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Tag: Myntra

  • Snapdeal takes the road less travelled…

    Snapdeal takes the road less travelled…

    MUMBAI: Be it acquisitions, deals or launches of products, Snapdeal continues to make headlines.

    While Amazon India is partnering with Future Group and Flipkart has acquired Myntra to boost the fashion retail section, Snapdeal is attempting to break the clutter by filling its basket with products from diverse categories.

    In the last few weeks, the e-tailer is ventured into selling homes, two-wheelers and four-wheelers, gourmet food. It has also inked some exclusive tie-ups with electronics retailer Croma and television manufacturer VU Technologies among others. Snapdeal is also one of the sponsors for the famous reality television show, Bigg Boss 8.

    “We offer a platform where anyone can come and sell or buy anything that can be sold. We are trying to replicate the offline market place in its most democratic manner possible online,” says Snapdeal offlibe marketing senior VP Maneesh Goel.

    “The intention is to try and cater to every single consumer,” he adds.

    Snapdeal, as a strategy, is trying to capture the entire wallet share of Indian customers and has been quite successful so far.

     “Snapdeal has been one of the sites which is constantly evolving with newer ideas both in terms of products on offer and marketing strategies”, says Team Pumpkin co-founder, Swati Nathani.  

    According to Trust Research Advisory CEO, N Chandramouli, “This approach is done to get involved in every aspect of a customer’s purchase. All products are the same in the purchase – one pays and the other sells but with the degree of purchase involvement and the price changes. If Snapdeal is successful in smoothly operating the entire purchase cycle, they will definitely grow in terms of the bond that they share with their customers and thereby increasing trust.”

    Snapdeal has managed to raise over $233 million (over Rs 1,400 crores) this year from investors including Premji Invest, Temasek and eBay Inc. Industry veteran, Ratan Tata also invested in the site, giving it his stamp of approval.  According to media reports, Alibaba is also said to have forayed into the Indian e-commerce space with Snapdeal as its partners.

    With its ‘bachate raho (keep saving)’ tagline and focus on unbranded products sold by small manufacturers and retailers, Snapdeal has established itself as a mass-retailer, with over half of these 50,000 merchants selling fashion and lifestyle products that account for 60 percent of its orders.

    “Most categories which are generally sold on the urban arena involve middlemen and hence their value is rising. With Snapdeal foraying into the sections, the involvement of middlemen is reducing leading to fall in their value,” Goel added.

    Snapdeal recently crossed $1 billion (or Rs 6,000 crore) in sales (called gross merchandise value in the online world) taking on rival Flipkart, which had achieved the target a few months ago.

    The new categories such as real estate, gourmet foods and automobiles are critical for the portal. For both Tata Value Homes and the new Mahindra Scorpio, the site let users pre-book online for an amount (Rs 30,000 Tata Value Homes and Rs 20,000 for the new Mahindra Scorpio) that is much lower than required through traditional mediums such as at a car dealer’s or property sales office.

    Tying up with Tata Value Homes, the e-tailer announced 85 homes, worth Rs 40 crore, were sold in six days. It also introduced a new gourmet section on the site in partnership with Sanjeev Kapoor.

    According to Nathani, “Gourmet is the section which should bring the next level of revolution in the e-commerce space. After Books, Electronics, Fashion and Home, Gourmet has been one section which everyone wants to explore. The category has also been a little underplayed in the offline space and therefore, we think that this can be the game changer in the e-commerce space.”

    With Diwali coming soon, the online portal is planning a huge campaign for its customers. But more than that, they are concentrating on the marketing of it.

    “The campaign will last around 40-45 days. The intention is that, depending upon day to day we will be clocking around 1000-2000 ads slots everyday, the campaigns will peak on several days, overall targeting around 50,000-60,000 slots,” Goel reveals.

    “Intention is to double the revenue through Diwali sales,” he added.

    Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal.com, has recently reported a loss of Rs 264.6 crores for the year ended March, compared with a loss of Rs 120 crores in the previous year.

    “In terms of numbers and reach, currently we would say Flipkart is the winner but with its constantly evolving strategies, we will soon see Snapdeal getting into the top spot, “Nathani opines.

