Even e-commerce doesn’t seem to be spared from the Indian tradition of arranged marriages. Flipkart met Myntra, families talked and now they seem to be all set to announce D-day – the marriage! A difference here probably is the courtship time – the few long months – or maybe it seemed so to us in waiting for the biggest consolidation of Indian e-commerce.
The estimated Rs 2,000 crore deal is likely to be announced tomorrow (23rd May, Thursday) and it is speculated that Flipkart will get a majority stake in Myntra. Yes, everyone makes a lot of money in the deal. Yes, Myntra will continue to operate on its own (speculated). Yes, Amazon will face stiffer competition now. Yes, we will have a bigger home grown e-commerce giant now. But why was this deal so important for Flipkart?
Fashion e-commerce is a separate product segment on its own right. With its rising popularity, many others wanted to be part of the scene in addition to strong contenders like Myntra, Jabong, Zovi etc. Although it forayed into the segment much later than others, Flipkart had been trying to secure a top spot in the fashion segment too.
Rumoured to be a part of its strategy to strike a chord with consumers in the fashion segment, it changed its signature advertisements with child actors depicting adult situations (which were an instant hit and highly popular). The new ads reflected the campaign slogan “Your fashion fantasy comes true”.
The then newly launched Flipkart Fashion store focused on fashion trends, must-have styles and a number of options available to the fashion conscious Indian consumers. “People buy the latest trends in fashion as they believe these new clothes/accessories will make them look cooler. Our new ‘fashion campaign’, along with the brand new look and feel of the Fashion Store, has been created keeping this insight in mind. We want to help our consumers increase their fashion quotient,” said Ravi Vora, senior VP marketing, Flipkart.
Not really. Although Flipkart offered relatively new trends, it failed to click with consumers as a fashion destination. Consumers perceive Flipkart as a ‘gadgets and electronics’ platform due to its leadership in the segment. Probably Flipkart is trapped in its own success and have not been able to create brand recall in consumer minds with respect to fashion.
Flipkart even introduced its own brand Flippd to position itself as a strong fashion player. Some industry experts even commented that it was showing Myntra what a strong competitor it would be if it got a foothold. Or maybe it was setting a base before approaching Myntra for the deal to piggyback on Myntra’s strong foothold in the online fashion space.
Well, we are just a day away from the official announcement, or so its said. Let’s see the kind of laddoos that will be distributed after the wedding. Flipkart-Myntra will be a tough competitor for Amazon, and everyone will pull up their socks in the race for dominance. All this translates into more opportunities for sellers in terms of selling conditions.
We’ll keep you posted!
After dwindling with her family business, into travel and hospitality, for more than 3 years, Pooja Vishant found her true love in writing. Happy-go-lucky and cheerful, she loves pink; so pink is the way to go if you want to get into her good books. The Associate Editor keeps track of even a leaf that has moved in the ecommerce world!
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