Myntra Leads in Online Clothes Shopping in India

According to market reports, the global fashion industry is estimated to be a $1.5 trillion market. But most of the trading in the segment is still conducted through brick-and-mortar stores. Even in the U.S., of the $300 billion fashion market, only a mere 10% is conducted online. It follows that in emerging markets like that of India, online sales have a far smaller footprint for the fashion industry.
Myntra’s Offerings
Bangalore-based Myntra is trying to change that for the country. Founded in 2007 by IIT and IIM alumni, Myntra began by selling personalized gifts to corporate clients. Soon they turned themselves into an e-commerce platform that provided Indian online consumer with access to fashion and lifestyle products through their main webpage. Myntra’s etail stores include international brands such as Adidas, Nike, Puma, Catwalk, Inc 5, United Colors of Benetton, and Indian high-end brands like Fabindia, to name a few. Overall, the site hosts more than 30,000 styles of apparel, accessories, cosmetics, and footwear from more than 500 Indian and international brands. It claims to have more than 200,000 daily visitors shopping through its site.

Myntra is becoming a big name for online apparel shopping in the country. According to market reports, it accounts for nearly 10% of sales for brands like Nike and Puma in India.

Like other e-commerce sites in the country, Myntra has also adapted its selling terms to cater to the Indian market. Buyers have the ability to pay cash on delivery instead of relying on online banking or credit card transactions, and they can also purchase goods through EMIs.

Myntra’s Financials
Myntra is currently operating at an annual revenue rate of more than $100 million and has yet to become profitable. The company is planning to double revenues by next year and also hopes to break even by March 2014. It is looking to launch an IPO within a few years of breaking even.

To date Myntra has received $40 million in venture funding from investors including Tiger Global, IDG Ventures, and IndoUS Venture Partners.

Myntra’s Growth Plan
Myntra believes that the challenge in online retail lies in being able to get buyers to increase their average shopping cart size. To do so, it is working toward becoming more of a fashion adviser from merely a seller.

As part of this strategy, Myntra recently announced the acquisition of San Francisco–based Fitiquette, a virtual fitting room that allows users to customize a mannequin to their measurements and then suggests clothing that fits the model. Users can then view the model in 3-D animation to get an idea of how clothes would look on them. Myntra plans to leverage the acquisition to increase consumer spending on apparel on their website. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Online retail in India is expected to become a $76 billion industry by 2021. Even then, it will account for a mere 5% of the Indian retail industry, but with better technology and full-service sites, that could change.