Myntra.com is an Indian e-commerce company of fashion and casual lifestyle products,
headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka The company was founded in 2007 by IITians Mukesh
Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena with a focus on personalization of gift items.
By 2010, Myntra shifted its focus to the online retailing of branded apparel.
In May 2014, Myntra.com merged with another Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart to become
a formidable force against the competition from Amazon, an international online business
that entered the Indian market in June 2013.E-commerce in India
History Established in 2007 by Mukesh Bansal along
with Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena, Myntra was in the business of on-demand personalization
of gift items.
It mainly operated on the B2B model during its initial years.
Between 2007 and 2010, the online portal allowed customers to personalize 15 products such
as t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, calendars, watches, teddy bears, pendants, wine glasses
and jigsaw puzzles.
Customers could order for these online and these would be home delivered in 3 days’
time.
Within the initial 3 years, Myntra became India’s largest personalization platform
with more than 50% of the market share.
It also offered the personalization of jerseys of various cricket and football teams including
the Indian cricket team, the IPL teams and the Premier League football teams.
In 2010, it expanded its catalogue to include fashion and lifestyle products.
Myntra tied up with various popular brands to retail a wide range of latest merchandise
from these brands.
Myntra offered products from 350 Indian and International brands by 2011.
Brands like Nike, Puma, Converse, Adidas, Decathlon, Reebok, Lee Cooper, Numero Uno,
Sketchers, Crocs, Fila, Lotto, ID, Catwalk, Carlton London and Red Tape found the perfect
online retail platform.
Myntra also had casual wear for men and women from brands like Jealous 21, Forever New,
Classic Polo, Inkfruit, Lee, Nike, Inc., Probase, Puma, Adidas, Reebok, Ed Hardy, Decathlon,
Lotto, Mr. Men, Tantra and Guerilla.
The website saw the launch of Fastrack watches and of Being Human, the brand.
Myntra currently has more than 500 brands with over 60,000 products that are delivered
almost everywhere in India using its delivery networks.
Acquisitions and investments In October 2007, Myntra received its initial
funding from Erasmic Venture Fund now known as Accel Partners, Sasha Mirchandani from
Mumbai Angels and a few other investors.
In November 2008, Myntra raised almost $5 million from NEA-IndoUS Ventures, IDG Ventures
and Accel Partners.
Myntra raised $14 million in a Series B round of funding.
This round of investment was led by Tiger Global, a private equity firm; the existing
investors IDG Ventures and Indo-US Venture Partners also put in substantial amount towards
funding Myntra.
Towards the end of 2011, Myntra.com raised $20 million in its third round of funding,
again led by Tiger Global.
In February 2014, Myntra raised additional $50 Million funding from Premji Invest and
few other Private Investors.
2014 also saw the merging of Myntra with another e-commerce giant Flipkart.
Myntra continues to function and operate independently to increase its market share from 50 to 70
per cent of the market share.
Future Myntra is already a leader in the Indian online
fashion business and it plans to remain the largest player in the high street, premium
and luxury fashion segment.
The company launched its first private brand in December 2013 and since then, has launched
8 different brands such as Roadster, HRX by Hrithik Roshan, Sher Singh, Anouk, Kook N
Keech, Mast & Harbour,ETC and Dressberry.
Kangana Ranaut and Ranveer Singh have been signed in as Brand Ambassadors for the brands
Dressberry and Roadster respectively.
Myntra also offers its customers a complementary telephonic helpline for style and trend tips.
This service named as ‘Style Service’ was launched by Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri.
In a bid to remain ahead of the competition in the e-commerce scenario in India, Myntra
plans to start a Fashion Incubator.
It plans to select 3 to 5 brands or upcoming designers annually, and offer them capital,
supply chain and distribution platforms.
Recognitions Awarded 'Fashion eRetailer of the Year 2013'
by Franchise India – Indian eRetail Awards Awarded 'Best E-commerce Website for 2012'
by IAMAI – India Digital Awards Awarded 'Images Most Admired Retailer of the
Year: Non–Store Retail' for 2012 by Images Group
Awarded 'Best E-commerce Partner of the year 2011-12' by Puma India
References
External links Official website