Catch Amar Nagaram,CEO of Myntra in conversation with V Keshavdev, Executive Editor, Outlook Business. We will talk how different companies are dealing with the current situation and their unique strategies.
#AmarNagaram #Myntra #Business #OutlookBusiness #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
#AmarNagaram #Myntra #Business #OutlookBusiness #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Hello everyone, welcome to a special Outlook
00:12 business webinar series titled StratTalk,
00:15 presented by Hyperlink Infosystem
00:17 and co-sponsored by RR Solution.
00:19 And the topic and the discussion is
00:21 realigning to the new normal.
00:24 Today we have with us Mr. Raman Nagaram,
00:26 a techie who now calls the shots
00:28 at the Walmart owned fashion e-tailer, Myntra.
00:30 Welcome Mr. Nagaram and thank you
00:33 for taking time out from your busy schedule.
00:36 Before we kind of, yeah.
00:38 Before we kind of deep dive into it,
00:39 just wanted to know you are largely,
00:41 you started off as in the tech side at Rift Heart
00:45 and then you found yourself in the hot seat in 2019
00:48 and then you find in 2020,
00:49 you are facing a once in a generational kind of a crisis.
00:53 So how are you coping with that,
00:55 both at a personal and a professional level?
00:59 - Well, it's been a humbling experience.
01:02 I've been with Flipkart group for eight years.
01:04 I started as an engineering manager
01:08 where I was working on Flipkart's first digital product.
01:13 For the first five years,
01:15 I was purely on the technology front,
01:18 but Flipkart being a startup
01:19 and Flipkart being an organization where,
01:23 I mean, you can do anything.
01:25 I mean, you can actually sign up for things
01:27 and you can do anything you can to the organization.
01:31 So I found opportunities on the business side
01:33 where I could contribute.
01:34 That's how I got exposed to the business side of things.
01:37 And before I knew I was actually working
01:39 with Flipkart Fashion as a tech partner.
01:43 And then when the opportunity kind of came up in Myntra,
01:48 I was chosen for the role.
01:50 So yeah, it's a journey that I would have not imagined
01:55 when I started with Flipkart.
01:56 So it's been a fascinating journey.
01:59 Last one and a half year at Myntra,
02:00 it's been, like I said, a humbling learning experience.
02:04 The industry, the fashion industry
02:05 has been very, very welcoming.
02:08 Over the last 18 months,
02:12 built a lot of relationship
02:13 with a lot of major brands across the globe.
02:16 And what I'm trying to bring to the table
02:20 is something the brands are looking forward to.
02:22 And what I actually learned from the brands
02:24 is something that's making me comfortable
02:26 in this state of fashion.
02:27 So it's been a really humbling and educating time so far.
02:32 - So can you give us a sense of the environment
02:39 just before the year started?
02:43 How were things?
02:44 I mean, you were just kind of settled into your role
02:47 as the ACO and you just had your first end of reason sale
02:51 and then you have this COVID.
02:54 And then you had the sudden shutdown
02:56 which you never imagined would have happened.
02:58 So how did you kind of navigate
03:00 through that initial period of shock?
03:03 And how are you kind of realigning yourself
03:06 to the new normal in some sense?
03:09 - Sure, so I started with Myntra in January, 2019.
03:13 So it was a good 14 months before COVID hit us.
03:17 And those 14 months, what we have done as Myntra
03:21 is how can we reposition ourselves as an organization
03:24 that can have a sustainable growth towards profitability?
03:28 So we kind of questioned some of the fundamental ways
03:30 of doing business.
03:32 And looking back, those turned out to be
03:36 the right investments because they are more relevant
03:38 in a post-COVID world than ever.
03:41 So some of those investments kind of carried forward
03:44 into this whole unlock 1.0 phase of the organization.
03:49 But when the lockdown actually hit us,
03:52 the first priority for us as an organization,
03:55 which was, it almost came naturally to us
03:58 that the safety of our employees.
04:01 We wanted to make sure all our employees, all our partners,
04:04 and in a way our consumers as well are safe.
04:08 So we quickly had to scramble things to make sure
04:13 all our employees are safe, all our partners are safe,
04:15 and all the packages going out at that time.