    The battle is a close one for now. The company is venturing into various brands from auto, electronics, mobile phones, home furnishings, kitchen appliances, beauty, footwear to clothing to get them online.

  • Amazon reportedly in talks to buy Jabong in India

    Amazon reportedly in talks to buy Jabong in India

    MUMBAI: With the rivalry rising in the e-commerce space, it looks like the Indian arm of Amazon is ready to heat it up a notch.  The e-tailer is reportedly in talks with Indian fashion site Jabong to acquire it.

     

    According to a report in a leading daily, the talks are at a preliminary stage and despite being valued at around $500 million in a recent regulatory filing, Jabong is holding out for $700 million as it reports to have multiple suitors.

     

    Denying commenting on the speculations, Amazon said, “We do not comment on anything we may or may not do in the future.”

     

    The report quoted a person working with the US e-tailer as saying that Jabong was ideal for acquisition since Flipkart had acquired Myntra in May for around $330 million.

     

    Flipkart-Myntra reportedly has 50 per cent of India’s online fashion retail market share with Jabong at 25 per cent.

     

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bozos had promised to invest $2 billion in its India operations with a big chunk of it going towards acquisitions.

     

    Fashion e-tailer Jabong is part of a global group after its investors German venture capital group Rocket Internet and with Swedish investor Kinnevik announcing a merger of five emerging market fashion start-ups. The merged entity is called Global Fashion Group (GFG) and worth about worth 2.7 billion euros or around Rs 21,000 crore.

     

    The company’s CEO Arun Chandra Mohan has also been pretty optimistic about the company’s outlook and had said in a recent interview to the paper said, “I believe the valuation of my company is going to be significant. We are going to be a billion dollar business.”

     

    Amazon India started offering fashion products on its marketplace in May, and an acquisition offers a swift route to scaling up. In the US, Amazon chose a similar strategy to improve its fashion credentials by buying Zappos in 2009. 

  • Myntra signs up with iProspect Communicate 2 for GAP

    Myntra signs up with iProspect Communicate 2 for GAP

    MUMBAI: Myntra has teamed up with iProspect Communicate 2 to become the first brand in India to sign up for Google Analytics Premium (GAP).

     

    For years, Google Analytics has been a digital marketer’s best friend, providing them with data driven insights into the target audience, allowing them to narrow in on the customer path and tailor the campaigns, according to the user. Google Analytics Premium offers all these features plus those additional aids that marketers have been dreaming of.

     

    GAP is more powerful, provides deeper insights and ensures complete support to brands. iProspect Communicate 2 has a team of trained and certified experts who are dedicated to offer complete GAP support in terms of implementation guides, training and audits. This will be exceptionally beneficial to a huge e-commerce site like Myntra.com with a registered base of 10 million and growing.

     

    iProspect Communicate 2 MD Vivek Bhargava said, “We were the first Google Analytics Certified partners in India six years ago. Quite naturally, Google thought we would be the best company to be their first Analytics Premium partner, as well. Companies like Myntra that garner a huge amount of traffic, need an enterprise version of Google Analytics. Our data led approach to digital marketing has always delivered superior ROI to our clients and I believe this development will continue and grow with Myntra as well.”

     

    The same enthusiastic approach was shared by Myntra chief revenue officer Prasad Kompalli. He was quoted as saying “Over the past few years, the number of users choosing to shop online has shot through the roof. This being said, the sheer volume of data that is generated is unimaginable. We need to segment our traffic in greater detail and this is where Google Analytics Premium will help us. We have multiple marketing channels like Adwords, Doubleclick, GSP, TV etc. With real-time data updates and easy ways to analyse multiple channels of data, Google Analytics Premium will help us to come up with innovative data insights. We feel we can offset the higher price of the tool with the savings we will be generating.”

  • Puma India appoints new MD Abhishek Ganguly

    Puma India appoints new MD Abhishek Ganguly

    MUMBAI: Soon after Rajiv Mehta quit the company after nine years, Puma India has announced the appointment of Abhishek Ganguly, as its new managing director.

     

    Talking about the new appointment Puma EEMEA region GM said, “We’re delighted to ring in Abhishek’s appointment as the managing director of Puma India as one of the founding directors of PUMA India. Abhishek brings with him a wealth of experience that will guide the brand towards its next leap in India.”

