Myntra

Myntra

Myntra.com logo.
Type of site
E-commerce
(Online shopping)
Available in English
Owner Flipkart
Website www.myntra.com
Alexa rank 861 (July 2016)[1]
Commercial Yes
Registration Required
Launched 2009
Current status Online

Myntra is an Indian fashion e-commerce marketplace company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The company was founded in 2007 by Indian Institute of Technology graduates with a focus on personalisation of gift items. By 2010, Myntra shifted its focus to the online retailing of branded apparel.[2][3][4][5]

In May 2014, Myntra.com merged with Flipkart to compete against Amazon which entered the Indian market in June 2013 and other established offline retailers like Future Group, Aditya Birla Group and Reliance Retail.[6][7][8][9]

History

Established by Mukesh Bansal along with Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena, Myntra was in the business of on-demand personalisation of gift items. It mainly operated on the B2B (business-to-business) model during its initial years. Between 2007 and 2010, the online portal allowed customers to personalize products such as T-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, calendars, watches, teddy bears, pendants, wine glasses and jigsaw puzzles.[10]

In 2011, Myntra expanded its catalogue to include fashion and lifestyle products and moved away from personalisation. Myntra tied up with various popular brands to retail a wide range of latest merchandise from these brands. Myntra offered products from 350 Indian and International brands by 2012. Myntra also had casual wear for men and women from brands. The website saw the launch of Fastrack watches and of Being Human, the brand.[11]

2014 saw the merging of Myntra with another Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart.com in an estimated deal of 2,000 crore (US$300 million), though nothing in terms of value was officially disclosed by any of the company. Merger was majorly influenced by two large common shareholders, Tiger Global and Accel Partners.[9] Myntra still continues to function and operate independently to increase its market share from 50 to 70 per cent of the market share.[12] In 2014, Myntra's portfolio included about 1,50,000 products of over 1000 brands ranging from international brands to designer brands and distribution area of around 9000 pincodes in India.[13]

In May 2015, Myntra moved on to app-only business model wherein customers can only buy and transact in their site through smartphones. The move came after the site claimed that 95 percent of Internet traffic on their site came mobile and 70 percent sales were generated through smartphones. The move to app-only generated mixed reviews and saw 10% dip in sales initially.[14][15]

However, in February 2016, the company retracted its app-only model in an attempt to win back lost customers. The company cited that the app-only strategy had backfired and Myntra would relaunch its website.[16]

Myntra was voted as the "India’s Most Admired & Valuable Power Brand Award 2016" at 7th Annual India Leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards 2016 under the chairmanship of the founder Satya Brahma on Friday 1 July 2016 in Mumbai.[17]

Business Structure

Myntra operate through a complex business model wherein Myntra Designs Pvt. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Flipkart owns the fashion brands, DressBerry, Yellow Kite Baby, ETC, WROGN, Kook N Keech, Candies, Myntra, Kook N Keech Archie, Roadster, Kook N Keech Star Wars, Sher Singh, Yellow Kite Disney, Anouk, Yellow Kite, Marvel, Mirage (Subbrand of Anouk), All About You, Anouk Rustic, Masaba for Anouk, Mast & Harbour, HRX by Hrithik Roshan, D Muse (Subbrand of Dressberry), IMARA, HRX, Ether, Kook N Keech Disney, YK, Kook N Keech Marvel, Kook N Keech Garfield, Gossip by Dressberry, YK Baby, Curvy, YK Disney, RDSTR, YK Marvel, Harvard, SCHARF, YK, Yellow Kite, Kook N Keech Garfield, INVICTUS, YK Baby, MARD, YK Disney and YK Marvel in India.[18]

Vector E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd. is the company behind Myntra.com and the Myntra app.[19] Bishnu Hazari and Raghunath Lakshmanan replaced Ashutosh Lawania and Prabhakar Sunder as Directors of Vector E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd. in FY 13.[20]

Products sold through the Myntra app can be classified in four divisions - Myntra brands sold and fulfilled by Vector E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd., non-Myntra brands sold and fulfilled by Vector E-Commerce Pvt. Ltd., non-Myntra brands sold by Vector E-Commerce but fulfilled by the seller and non-Myntra brands sold and fulfilled by the seller.