04:18 We had to reinvent the ways to make sure
04:20 they are being delivered the safe way.
04:22 And then we went into the lockdown phase
04:24 where we were not operational.
04:26 But the glad part is the organization embraced
04:30 the new ways of working, which is working from home,
04:33 much faster than anybody in the leadership team anticipated.
04:37 In fact, teams were much effective working from home.
04:41 And that's how we were able to put that lockdown time
04:44 into a much effective way of re-imagining the organization.
04:48 In fact, if you look at what Myntra has done
04:50 in those 60 days of lockdown,
04:54 we launched Myntra Studio, we launched Myntra Move,
04:57 we launched content on the platform
04:59 where we could understand what users are looking for
05:02 during the lockdown time,
05:03 which also gave us insights into the kind of selection
05:06 we should be carrying going into Unlock 1.0.
05:10 At the same time, we've also realized
05:12 there was a much higher need for PPEs and masks.
05:16 So we worked with all the brands across the country
05:18 to launch masks on the platform.
05:20 That's how we became operational, actually.
05:22 And when the Unlock 1.0 started,
05:26 we took all those data insights,
05:27 turned into a selection assortment from all the brands.
05:32 In fact, we worked with the brands to match
05:35 what the users were looking for,
05:37 and the brands were quick to iterate on our insights
05:40 and come up with a selection.
05:42 So this ERS event that we just finished last month,
05:47 it was a huge success because for the first time,
05:50 the fast industry sold what consumers were looking for
05:52 than what we wanted to sell.
05:54 And that was possible because of all the data
05:56 and the tech investments we made in the last 14 months,
05:59 and especially in the last two, three months.
06:03 We'll just take a short break and continue.
06:06 Yeah, you spoke of the fact that
06:17 when you took over in January 2019,
06:19 you kind of took a hard look at some of
06:23 the way the business was run,
06:24 and you said the decisions and some of the investments
06:27 that were taken have really paid off.
06:29 So can you give us a sense of what is it that
06:32 you kind of did in that one year period prior to the COVID,
06:37 when you said in terms of realigning some of the decisions
06:42 and the way the business was run?
06:44 So the health of any business can be measured
06:48 from the inventory it holds.
06:51 So we were actually looking at,
06:53 we had a marketplace end of the day,
06:54 and the inventory actually flows through us.
06:57 So we need to relook at our business models
06:59 where we were doing justice to the inventory
07:03 that was flowing through our platform.
07:05 The kind of visibility we gave to the inventory
07:10 on our platform was directly related to the kind of
07:13 sales that we would get on the platform.
07:16 That is only possible if we understand
07:19 our consumers very well.
07:21 So a lot of investments were made to understand
07:24 our consumers more at a granular level.
07:27 And this required us to understand not just the consumer,
07:31 but also the fashion world.
07:33 See the size is not the only criteria in the world of fashion.
07:37 You and I could be wearing the same size,
07:39 but you and I might not be wearing the same fit.
07:42 So it had to go to that level of understanding.
07:44 So we increased our investments into computer vision,
07:47 understanding the fashion element,
07:49 and understanding the consumer.
07:51 What we were able to achieve was a better understanding
07:54 of our consumer, which became incredibly advantageous
07:59 to us during the lockdown.
08:01 During the lockdown, we were one of the first to realize
08:03 that there will be need for work from home essentials.
08:06 There will be need for lounge wear,
08:07 there will be need for comfort wear.
08:09 There will be need for do it yourself mask,
08:12 not the mask, the face mask that comes
08:15 as part of the beauty product.
08:17 Do it yourself hair thing, do it yourself skin
08:20 kind of product.
08:22 And we were quickly able to translate these insights
08:24 to actionable for the brand partners.
08:26 And they were able to get the selection.
08:28 So if you think of it, the way the investments we looked
08:31 at was, how do we understand the consumer mode
08:34 and how do we translate these insights
08:38 into actionable things for the brands to work on.
08:43 The second thing that we also worked on
08:46 is on a consumer experience side.
08:49 If you look at it, I'm not talking
08:51 about consumer experience on the app side,
08:53 it's a consumer experience when it comes
08:55 to delivery of things.