     

    “Puma India has delivered an outstanding performance during the last nine years and I look forward to the continued progress of this great brand of ours with Abhishek,” he added.

     

    Ganguly previously had been spearheading the sales and retail functions for the brand and had joined Puma right at its inception in 2005 as a founding director. His appointment comes at a time when the brand is taking bold steps in its new positioning to be the fastest brand in the world. The brand recently launched the Forever Faster campaign.

     

    Puma India now has around 300 stores in 100 cities and towns. The company has opted for the hybrid retail model in India which is made up of franchises as well as owned-and-operated stores. As much as 15 per cent of its stores are owned-and-operated. And 12 per cent of its annual revenue comes from online platforms such as Myntra, Jabong and Flipkart.

  • Flipkart launches third private brand – Citron

    Flipkart launches third private brand – Citron

    MUMBAI: Bangalore-based e-retailer Flipkart announced its in-house home appliances and personal healthcare brand — Citron.

     

    The label includes a wide range of cooking utilities and grooming products. According to the press release, the product range in electronics includes electric kettles, sandwich makers, hand blenders and pop-up toasters while the range in the personal healthcare category has shavers and trimmers, hair straighteners and dryers.

     

    Flipkart, which has so far raised $1.75 billion from investors forayed into the private labels segment in 2012 with Digiflip, selling digital accessories, before launching tablets under the brand. Flipkart had also launched lifestyle private brand Flippd in January this year.

     

    Excited with the recent launch, Flipkart SVP-Retail Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “The launch of Citron is our next step in expanding the private labels offering at Flipkart. This enables us to offer our customers quality products at a great value for yet another category after lifestyle and tablets.”

     

    “In the next three months we will expand into selling various other products such as irons, induction cooktops, juicers, mixers etc.,” he added.

     

    While the home appliances products are priced between Rs 500 and Rs 999, the personal healthcare products are available at Rs 549- 949.

     

    While most online fashion portals like Jabong and Myntra (which Flipkart recently acquired) have multiple private labels in clothing, Flipkart has been one of the first to introduce its own range in electronics like tablets and other gadgets.

  • Do celebs really push the online gamut?

    Do celebs really push the online gamut?

    MUMBAI: Everyone is talking about it. Everyone is on it as well. Online retailers have caught everyone’s fancy and if stats are to be believed then they are here to stay.

     

    The e-commerce industry has been growing at a rapid pace; 2013 saw the industry grow over 65 per cent which is currently estimated to be at $3.2 billion. As new competitors entered the space to encourage the shopaholic in all of us to click on the ‘buy now’ button and get parcel at the place of convenience, the competition has only grown manifold.

     

    To woo the ever-confused shopper who has too many options to choose from, thanks to new players entering the lucrative e-commerce market, the online retailers have to lure them with various offerings. Be it delivery in one day or exclusive brands on board, they have done it all to make sure customers come to them, time and again.

     

    Discounts are offered every now and then, and on special occasions like anniversary through various contests, customers are awarded shopping points and gifts. For instance, eBay India launched a Way Too Fab (WTF) campaign for its ninth birthday bash. As part of the celebration, it created a special page www.ebay.in/waytoofab that allowed any user who purchased products which valued more than Rs 500 on 12, 13 and 14 March 2014, to spin the Wheel of Magic which offered consumers an assured gift ranging from special coupons to mobile phones and tablets to name a few.   

     

    However, the latest mantra has been to launch eye-catching TVCs. Amazon India launched its first TVC during the most-sellable property on Indian television – Indian Premiere League (IPL). Having said that, who can forget the ads of Flipkart? The ads featuring children role-playing as adults went viral and soon many others followed. After a lull period, the war on the television screen has begun again as the new entrants want to leave their mark on people’s mind.

     

    Like Victoria Secret would be just another brand without its angels, similarly, each e-commerce platform is trying to be different than the other.  And for this, these portals have decided to attach popular faces to the brand. The hottest fad currently is popular Bollywood faces associating themselves with various e-retailers.

