Myntra to shut site, goes mobile-only

BENGALURU: Myntra is morphing into a mobile-app based retailer from May 15 in what may be the first such move by an e-commerce player anywhere in the world. With 90% of its traffic and 70% of sales coming from the mobile platform, the Bengaluru-based online retailer said it will be able to service its consumers better by becoming app-only. TOI was the first to report on February 7 about Myntra shutting its website to focus only on its mobile app. Myntra currently has over 9 million users of its app with as many as 4 million customers having made purchases through it. "This is part of a larger journey of providing a differentiated experience and we will be bringing several revolutionary changes over the next 6-9 months," said Mukesh Bansal, founder and CEO of Myntra and commerce head at Flipkart.

E-commerce major Flipkart had acquired Myntra last year for $330 million. Myntra and Flipkart together command a market share of over 50% in the online fashion space while Myntra plans to hit the $1 billion mark in revenue by the year 2016, the e-tailers claimed.

Flipkart's founder and CEO Sachin Bansal said for now the e-commerce major was not ready to become app-only as there are many category experiences in a multi-product portal. Bansal, however, said that Flipkart is also moving towards the mobile-only model without disclosing a timeline for the change. Flipkart has around 75-80% of its customers using the mobile app for purchases.