08:56 We looked at what are the ways we can augment
09:00 the offline behavior, because most of our target segment
09:04 was still buying from offline.
09:05 So we looked at some of the fundamental things
09:08 that were missing in the online space.
09:09 For example, almost two in three jeans
09:13 that were getting written on the platform
09:15 was for longer length.
09:16 Everything else was right, it's just a longer length.
09:20 In an offline space, if you walk into any store,
09:23 they would alter it for you.
09:25 But as an online payer, we were not doing it.
09:27 So we were one of the first ones to introduce alteration
09:29 at the doorstep.
09:30 So you don't have to return it,
09:31 we will actually alter it for you.
09:34 We also tried to experience stores across all the tech parks
09:37 where the consumers were having a problem.
09:41 I mean, this is a place where you work
09:43 and you probably cannot step out
09:45 when our delivery agent is carrying the packet
09:47 outside of your office.
09:49 So we wanted to take away that kind of hazard
09:51 and we went with experience stores
09:53 where the packet will be in your tech park experience store
09:56 for two days, and it's up to you to actually pick it up.
09:59 And when you're picking it up,
10:00 it also has a dressing room where you can try it
10:03 right then right there.
10:04 If you don't like it, you can return it.
10:05 If it is about alteration, there is a tailor also
10:07 in the experience store, you can do it.
10:09 So there were a bunch of things
10:11 that we looked at our business and we said,
10:13 here are the reasons why people are not coming online.
10:15 And what can we do from the technology side,
10:18 from the operation side to augment for the offline gap.
10:22 At the same time, we also looked at how we can partner
10:25 with the offline stores more.
10:27 In fact, one of the biggest paradigm shifts
10:29 we did as an online business is,
10:31 it's no longer about online versus offline.
10:34 The future is actually about online plus offline.
10:36 It's actually both the parties coming together.
10:39 So one of the major investments we did last year
10:41 was Omni-channel integration,
10:43 where we started working with a lot of brand partners
10:46 and the orders that we were taking,
10:49 especially in cities like Bangalore,
10:51 the orders were getting delivered directly from the stores.
10:54 So it just takes away a lot of time and travel
10:58 for the product and it can actually reach you faster
11:00 because it's coming from a store nearby.
11:03 And guess what happened in Unlock 1.0.
11:05 When we did the EOS event,
11:07 we had 400 stores participating in the event.
11:10 And most of the stores actually made up for the loss
11:13 because of the shutdown they experienced
11:14 in the first two months of lockdown.
11:17 So some of these investments are already showing the benefits
11:20 and validating that our strategy is in the right direction.
11:24 And all of this is actually making us believe
11:26 that e-commerce is probably the only business model
11:28 that was always built for a post-COVID world.
11:32 - Yeah.
11:32 So that part that you said about the Omni-channel,
11:36 and the kind of stores that kind of participated
11:38 in this end of reason sale,
11:40 can you give us a sense of,
11:43 what was the key driver that you kind of focused on
11:48 to ensure that this really played to your expectation
11:54 in the sense that in 2019 also,
11:59 under you, you had the first end of reason sale.
12:02 So how was the feedback from that?
12:05 And taking that, how were you kind of,
12:07 since this you're talking in a lockdown phase
12:11 and coming out of it, where you are talking
12:13 of demand destruction, job losses, salaries being cut.
12:18 So was that some kind of a relook into pricing,
12:23 into categories, markets, and you know,
12:28 said that let's kind of ensure that the sale really works.
12:33 - Sure.
12:34 So first things first, like I said,
12:37 our top focus was the safety of our employees
12:41 and the wellbeing of our employees,
12:43 because that is the first thing that gave us confidence
12:46 that our employees are well taken care.
12:49 Now we can even think of doing an event of this size.
12:51 In fact, when COVID hit us,
12:54 we were in the middle of our appraisal cycles.
12:56 When we went into shutdown,
12:58 we were in the middle of calibrations,
13:00 and there was this big question across the organization
13:03 where what will happen to their appraisals,
13:05 what will happen to their hikes, bonuses, promotions,
13:08 and everything.
13:09 We as an organization, we decided to go ahead
13:11 with the appraisals and with COVID never happened.
13:14 In fact, we just stuck to our ways of doing calibrations
13:19 in terms of the hikes, promotions, bonuses.
