Myntra enters luxury segment by partnering with Pernia’s Pop Up Shop

Bengaluru: Fashion etailer Myntra has entered into a strategic partnership with Purple Style Labs-owned luxury fashion retailer Pernia’s Pop Up Shop enabling its customers to shop for designer wear with price tags of upto Rs 1.5 lakh. With this partnership, Myntra enters the luxury segment. About 25 Indian designer wear labels such as Ritu Kumar, Masaba Gupta, Namrata Joshipura and Gopi Vaid will sell premium women’s apparel on the platform.

“The partnership will help in customer acquisition, increasing existing customer wallet share and gain market share. Fashion designers, who were limited to the large metros, will widen their reach with our distribution network,” said Ayyappan Rajagopal, head of business at Myntra-Jabong.

About two-thirds of Myntra’s revenue comes from apparel, its single biggest category, followed by footwear, accessories and recent addition in kids and personal care. Women’s wear contributes to 35% of total platform sales on Myntra.

Up till now, the etailer’s portfolio of brands focussed on high fashion market’s average selling price (ASP) as seen similarly on fashion platforms such as Koovs and Ajio. By entering the luxury space with designer sarees, lehengas, gowns and kurta sets, Myntra has raised its ASP making its customers uptrade to higher value products. Myntra, which counts Karnataka, Maharashtra, NCR and Uttar Pradesh as its biggest markets, will also work hand-in-hand with the fashion designers to increase merchandise selection and depth over the next few weeks.

The luxury segment has been launched ahead of the platform’s end of season sale as fashion shoppers prepare for the upcoming festive season.

This move, however, comes at a time when the country is allegedly witnessing an overall economic slump that has led to a decrease in discretionary spend.

“Our Y-O-Y revenue from premium wear has grown by 3X. Searches for premium wear has grown by 4X. Our data does not hint at a slowdown,” said Rajagopal. “Ecommerce, overall, has performed well during this period as online platforms give good selection and attractive pricing.”

Women’s apparel market in India is estimated to be Rs 150,000 crore in FY-20. The overall women’s ethnic wear category is growing at a CAGR of 60%. Rajagopal added that premium ethnic wear on the platform has grown at 300% over the past year. The demand for wedding wear, as a standalone category, is increasing and expected to contribute about 10% of ethnic wear revenue by next fiscal. This growth in demand for ethnic wear was a key driver to further premiumise its offering.

Myntra has entered into similar strategic partnerships with international brands such as H&M, Under Armour, Dorothy Perkins and recently Spanish high-fashion brand Desigual. In the next 5-6 months, the platform plans to add homegrown apparel brands such as Neerus, Jharonka by Craftsvilla, Meena Bazaar and Tribes India to its portfolio.

Pernia’s Pop Up Shop, online multi-brand luxury wear marketplace, was recently acquired by Binny Bansal-backed online fashion platform Purple Style Labs for an undisclosed amount. Since then, Purple Style Labs has opened and expanded into offline multi-designer stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.