Taking Steps: Myntra Acquires Mobile App Development Startup Native5 To Bolster Its Mobile-Only Strategy

In a move that can be seen as its strategy to shift entirely to the mobile platform, online fashion and lifestyle portal, Myntra has acquired Bangalore-based mobile application development platform Native5. The amount of deal is kept undisclosed. According to people close to the development, this might be an acqui-hire.

Founded in 2011 by Manish Priyadarshi, Barada Sahu and Shamik Datta, Native5 has developed a cloud platform to create and distribute mobile apps across smartphones, tablets and desktops. The startup was incubated at Microsoft Accelerator in 2013 and it was a part of the Nasscom 10,000 Startup programme the same year.

As per the deal terms, all three co-founders will be a part of Flipkart’s technology team. Earlier in May last year, homegrown ecommerce firm Flipkart had acquired Myntra for $330 Mn.

Recently, Myntra has also announced that it has achieved its annual target of generating 90% of its customer traffic through the mobile platform. The company said that over 50% of the mobile traffic comes from Tier II & III cities. Besides, it also revealed its plans to go for app-only presence.

Commenting on this, Prasad Kompalli, Head, ecommerce Platform, Myntra, said, “Mobile for us is more than just another channel. We believe our value proposition is best delivered and experienced through our mobile app. This medium allows us to redefine fashion shopping by offering deep personalised experiences in discovery, content consumption and transactions.”

According to KPMG report, people accessing the Internet through their mobiles had jumped 33% in 2014 to 173 Mn and is expected to grow 21% year-on-year basis till 2019 to touch 457 Mn. Besides, it is also estimated that the mobile app download would grow sixfold by the end of this year to 9 billion apps. Therefore, ecommerce firms shifting to mobile only platform makes complete sense.

Launched in May 2014, Myntra’s mobile app has been ranked No. 1 among fashion shopping apps in India with a positive rating of 4.0 on the android app store. It claims to have more than 6 Mn installations and draws 85% of traffic by Android, iOS and Windows platforms.

Earlier in 2012, Myntra had acquired Exclusively, which had a private label brand, and in 2013, it acquired Fitiquette that developed an in-store dressing room experience akin to a virtual fitting room for shoppers to try-on clothes online.