Myntra in talks to expand fashion brands to international markets
Fashion e-tailer Myntra is holding discussions for taking its fashion brands to international markets like Southeast Asia and Europe. The Flipkart-owned company on Wednesday announced its foray into the Middle East market with its partnerships with e-commerce platforms, noon.com and namshi.com. Both Noon and Namshi are part of the Emaar group, a conglomerate located in the UAE.
"We launched on Walmart Canada last year, and the idea was to understand the international market and how ready we are for that market. It also gave us exposure to international fashion trends," Myntra Chief Executive Officer Amar Nagaram said.
He added that Myntra focussed on markets that are similar to India in terms of mobile internet and e-commerce penetration and Indian-origin population, and then narrowed down to the Middle East market.
Nagaram said the COVID-19 pandemic was a "variable in the equation" as it has influenced global fashion trends.
"Today, everybody is working from home, so it's about more of leisure, comfort wear which is not nightwear...we have brands and serve a particular target segment in India and we are looking at markets that also carry these demographics," he added.
Nagaram said the company is in advanced stages of discussions with a couple of partners in different regions of the world.
"We are looking at Southeast Asia, we are also looking at Europe," he noted.
Noon is a horizontal e-commerce platform with offerings in multiple categories and will offer Myntra's Dressberry, Mast & Harbour, Moda Rapido, Here & Now, Sztori and HRX brands.
Namshi, which focuses primarily on premium fashion, will list Dressberry, Mast & Harbour, Wrogn and HRX over the next few weeks. These brands and styles were chosen based on regional trends and consumer preferences, Nagaram said.
"We are looking at a 5X growth from these partnerships over the next two years. This will allow us to offer Indian origin brands to millions of shoppers overseas, including Indian natives in the region," he added.
Over 75 per cent of the styles being exported by Myntra to these markets are developed in India, he said.
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