reason behind the transition to an app only platform, Myntra CEO said, "Close to 95 per cent of Myntra’s traffic at present comes through mobile devices and 70 per cent of the sales happen through mobile only."

Recent studies have validated the fact that 90 percent of smartphone users in India use apps, which is close to 158 million as of today. The country ranks second only to the US in the usage of shopping apps, which highlights a promising future for the burgeoning app economy in the country.

Sachin Bansal, CEO and co-founder of Flipkart said,  “It's a tsunami of change. Consumers are shifting fast to smart phones for commerce and information consumption in a big way. Smart phones with apps are becoming utilities that consumers access constantly for their various needs on a daily basis. We are already seeing the development of mobile-based commerce, which will be the most powerful, personalized, intuitive and inclusive market."

Myntra has reached 9 million download mark for its app already and that happened within just one year of the launch. This makes Myntra hopeful of adding an additional 5 million app installed base in the next three-four months.

So what is Myntra doing to support its app only strategy?

Myntra is investing heavily in technology to improve the User Experience(UX) and provide users more personalized shopping experience.

Last week, Myntra has acquired a start-up, Native 5 - a mobile app development platform which has a cloud platform to create and distribute mobile apps for different kind of devices. We might see more of such acquisitions in next couple of months, to support the strategy.

The e-tailer is looking to give shoppers a complete shopping experience with the use of social element, augmented reality and virtual reality along with advanced analytics capabilities. The company is also trying to bring a set of features that would enable discovery and consumption of fashion products, content and services - personalized to individual’s need, taste and choice.

Shamik Sharma, Chief Technology & Product Officer, Myntra said, "Fashion shopping is different ballgame altogether- It is all about finding the right thing in right sizes and also understanding whether it looks good on you or not. We are trying to bring in all these features in the app to making it a more engaging experience for the users."

The Myntra app is likely to undergo major transformation in the next couple of months. For example, Myntra has come up with  a new feature in the app recently. Users can create their own profiles and share the shopping experience with others.

The wearable integration is another area of focus for the e-tailer.

The e-tailer will also be weighing the deep linking opportunity with others and continue to build advertising partnerships with Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

On hiring spree to build a strong tech team

Myntra is now looking to build a strong tech team of 500 people this year to support its app only strategy. The company has already started scouting for tech talents in the Silicon Valley and will eventually recruit people from other areas of US and China as well, said Sharma. Myntra has a tech team of 350 people now, which is more than double what they used to be last year.

The e-tailer is targeting around 5 billion USD revenue in next five years and also hopes to make it a profitable venture in next couple of years.