     

    Ranveer Singh, Lisa Haydon, Neha Dupia, Farhan Akhtar, Purab Kohli are just a few names associated with lifestyle e-retailers. When asked how does it help the platform, Myntra’s chief marketing officer Vikas Ahuja says, “By associating with celebrities, Myntra is making an effort to not just provide fashionable apparel and accessories but also be a thought leader in the latest style trends that are driving the fashion industry. Our association with celebrities such as Ranveer Singh for Roadster and Lisa Haydon for the Myntra brand has strengthened our focus on fashion, providing fans and customers an enthralling experience that goes beyond just shopping on our site.”

     

    LimeRoad, which caters to women’s sensibilities only, believes that though it has differentiated itself from other e-commerce players by moving away from a discount led offering, it did bring in Neha Dhupia on its management team. The reason behind it was that the team felt that her style could inspire a lot of women who shop on the site and those who make scrapbooks to express their style on LimeRoad. “Celebrities who reflect the brand’s promise help you get the right people to the site. They also bring in a lot of freshness and relevance to the context,” says CEO Suchi Mukherjee and adds, “Neha Dhupia is not only a pretty face but she epitomises the hard work, grit and dedication needed to make it big in life.”

     

    Others like YepMe, Lenskart etc too have celebs endorsing them. The rationale behind it is that most of them believe that celebrity associations help to create awareness, provide credibility and stature to the brand and rub-off of the celebrity’s personality and appeal onto the brand which strengthens the brand positioning / attributes further.

     

    Online apart, many companies have shopping on television ventures as well. However, these 24*7 channels which cater to mostly housewives don’t have celebs promoting them.   “Celebrity endorsement is beneficial for instant recall of the brand. When customers watch their favourite stars endorsing the brand or promoting a clothesline it does garner some visibility and helps draw eyeballs. But in the long run it’s all about the products and propositions that any brand has to offer,” believes HomeShop18 CMO Vikrant Khanna.

     

    The channel through its offerings, customer relationship management, value proposition, three-screen presence on TV-Web-Mobile and technology, wants to stand apart from the competition.

     

    HomeShop18 recently announced its TVC around the mantra “Shopping Makes Me Happy,” which had (talking) cats connecting with consumers to establish an emotional connect appealing to their desire for shopping. Similarly, Star CJ Alive, which parted ways with Star Network, introduced new mascot ‘Shoppie’ which works at bridging the gap between the current name and until the new name is finalised.

     

    TV has the highest media reach so irrespective of the industry, it’s still one of the most effective advertising medium. However, with changing times most of these brands have a 360 degree approach. New mediums like digital and social media have become an essential part of business today.

     

    Companies are taking extra efforts in the digital space to supplement the tools social media offers. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube channel, Instagram etc. are deployed to engage with peers and reach out to existing and potential customers across the digital platform.

     

    One of the best examples of luring youngsters today who are perpetually online is Myntra’s latest campaign -‘Live for Likes.’ The platform so far has also conducted other campaigns, both online and offline like the survey of India’s Most Fashionable Politician, Indian Fashion League, the Online Treasure Hunt, Online shopping fest, celebrity engagement through Fashion Icon of the Month among others. All this to encourage shoppers to be a part of its brand story.

     

    Online analysts believe that whatever be the case – online dominance or celeb in hand – a brand needs to be very clear of what it wants to accomplish. “There is a string of young actors who are willing to come on board. However, partnering with a right celeb is also very important. He/she should be able to generate interest among visitors on the site which should invert into sales to be successful,” says an analyst.

     

    A brand expert adds that these celebrities come at a certain price, so have to be used wisely. 

     

    Celebs might help generate initial traffic, but loyalty is dependent on product offerings, propositions, value, after-sales service, ease of use of the portal, hassle free delivery and return policies and lastly an overall virtual shopping experience. “If these important things are in place, shoppers will return to explore more, irrespective of the portal being endorsed by a celebrity or not,” concludes the expert.

  • Myntra signs Kangana Ranaut as Brand Ambassador and Face of DressBerry

    Myntra signs Kangana Ranaut as Brand Ambassador and Face of DressBerry

    MUMBAI: Myntra.com, India’s largest fashion e-tailer, has brought on-board Bollywood’s latest “Queen”, Kangana Ranaut, as its brand ambassador and the face for its fast fashion in-house brand DressBerry. With her recent mega hits like Queen, Revolver Rani and her previously unforgettable role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’, Myntra saw Kangana as an ideal choice for endorsing its bold and stylish range of apparel and accessories.