13:25 And that was one thing we just took off
13:26 the everyone's list of problems.
13:31 The second thing was the safety of our employees
13:33 where we made sure their wellbeing is taken care.
13:35 In fact, we're one of the organizations
13:38 which started with all the online sessions for our employees.
13:41 In fact, we were telling our employees
13:44 to stay away from work.
13:46 It's the other way.
13:47 We were asking employees to please take some time off
13:49 from work, do yoga, do meditation.
13:52 We even had counseling sessions for parents
13:54 with young kids, first time parents, expecting parents.
13:58 We even had a couple of employees
13:59 who got married during COVID.
14:01 So we gave all the kind of assistance.
14:03 We had doctor on call.
14:05 So whatever we could do for our employees
14:07 and we are still continuing to do it.
14:08 The reason why I'm saying that this was the first
14:10 and a very critical investment we as an organization
14:14 did into our employee wellbeing.
14:16 This kind of gave us the momentum
14:17 to go into an event like this.
14:19 And what we also experienced during the lockdown
14:22 from the data on the platform,
14:24 when we launched the content on the platform,
14:26 we were getting users onto the platform.
14:28 That gave us enough data to understand
14:30 what users were looking for.
14:31 So when we were trying to put together an event,
14:34 this time we put together an event
14:36 with a very clear view of selection in mind.
14:39 This is what India is going to need in the lockdown
14:42 and the lockdown is not going to go away.
14:44 The work from home is going to continue.
14:46 So the event assortment should actually look differently
14:51 from the previous one.
14:52 Based on that, we took all kinds of bets and plans.
14:57 So we communicated this to our brand partners
14:59 who were again, I mean, they did a fantastic job
15:02 of getting the election together in such a short time
15:06 and making this selection happen.
15:08 The second thing was we did take a bet on tier two, tier three.
15:13 Every time we did an event,
15:15 tier two, tier three participated very well.
15:17 But this time, our bet was on the new customers
15:20 we would be acquiring from tier two, tier three.
15:23 Again, the reason is the tier two, tier three's access
15:26 to premium products was the nearby metro tier one cities,
15:29 which the guys used to travel once in a month
15:33 or once in two months.
15:35 But with all the travel restrictions,
15:36 that access has been cut down.
15:38 So it became very obvious that Mintra would be
15:41 the only choice for premium products.
15:44 And whatever the apprehensions they had of shopping online
15:48 would be overcome with this pandemic situation.
15:52 So that's what we want to take it into advantage.
15:54 So we also made a selection much closer
15:57 towards tier two, tier three liking,
16:01 which is more of ethnic wear,
16:02 more of kids wear and all of that.
16:04 So all of these bets kind of played out very well for us.
16:07 If you look at just the consumer's perspective,
16:09 one in two users came from tier two, tier three,
16:11 or one in two orders came from tier two, tier three.
16:14 But of all the tier two, tier three users
16:16 that came to the platform,
16:17 87% of them were new customers to the platform.
16:20 So it played out in a very big way
16:23 that we have finally penetrated into tier two, tier three,
16:26 which was always a challenge for us as a premium platform.
16:30 So that's one thing that happened.
16:31 Second thing, the kind of selection that we took
16:33 was very well received by our consumers.
16:36 In fact, we were out of stock in many categories
16:39 during the event.
16:42 That also played out very well.
16:43 The third thing, the entire event was put together
16:47 by our employees working from home.
16:50 Which was, if anybody told me this before COVID
16:53 that we can do an event of this size working from home,
16:56 I would have not believed it.
16:58 But it kind of happened now.
17:00 And the reason why I'm saying this is,
17:01 this is because of the empathy and compassion
17:06 the organization had in the beginning for our employees.
17:08 So all of these investments kind of came together
17:10 and made this event happen for us.
17:12 - We'll just take a short break and we'll be back.
17:16 (upbeat music)
17:18 (upbeat music)
17:21 - RR Gifting, gifting for memorable brands, all out.
17:27 - So in this, you spoke also of lot of offline brands
17:32 also participating in this sale.
17:34 So was it like, inventory clearance obviously
17:38 would have been one part of it.
