Myntra Acquires Pretr To Strengthen Its Omnichannel Presence

Flipkart fashion subsidiary Myntra has acquired Mumbai-based end-to-end omnichannel platform for retail Pretr.

Founded in 2016 by Bhavik Jhaveri and Ankur Joshi, Pretr offers integration of brands’ online and offline segments. Its omnichannel suite, deployed by retailers in India and the Middle East, provides retailers with solutions for Endless Aisle, order management, clienteling, store analytics, and more.

Myntra has been identifying omnichannel as a key priority and this acquisition will help strengthen its footprint in this segment.

Notably, omnichannel combines the inherent strengths of offline and online retail – the physical store network that serves as customer touch points with the limitless customer reach and convenience of online.

Myntra: Plans With The Acquisition

With the acquisition, Myntra plans to forge omnichannel partnerships with brands on its platform and provide a comprehensive solution to retailers to enhance their own omnichannel journey.

A brand’s customers on Myntra will have a unified view of the brand’s inventory online and offline and will be able to avail value added services such as same-day delivery, click and collect, and return or exchange at the brand’s stores.

Brands, in turn will be able to increase their sales, improve inventory utilization and offer richer customer experience across all nodes.

Further, Pretr’s Endless Aisle solution will also help retailers increase footfalls at their offline stores, and improve in-store conversions as a customer walking into a small format store will now be able to check the brand’s entire catalogue, including the stock available in other cities and choose to pick the product later from that store or order it for delivery at their doorstep.

Ananya Tripathi, Head Category Business and Chief Strategy Officer, Myntra, said, “Through the partnership with Pretr, we are looking to be leaders in this by partnering with 50 strategic brands in the next one year across all their stores and enabling all the Myntra private brand offline stores to deliver the most unique and differentiated experience in the industry to customers.”

Myntra: Target Of $1.9 Bn GMV For FY19

Flipkart revealed its plans to be an ‘exclusive’ fashion stop and soon after its fashion subsidiaries— Myntra and Jabong— announced their plans to invest $300 Mn over the next three years.

At the same time, Myntra and Jabong also expect to triple their GMV to $4 Bn in three years, from $1.2 Bn in Fy17.

Also, the companies aim to triple their combined customer base and improve their share of the domestic online fashion market to 50%, from an estimated 35% now.

Here’s a look back at some recent developments at Myntra:

• Ananth Narayanan, CEO at Myntra-Jabong, had earlier said that Myntra plans to close FY19 with a GMV of $1.9Bn
• The company plans to expand its offline presence to 100 stores in the next two years
• The company was planning to acquire a 5% minority stake in Wildcraft and explore omnichannel strategies where there could be an inventory integration like Myntra has done with companies like Mango
• Under its brand accelerator programme, the company has on-boarded brands like Chemistry and AKS.
• Myntra also cut its losses in FY 17 by 25% to $96.06 Mn (INR 655 Cr) as the focus on its private labels continues to drive results
• The company posted a turnover of $314.6 Mn (INR 2,000 Cr) in FY17 and also saw 100% growth in its accessories category for FY17.

In September 2017, Narayanan had announced that Myntra’s private labels businesses, which includes brands like Roadster, Dressberry, Anouk, and HRX, have turned profitable and are generating revenues worth $25 Mn a month, and annual revenues of $300 Mn, which accounts for around 23% of its total revenue.

In India, the online fashion retail market, according to Technavio, is expected to grow “impressively” at a CAGR of around 63% by 2020.

The Indian online fashion market was pegged at $3.7 Bn in 2017, wherein Flipkart, with its subsidiaries Myntra and Jabong, claims to hold a 70% share.

Further, a study by Technopak has estimated that the Indian apparel market will grow at a CAGR of 9% to $102 Bn by 2023.

Poised to reach $14 Bn by 2020, the Indian online fashion market is growing multi-fold with increasing competition in the space.