     

    As the brand ambassador, Kangana Ranaut will be featured in some of the promotional initiatives by Myntra.com, helping build a strong connect between the brand and its fans across the country. To begin with, the two-time Filmfare award winner will be the face of a young, confident and fashionable brand ‘DressBerry’, dedicated to young women. Myntra launched DressBerry in 2013, and within a span of 15 months, it has gained commendable popularity, making it one of the largest selling women’s western wear brands on Myntra.com.

     

    Expressing her excitement on the association with Myntra.com and Dressberry, the renowned actress, Kangana Ranaut said, “I am excited to be the brand ambassador for Myntra.com and happy to be the face of DressBerry, Myntra’s fast fashion women’s wear brand. When I came across DressBerry, I took an instant liking to it. Besides the apparel, it is the attitude of ‘Fun, Flirty and Feminine’ reflected by the brand that appeals to me.” 

     

    She further added, “Myntra provides shoppers the opportunity to access everything that a fashion fanatic can dream of, at affordable prices. Brands like Myntra.com are also providing access to youth in smaller towns to shop for their favourite brands as they are equally aspirational and want to look good just like their counterparts in larger cities.”

     

    Speaking on the celebrity association, Myntra CMO Vikas Ahuja said, “Myntra is a youth fashion brand, presenting the latest trends for men and women who are bold and stylish in the way they carry themselves. Just like Kangana Ranaut. I believe this partnership will strengthen Myntra’s position as India’s preferred online fashion destination and will mark a new step in DressBerry’s evolution.”

     

    DressBerry hosts a wide and diverse range of collection for young women across tops, dresses, jackets, bottoms, jumpsuits, nightwear and accessories, starting at just Rs 249 up to Rs 1999.

     

    Myntra.com ventured into private brands in December 2012 and has since developed a strong portfolio of eight private brands including Roadster, HRX by Hrithik Roshan, Sher Singh, Anouk, Kook N Keech and Mast & Harbour among others.

     

    Myntra.com also recently collaborated with the popular Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh for its in-house brand – ‘Roadster’ and Lisa Haydon as its brand ambassador while the ravishing Chitrangda Singh and the charming Abhay Deol, were voted as the Fashion Icon of the Month for May & June, 2014.

  • KKR and e-commerce sites win IPL 7

    KKR and e-commerce sites win IPL 7

    MUMBAI: As fans chanted Korbo Lorbo Jitbo (We will do, we will fight, we will win ), Manish Pandey’s 94 off 50 balls not only ensured Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) putting up a brave fight, it saw them seize the IPL cup from Kings XI Punjab in a nail-biting finish.

     

    However, this IPL not only brought smiles to the Knight Riders but also to broadcasters Multi Screen Media-owned Sony Max and Sony Six that aired the tournament.

     

    Before the seventh edition started, naysayers said not many advertisers would be interested in the property since India was going through the mother of all elections. To make things worse, the first phase of IPL was held outside India. And when Sony Entertainment Television president Rohit Gupta said that the broadcaster would charge Rs 4.9-5 lakh for a 10-second slot, a 20 per cent jump from last year’s Rs 4.25 lakh, eyebrows were raised.

     

    However, the story went in the other direction. Despite the T20 tourney being played in the UAE and the ninth phase of the polls coinciding with the matches back home, the popularity of the tournament wasn’t affected and the broadcaster charged as much as Rs18-20 lakh for a 10 seconder for the final match. “Last year, we had charged around Rs 15 lakh for the final match. So, the ad revenue has only gone up. One must understand that IPL is a mature property and shouldn’t talk about not attracting advertisers,” says Gupta.

     

    He went on to say, “Take a look at the English Premier League (EPL); it has been on for more than 20 years and it still attracts audiences and advertisers. Wonder why in India, people don’t understand that IPL is a yearly phenomenon and is here to stay for a long period.”

     

    The television viewership too went up by five per cent for the first 54 matches, from 175 million during IPL-6 to 184 million this year.

     

    “There is no risk to any advertiser,” said Gupta, while highlighting the fact that a big chunk of broadcasters’ revenues would be contributed by e-commerce companies.