17:39 And how much did pricing really play
17:42 for you to get that hook from that tier two
17:45 and tier three towns?
17:48 Was the pricing actually lower than the last year's
17:52 end of season sale?
17:53 Where was the bulk of the inventory kind of focused on
17:57 or the sale that was focused on?
18:00 - As a market place, we don't control the pricing.
18:05 It's actually the brands that control the pricing
18:09 for their consumers.
18:10 So it would be hard for us to say at the platform level
18:13 if the discounting was lower or higher.
18:15 But what I can actually say is,
18:18 the cold actually hit us in the middle
18:22 of a spring summer season.
18:23 So the kind of inventory that went on sale
18:27 during the event was actually in season selection.
18:31 It's not an old season selection.
18:32 So the brands were also conscious about
18:34 the kind of discounting they were doing.
18:37 So, and the other side of the story is
18:40 the demand was very well up there.
18:41 It was a latent demand, but it was a pent up demand
18:43 that existed.
18:44 So there was no need to do a heavy discounting
18:47 from the brand side as well.
18:49 So what we did as a platform was we kind of brought
18:52 the demand and the supply together
18:54 in the most effective way from the geography,
18:56 from the territories that the brands didn't have access to.
18:59 So that's the role we played in it.
19:01 - Okay.
19:03 So can you give us a sense of,
19:06 what is the numbers in terms of order size?
19:12 What was the average order size that you saw
19:16 this time around vis-a-vis the last year
19:19 for each categories?
19:22 Was it higher?
19:22 Was it lower?
19:23 - The order size, I would say was a little higher
19:26 than last year, not as much as
19:29 the kind of the demand that we saw.
19:35 The reason is the category mix changed this time.
19:38 What was sold in the last event was occasion led fashion,
19:42 which usually comes with a high price tag.
19:45 This time it was more about lounge wear,
19:47 comfort wear, leisure wear, kids wear,
19:51 which are lower size tag items,
19:53 but it was kind of complimented by
19:55 or augmented by the number of items
19:57 they were putting into the basket.
19:59 So in a way the basket size remained the same,
20:02 whereas the number of quantity,
20:04 the number of items in the basket went up significantly.
20:07 So next night the basket size was
20:11 slightly above what it was last year.
20:15 But what is exciting for us is the number of items
20:19 the new consumers also purchased from Mintra.
20:22 It was significantly, it was almost 2X of what
20:25 a new customer was buying pre-COVID.
20:27 - Okay.
20:29 So as you said that you were looking at this
20:34 sort of pushing this Omni-channel strategy,
20:37 but now that we clearly aren't yet out of
20:40 the unlock phase and we really don't really know
20:44 how demand will eventually play out,
20:47 and now we are stepping into in some months
20:49 the fashion months, I mean the festival months.
20:54 So how are you kind of talking to your brands?
20:58 What's the kind of sense that you're getting
21:01 speaking to some of the established brands
21:04 in terms of demand, in terms of pricing?
21:07 How are they viewing the whole situation?
21:10 - I think what COVID has done to our relationship
21:13 with the brands is they're now more strategic
21:15 than they were in the past.
21:17 Together we are looking at the demand,
21:20 together we are actually coming up with the plans
21:22 of what we should be holding,
21:24 what we should be doing in terms of selection
21:28 for these seasons, upcoming seasons.
21:31 So this dialogue is making both the parties more effective.
21:35 We are actually reacting to the demand
21:38 rather than actually taking a supply into a market
21:40 and expecting it to be picked up.
21:42 So that's a very welcoming change in the world of fashion.
21:46 If you actually take a macro view to this,
21:49 this would eventually address the excess inventory
21:52 the industry has always been dealing with.
21:54 If we're able to actually scale it up,
21:56 react to the demand as fast as we can
21:58 and go to an on-demand manufacturing,
22:00 fashion industry would be soon solving the problem
22:05 that the industry has been dealing with
22:07 for a very, very long time.
22:09 So that's what's happening.
22:10 Now coming to a very specific next two, three months,
22:14 what we are doing is not different
22:15 from what we've been doing in the last two, three months.
22:17 We're taking our insights, taking to the brands,
22:19 making sure our plans are in place
22:21 and making sure we get the right selection
22:24 onto the platform.
