Myntra has a big opportunity for democratising fashion through tech: CEO

Company has forayed into social commerce and has been pioneering the next wave of fashion-tech concepts, said Nandita Sinha

There is a big opportunity in front of Myntra for democratising fashion through technology, says Myntra CEO Nandita Sinha. Last year in November, the Walmart-owned online fashion retailer announced the appointment of Sinha as CEO, effective January 1, 2022. In an interview with Peerzada Abrar, Sinha said that the company has forayed into social commerce and has been pioneering the next wave of fashion-tech concepts such as M-Studio, M-Live, StyleCast, and AI-enabled beauty skin analyzer. She said such innovations and technologies are expected to give Myntra an edge over traditional players and other online retail platforms. Edited excerpts:

What is expected to change at Myntra after your appointment as CEO?

One of the big things that stand out is that Myntra has been founded on innovating and building for fashion, and really using technology to democratise fashion for the upwardly mobile Indian customers. The way we are looking at the next few years is to be at the forefront of building fashion tech for the country. This includes making selections, trends, and brands accessible to Indian customers. Some of the innovations that have played out (include) our foray into social commerce, through Myntra Studio and M-Live. Live commerce was launched for the first time in the country in November 2021 on Myntra. We've seen a great response from customers, brands and our partners. Deep personalization will continue to be an area on which we will focus. StyleCast marked our entry into building trends and styles and winning styles from our partner sellers and brands to the Gen Z customers. Another aspect that we will focus on is building the team, which is most important for Myntra. This is the best team that really understands fashion and technology very deeply. 

What has been the impact of the pandemic on the retail industry and for Myntra in terms of the adoption of e-commerce?

The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital formats for a lot of consumers especially the Gen Z and women consumers and the upwardly mobile fashion-forward customers, who are all now digital-first customers. They are consuming trends, styles, and brands digitally. They understand global influencers. More consumers are now actually consuming content digitally. They are wanting to explore new brands, trends and styles. We are actually bringing this together through Social Commerce. We've held more than 2000 live sessions on M-Live since our launch.  M-Live holds 600-700 live sessions every month, and we are working towards growing the number of sessions to 4X. Live-streaming commerce traffic has grown by over 5X and orders by over 10X in the last 6 months. We witnessed a growth of 10X in content-led commerce in Studio as well. We continue to build on this differentiation. We will also continue to be the destination of choice for brands, both Indian and International brands. Myntra is also pioneering the omnichannel approach allowing us to bring new and varied selections.

Myntra was set to emerge as the biggest beauty and personal care (BPC) player in the country. How is that vision shaping up?

If you look at the consumers that we reach out to, especially the women consumers, beauty and personal care is a huge part of their routine which also makes up for a fair chunk of their consumption basket. This year, we will add around 500 brands to the beauty and personal care space. We will continue to innovate through technology ‘virtual try on’ and the AI skin analyzer, which is an industry-first innovation, enabling them (brands) to access Myntra customers. Bringing differentiation for technology is something that we will continue to build on. We will use Social Commerce to reach out to these customers. The plan is to really use M-Live to empower brands to build their fan following. We just launched something called Style Squad, which is about enabling the next set of influencers across the ecosystem, to help them connect with brands and customers and really bring that together uniquely through the Myntra platform. 

How do you see these technologies and innovations giving Myntra an edge over traditional players and online beauty platforms such as Nykaa, MyGlamm and Purplle?

Our view is that we will continue to build and innovate and differentiate ourselves through fashion technology (like through) M-live, and Studio. This is how consumers are actually now going to start accessing fashion. There is no better platform than Myntra to access that selection, through influencers who are very relatable. And the scale that we are able to bring through this initiative is something that is unparalleled. There is also personalisation (aspect) for different cohorts and experiences. I think omnichannel is another unique experience that we bring to the table and has been an innovation, which allows us to connect with more than 350 brands, 3075 stores, 1.5 lakh styles across 42 cities. This allows for scale to happen to the Omni-network by connecting partners and customers in a very seamless manner. I think our ability to continuously innovate for the customers gives us a great edge. For example, we understand that customers want to have access to different products and they want to kind of try on various products.  Our ‘try and buy’ (feature) for example was something that Myntra launched. There is Style Exchange where when customers are making returns, they are able to exchange (the product) for a different style because they are buying that for a particular occasion or reason.

What are your plans for the next few years in terms of new services, products and expansion in India and in global markets and hiring of talent?

Our biggest strength is our colleagues. The entire team at Myntra is the best team in terms of how they understand fashion and technology. That is what we will continue to build. This includes ensuring that we are building the right talent pool, by enabling our colleagues internally to take up bigger roles and through adequate exposure. We are also ensuring that we are getting the best talent across the fashion and tech ecosystem. We will continue to groom talent internally, enable them to take up bigger mandates and give them the right exposure. Also, for now, Myntra will be an India only platform. The Indian fashion market is sprawling and the e-commerce opportunity is huge.

What were the opportunities and challenges for you to reach the top at Myntra?

I think overall, the Flipkart Group is a very unique leadership academy. The culture is built to ensure that leaders really get the right exposure and responsibilities and enablement for bigger mandates. Across the Group, there is a passion for technology and e-commerce. Specifically, in Myntra, there is a passion for fashion. There is a lot of empowerment and a lot of independence that is given to all team members to be able to solve problems. There is a lot of room for making mistakes, learning from your mistakes and coming up with big and audacious goals. So audacity, you know, it's something which is very ingrained. Customer-first approach and inclusiveness is very much present across teams. We have a big opportunity in front of us (where) Myntra is democratising fashion through technology. And I think it's a great environment where honestly, everyone can bring their authentic selves to work.