     

    Apart from the big advertisers – Vodafone, Karbonn, Havells, Perfetti and Marico – this year saw many e-commerce companies, especially Amazon, which launched its first TVC during IPL and others like Flipkart, Myntra, Quikr and Snapdeal piggybacked on the tournament.

     

    Says GroupM ESP national director – Entertainment, Sports & Live Events Vinit Karnik, “A lot of e-commerce sites associated themselves with various teams. Also, there were a lot of on ground and on air activations so it won’t be wrong to say that this time one product category did leverage the league.”

     

    The reason behind the phenomenon is the intense competition in the online retail segment. And as every player tries to pitch something different be it in terms of product line or delivery model, the mass media property – IPL – becomes the perfect battle ground.

     

    “The IPL has got the reach and so it has delivered eyeballs to the brands. And the result has been achieved. With sites fighting tooth and nail what will be a better platform than IPL to reach out to as many as people?” says MEC national planning director Zubin Tatna.

     

    Havas Media India MD Mohit Joshi agrees on the fact that with booming online retail sector competition is only going to increase. “IPL as a format doesn’t let one innovate much but the brands always get what they want from it, if used appropriately.”

     

    “E commerce sites did dominate the advertisements this time as well as offline enough buzz was created. So, one shouldn’t be surprised if around 40 per cent of the revenue comes from this category,” he adds.

     

    However, Tatna feels otherwise. “You see a Quikr or an OLX ad on television anyhow so I wouldn’t agree with the fact e-commerce sites dominated only IPL.”

     

    The nerve-wrenching battle

     

    The tourney’s star cricketer this year, Glen Maxwell, along with his Punjab teammates David Miller, Virendar Sehwag and George Bailey managed to score a paltry nine runs between the four in an edge-of-the-seat finale. For KKR, it’s been smooth sailing with the final being their ninth win a row. This puts them in the league of Chennai Super Kings (whom they had defeated in the final two years ago) as multiple IPL winners.

     

    However, to their credit, Punjab were neck and neck with KKR so much so it could have been anyone’s match till the very end. Wriddihan Saha’s innings was a fitting precursor to the well fought finish. 

     

    Apart from Maxwell’s disappointing performance, this season’s highest run scorer Robin Utthappa too did not match expectations as Piyush Chawla was left to win the game for KKR. But Utthappa did win the Orange Cap. Man of the match Pandey said that winning the IPL was like the “icing on the cake” after winning the Ranji trophy, Irani trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy.

     

    KKR captain Gautam Gambhir said they never thought they would win this IPL. He also went on to add that winning at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was what the team fancied, considering the fact that it is a small ground. Incidentally, the stadium also hosted the very first IPL game in 2008. Gambhir told indiatoday.in, “This is a ground where it is very difficult to defend. We wanted to get it down to five overs, 50 or 60 to get. Manish played a fantastic innings.” Finally, Punjab’s late strikes could not dither KKR from taking the trophy home a second time with 200 runs.

     

    As for KKR, Kolkata Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the team on Facebook. A post she put up on the social networking site said: “Congratulations…. KKR….Congratulations…Sharukh.” She also congratulated Saha for his “brilliant performance.”

     

    In 2012, the Banerjee government had come under sharp criticism for showering expensive gold chains and gold medals as part of the grand felicitation programme held in honour of KKR’s IPL win. But this time around, as Eden Gardens prepares for another such programme, it will be interesting to see what ‘Didi’ has to offer the boys in purple.

  • Flipkart and Myntra join hands

    Flipkart and Myntra join hands

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector saw a purple patch last year and continues to do so.

     

    Recently, LimeRoad raised $15 million series B funding; Jabong too closed a multi-hundred million dollar investment deal and Amazon India entered the fashion and lifestyle category.

     

    Keeping up with the competition is surely going to be tough. Therefore, to bring high quality and affordable lifestyle products to the customers, Flipkart has joined hands with Myntra, an e-commerce platform for fashion and lifestyle products. Bangalore-based Myntra has partnered with more than 650 leading fashion and lifestyle brands in the country.

     

    Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, the co-founders of Flipkart, and Myntra’s founders, Mukesh Bansal and Ashutosh Lawania, are excited to work with each other. In this new association, along with being the CEO of Myntra, Mukesh Bansal will also head the fashion business for Flipkart and join the board.