Acquisitions and investments

In October 2007, Myntra received its initial funding from Erasmic Venture Fund now known as Accel Partners, Sasha Mirchandani from Mumbai Angels and a few other investors. In November 2008, Myntra raised almost $5 million from NEA-IndoUS Ventures, IDG Ventures and Accel Partners. Myntra raised $14 million in a Series B round of funding. This round of investment was led by Tiger Global, a private equity firm; the existing investors IDG Ventures and Indo-US Venture Partners also put in substantial amount towards funding Myntra. Towards the end of 2011, Myntra.com raised $20 million in its third round of funding, again led by Tiger Global.[21][22] In February 2014, Myntra raised additional $50 Million (Rs.310 crore) funding from Premji Invest and few other Private Investors.[23]

In July 2016, Myntra acquired mobile-based content aggregation platform Cubeit, to strengthen and expand its technology team.[24]

In July, 2016 Myntra acquired their rival Jabong to become India’s largest fashion platform.[25]

Regulatory Action and Lawsuits

The Enforcement Directorate are investigating Myntra for breach of Foreign Exchange Management Act.[26]

In January 2016, Enforcement Directorate issued notice to Myntra's owner Flipkart.[27]

Labor Issues

In July 2015, Myntra and Flipkart's logistics staff went on a strike alleging lack of basic employee benefits and poor wages.[28]

Allegations Of Promoting Cow Slaughter

Many shoes sold by Myntra are made from cowhide which is the natural skin and hair of a cow. This is also a byproduct of the cow slaughter industry. Myntra have been accused of hurting religious sentiments and promoting cow slaughter by increasing demand for cowhide products (by providing up to 80% discounts).[29]

See also

Recognitions

References

  1. "Myntra.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  2. Saloni Surti, May 22nd, 2014 (2014-05-22). "Flipkart-Myntra: Consolidation the only way to survive the Indian e-commerce industry?". indianmediabook.com.
  3. Amit Bapna, ET Bureau Jul 11, 2011, 07.13pm IST (2011-07-11). "Overall Lifestyle category will cross $100 billion in 2015 in India: Mukesh Bansal Founder-CEO, Myntra.com - Economic Times". Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  4. "Business / Companies : Myntra.com to expand operations". The Hindu. 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  5. Anupam Saxena (2011-03-14). "Updated: Myntra Gets $14M In Second Round Funding". MediaNama. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  6. ET Bureau, May 23rd, 2014,02.15AM IST (2014-05-23). "Flipkart acquires Myntra, gears up to take on Amazon". economictimes.indiatimes.com.
  7. Flipkart Acquires Myntra in Indias Biggest E-Commerce Deal - NDTVProfit.com. Profit.ndtv.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-23.
  8. "Flipkart acquires E-Tailer Myntra.Com in an around $300 Mn Deal". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Flipkart, Myntra merge in Rs 2,000 crore deal". The Times of India. Bangalore. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  10. Amy Kazmin (15 May 2015). "Myntra spearheads India's move away from desktop browsing". Financial Times. New Delhi. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  11. Hari Bhushan. "History of Myntra". scribd.com.
  12. CNBC-TV18, Aug 22, 2014, 10.06 PM IST. "Myntra enters new spaces post merger with Flipkart". moneycontrol.com.
  13. "Myntra Brand Portfolio".
  14. Karrishma Modhy (20 May 2015). "Will Myntra's move away from desktop cause its downfall? apart from this they have a strong appeal amongst smartphone users with this new approach". Tech.firstpost.com/. FirstPost. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  15. Besta Shankar (21 May 2015). "Myntra Sees 10% Drop in Sales After Moving to App-only Format". International Business Times. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  16. "Myntra no longer app only, brings back mobile site to woo customers - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  17. "Myntra wins India's Most Admired & Valuable Power Brand Award 2016 at 7th Annual India Leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards 2016 – Indian Affairs". Retrieved 2016-07-26.
  18. Cart-Wiki. "List of brands owned by Myntra like Roadster, HRX, Dressberry etc.". www.cartwiki.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  19. "Terms of service". www.myntra.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  20. "Foreign holdings control 34% of Myntra's equity shares". MediaNama. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  21. sushma.un (2012-09-02). "Fashion retailer Myntra.com raises $20 m in third round of funding". thehindubusinessline.com.
  22. Irfan Khan (2012-09-02). "Myntra.com Raises $20Mn In Third Round Of Funding". Private Equity.
  23. IANS, 06:17 PM IST. "E-tailer Myntra.com raises 310 Crores from Ajim Premji and other Investors". news.biharprabha.com.
  24. "Myntra acqui-hires content aggregation platform Cubeit". VCCircle. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  25. "Flipkart's Myntra acquires Jabong". 26 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  26. www.ETTelecom.com. "After Flikpart, online retailer Myntra under ED lens for FEMA breach | ET Telecom". ETTelecom.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  27. "Enforcement Directorates probe on e-comm cos gathers steam". www.moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  28. "We have no loos, basic facilities, complain Flipkart delivery boys - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  29. "E-commerce cowhide on VHP radar". Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  30. "Myntra Brands".
  31. "India Top Startups - Freshdesk, Zomato, Jabong India | Startup Ranking". StartupRanking. Retrieved 2016-04-25.

External links

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