 "Myntra chases Chinese inspiration to have an edge in fashion space")
If China's top online marketplace player Alibaba has financial stakes in India's Snapdeal and Paytm, fashion portal Myntra is also closely tracking Chinese play in the space.
Myntra, acquired by Flipkart last year at about $300 million, is planning to grow its fashion business combined with that of Flipkart's to around 70 per cent of the total online fashion pie in the country over the next two years, up from almost 50 per cent now. To achieve that, the company is drawing inspiration from not just the fashion scene in New York, Paris and Milan, but in a big way from all across China besides start-ups in the Silicon Valley.
''We are talking to online Chinese start-ups regularly to be able to create a new shopping experience for our customers,'' Myntra's chief technology and product officer, Shamik Sharma, told Business Standard. The meetings are happening in China, India and even in other parts of the world on the sidelines of global events.
Among other fashion-oriented startups that Myntra is interacting with are Mogjie and Melishou, Sharma said. Mogujie is a Chinese social shopping service that focuses on women's fashion and Melishou is known for its selfie feature while shopping. Sharma describes Koudai as an Uber-like service, easily connecting sellers and buyers through a smartphone app.
Sharma said there was no engagement with Alibaba yet.
Although Myntra operates as an independent entity, the meetings with fashion startups usually take place along with the Flipkart team.
Fashion is increasingly becoming an important component for Flipkart, which had started as an online book shop eight years ago and then forayed into multiple categories.
Electronic items is the top grossing segment for Flipkart, with fashion in the second position.
Founder and former chief executive of Myntra Mukesh Bansal now has a much bigger role in the combined entity as a driver of the fashion business.
Myntra, which plans to double its investments in both people and technology next year, is also expecting to turn profitable by March 2016.
If it does, it will be the first prominent e-commerce company to turn profitable.
Myntra, acquired by Flipkart last year at about $300 million, is planning to grow its fashion business combined with that of Flipkart's to around 70 per cent of the total online fashion pie in the country over the next two years, up from almost 50 per cent now. To achieve that, the company is drawing inspiration from not just the fashion scene in New York, Paris and Milan, but in a big way from all across China besides start-ups in the Silicon Valley.
''We are talking to online Chinese start-ups regularly to be able to create a new shopping experience for our customers,'' Myntra's chief technology and product officer, Shamik Sharma, told Business Standard. The meetings are happening in China, India and even in other parts of the world on the sidelines of global events.
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Koudai, counted as among the Chinese unicorns and offering intelligent shopping software focused on mobile commerce, is one such start-up that Myntra is engaged with, so that it can pick up tips and offer innovations to its users. In fact, mobile shopping model of Koudai could help Myntra, which is the first e-commerce player to turn only-app, making transactions on desktop a thing of the past. Only-app is about e-commerce transactions done through apps downloaded on smartphones.
Among other fashion-oriented startups that Myntra is interacting with are Mogjie and Melishou, Sharma said. Mogujie is a Chinese social shopping service that focuses on women's fashion and Melishou is known for its selfie feature while shopping. Sharma describes Koudai as an Uber-like service, easily connecting sellers and buyers through a smartphone app.
Sharma said there was no engagement with Alibaba yet.
Although Myntra operates as an independent entity, the meetings with fashion startups usually take place along with the Flipkart team.
Fashion is increasingly becoming an important component for Flipkart, which had started as an online book shop eight years ago and then forayed into multiple categories.
Electronic items is the top grossing segment for Flipkart, with fashion in the second position.
Founder and former chief executive of Myntra Mukesh Bansal now has a much bigger role in the combined entity as a driver of the fashion business.
Myntra, which plans to double its investments in both people and technology next year, is also expecting to turn profitable by March 2016.
If it does, it will be the first prominent e-commerce company to turn profitable.