22:25 So the biggest focus as a retailer
22:29 and the biggest focus for any brand right now
22:32 is to understand the consumer more
22:34 and that's what's happening.
22:36 - So the understanding is largely aimed
22:39 at getting the pricing right or this is just trying to--
22:42 - Okay.
22:46 - When the kids wear is picking up traction,
22:50 the beauty in beauty, the do it yourself,
22:52 kids are picking up traction.
22:54 Home decor is picking up traction.
22:56 Now that people are getting more time at home,
22:58 they're finally doing their home.
23:00 Fitness at home is picking up traction, yoga mats,
23:05 fitness wear, all of this is picking up traction.
23:07 So we're actually passing all this interest
23:10 ahead of time to the brand
23:11 so that they can be ready with the selection.
23:13 In terms of pricing, the brands are also conscious
23:16 of the macroeconomic situation across the board
23:20 and accordingly pricing the thing.
23:23 So I think brands are doing a brilliant job
23:25 of keeping the supply at a much affordable value
23:30 to the consumer.
23:33 - So in your own case, how are you managing?
23:36 So we have seen a lot of businesses
23:37 like taking some very hard calls of slashing manpower,
23:42 curtailing heights and in some cases also
23:48 taking some cuts at the top level
23:52 and as well as at the mid management level.
23:54 So how are you kind of looking at this whole cost control
23:59 and getting the efficiencies right
24:01 in this particular phase?
24:04 - Well, that's what I was talking about.
24:07 Ever since I started with Myntra in June 2019,
24:12 our focus was to take the organization
24:15 towards a sustainable path towards profitability.
24:19 And that also involves looking at
24:21 the way we've been doing things
24:23 in terms of our operations,
24:24 in terms of all the the offsets
24:28 that we've been having as an organization
24:30 and trying to look at what are all the efficiencies
24:33 we can get from it.
24:34 So that is continuing for us.
24:36 It did not get quite impacted by COVID.
24:39 Thankfully, like I said, e-commerce is one business model
24:43 which looks like it was always built for post COVID.
24:47 So we're doing phenomenally well in the post COVID world,
24:51 but that doesn't mean that we will lose the sight
24:53 on our efficiency.
24:54 We being a tech organization,
24:56 we are actually throwing tech at the problem
24:58 rather than headset the problem.
25:00 So that's what we are looking at.
25:01 In terms of job sets and all of it,
25:04 fortunately, we don't have to do it.
25:06 We were staffed the right way even before COVID
25:09 and that will continue to happen.
25:12 We are one of the very few organizations in the country
25:15 who are still hiring
25:16 because there are certain investments we are accelerating.
25:19 Like Omni was one investment which got accelerated.
25:22 Myntra Studio, which is a content platform
25:24 that is getting accelerated.
25:26 In terms of the size and fit as an initiative,
25:30 we are actually working on a tech solution,
25:33 which again will require a lot of data sciences
25:36 and engineering talent to come on board.
25:39 So in terms of our hiring, our plans are going ahead.
25:41 Our investments haven't stopped down.
25:44 In fact, they've only become more intense
25:47 given there's a much bigger need for these investments
25:50 to be productized as early or as soon as we can.
25:54 In terms of efficiencies,
25:56 what we have embarked on a year ago,
26:00 they're still continuing.
26:01 We're looking at ways to become a more efficient organization
26:04 and a much effective
26:06 in terms of what we deliver to our consumers.
26:09 - So being part of Flipkart,
26:15 that whole ecosystem of being part of a startup
26:19 and now being part of Walmart,
26:21 has there been any change in terms of approach,
26:24 in terms of doing things,
26:26 in terms of culture, people, culture, work culture?
26:29 Has there been any significant change
26:31 that you have seen
26:32 or being part of two different entities?
26:37 - No, Walmart has always given us the complete space
26:44 to operate the way we've been doing.
26:46 And Walmart has been clear from day one
26:48 that there is a reason why Flipkart is Flipkart,
26:51 because of its culture
26:52 and because of how things have been doing.
26:54 And the same thing applies to Myntra as well.
26:57 Myntra's culture is unique.