     

    “We believe that the future of fashion in India is e-commerce. We have known Mukesh for a long time and are delighted to partner with him. Myntra has a strong team with excellent domain knowledge. They also have the best relationships with lifestyle brands. This partnership will strengthen both our positions in the fashion space. We will continue to work as independent entities and grow together as leaders in the Indian fashion and lifestyle industry,” said Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal jointly through a statement.

     

    “We are excited to partner with Flipkart, the biggest e-commerce platform in India. Sachin, Binny and their team have built a pioneering e-commerce platform on a foundation of strong technology and customer centricity. Flipkart is the most powerful e-commerce brand in India and has a very ambitious agenda to build the next generation of retail in India. Leveraging mutual strengths, we will build Myntra into India’s leading fashion powerhouse and create many original fashion brands,” said Myntra co-founder and CEO Mukesh Bansal.

     

    This partnership will support Flipkart’s and Myntra’s shared mission to bring high quality and affordable fashion and lifestyle products to each and every Indian consumer. Post this announcement, Flipkart and Myntra will continue to work as independent entities and grow together as leaders in the Indian e-commerce industry.

  • Fab.com’s Maria Molland joins American Swan board of directors

    Fab.com’s Maria Molland joins American Swan board of directors

    MUMBAI: The online global fashion and lifestyle brand American Swan has appointed Maria Molland to the company’s board of directors.

     

    Optimistic about her association with a vibrant brand like American Swan Maria Molland said, “It feels exciting to join a young, dynamic brand and there is a massive opportunity for American Swan vis-?-vis the increasing amount of capital going into emerging markets. I look forward to bringing my expertise to the brand and help them expand their impressive product range in global markets, as they enter their next stage of growth”

     

    As a new entrant in the e-commerce space, American Swan is one of the rare examples that has adopted fast and strived for efficiency in a competitive domain. Its initiative to adopt the hybrid model by venturing into online and offline channels simultaneously has helped it maximise reach and de-risk the business. The growth for the American Swan brand has been fairly fast-paced, encouraging and consistent. So expanding the brand’s footprint globally after establishing itself in India was an inevitable next step.

     

    American Swan director and CEO Anurag Rajpal added, “We are delighted to have Maria Molland join us. She brings broad, international experience and deep knowledge of the e-commerce industry. We are confident that the perspective she brings to American Swan and its Board is extremely valuable, given our strategic priorities of International presence and ecommerce growth.”

     

    Molland will bring her vast experience in ecommerce to advise American Swan on international expansion as it seeks to be the leading online fashion brand in emerging markets apart from bringing the best ecommerce practices. American Swan has grown quickly in the Indian e-commerce domain by offering a range of classic preppy fashion and authentic smart casuals to the urban fashion-conscious consumers who seek International brands and styling. It is rapidly expanding to other emerging markets in Asia.

     

    Molland is an executive who recently served as the chief European officer at Fab.com, one of the fastest growing ecommerce companies. The European business grew from negligible to more than 40 per cent of Fab’s global revenues during her tenure.

     

    Prior to Fab, Molland was the global managing director of Digital Ventures at Thomson Reuters where she managed teams in the US, Europe, India, China and the Middle East. Molland has also held global executive roles at Dow Jones and Yahoo.

     

    India has close to 10 million online shoppers and is growing at an estimated 3 per cent CAGR and is poised to witness significant growth in the next few years. It has been speculated that the industry will touch a benchmark of $34.2 billion by 2015. As the e-commerce business is growing by leaps and bounds, the growth in the sector is a reflection of evolving nature of the market and that of the consumer. American Swan as a new, dynamic brand is seeking avenues to increase its presence through top online aggregators like Myntra, Jabong, and Flipkart as well as through a strong retail footprint pan India. Four Cross Media (www.fourcrossmedia.com), a high-end global digital media conglomerate with a network of innovative businesses has invested Rs 40 crore in this venture.

     

     “We welcome Molland at American Swan. There are not many entrepreneurs who have had the chance to scale companies from small teams to hundreds of people globally, and Maria has done that. We are looking forward to leveraging her expertise with fast growing technology companies as we continue to grow our business,” says Four Cross Media Asia co-founder and managing director Puneet Johar.