26:59 And actually, I'm one of those very few lucky ones
27:03 who have experienced Flipkart culture and Myntra culture,
27:05 and both have their own uniqueness
27:08 in terms of the culture
27:09 and the values they bring to the table.
27:10 While the underlying core values are the same,
27:15 the way they get manifested in the organization
27:18 are very unique to what these two organizations do.
27:21 And we're very clear that the last thing we want to touch
27:24 is anything that is already working for the organization.
27:27 What Walmart brought to us as a business
27:31 is a more systemic and sustainable way
27:35 of looking at problem statement.
27:37 And in fact, the journey that I was talking about,
27:40 how do we become a more sustainable
27:43 and profitable organization?
27:45 It's not a direction we're taking Walmart,
27:47 but ever since we embarked on it,
27:48 Walmart has been supporting us a lot
27:50 because they've been there, done that,
27:53 seen that they have all the experience in the world
27:55 to help us guide through the right thing.
27:57 So it's a huge advantage for us as a Flipkart group
28:01 to always rely on Walmart for any help or any guidance.
28:06 In terms of the recent changes we've done,
28:09 we've realized that tier two, tier three
28:12 is going to be a big market for us.
28:14 And the only thing that can limit us
28:16 from going in tier two, tier three
28:18 is our inability to penetrate these three schools.
28:21 And during the lockdown, we decided that
28:25 let's leverage Flipkart e-cart,
28:26 which has already been very strong in tier two, tier three.
28:29 And right before the event,
28:31 we were already working with e-cart
28:34 and the kind of demand we saw from tier two, tier three
28:37 in the event, it would have not been possible
28:39 if it wasn't for Flipkart e-cart.
28:42 So we're looking at the synergies across the group
28:44 and even with the Walmart group, wherever we can.
28:47 And there is a high level commitment
28:50 all the way from Walmart board to us,
28:52 wherever we need help,
28:54 they're willing to help us navigate
28:56 through the current times and current challenges.
28:59 - So like you're saying that, Mintra,
29:03 like it's more like a marketplace,
29:05 but is that also a conscious strategy
29:08 that you would also be looking at private labels
29:10 becoming a core part of the way you will grow in future?
29:17 - Yes, that's true.
29:20 I'll actually give you the context
29:21 on why we went down the path of private labels.
29:24 When we started looking at all the consumer data,
29:28 when we started looking at all the fashion consumption
29:30 in the country,
29:31 we got a digital first company.
29:34 So we were quickly able to identify the white spaces
29:36 in the market, which were not addressed
29:39 by any existing brands,
29:42 by any existing established brands.
29:44 Let me put it that way,
29:45 because Mintra is always a premium platform.
29:47 That's when we decided that we could serve the space better
29:52 if nobody else is serving the space.
29:53 And that's how these brands actually came into existence.
29:57 With all the expertise we have built
29:59 in the world of fashion,
30:00 and with the right kind of tech investments
30:05 we've been doing into this,
30:06 we were able to actually work on these brands
30:09 which are addressing a very specific white space
30:12 in the market.
30:13 And that is the reason why these brands have grown
30:15 significantly in last three, four years,
30:18 because of the right kind of tech investment
30:23 and the right kind of consumer product match
30:26 that we were able to do on the platform.
30:28 - Can you give us a sense of what's the contribution
30:31 right now from the private labels?
30:34 And also give us a sense of how did this whole year,
30:38 the just concluded financial year,
30:41 ended at what levels of top line?
30:44 - Well, I'm sorry, I cannot give the exact numbers,
30:48 but all I can say is it's contributing significantly
30:52 to the selection that we carry.
30:54 In fact, if you look at the URS selection,
30:56 the platform was carrying 700, 700 to 750,000 styles,
31:03 all of which 150,000 styles came from in-house brands.
31:06 So you can imagine the kind of share
31:09 the in-house brands have in terms of the selection
31:13 and the assortment we give to the consumers.
31:15 And the fresh season and the inside season
31:19 is where the in-house brands do a fantastic job
31:23 because we do more of the insight-led design.
31:28 And we try to keep it very, very reactive
31:32 to what's happening in the world of fashion.
31:35 So most of the selection that you see
31:38 from our in-house brands are very friendly
31:41 and very in-season selection.
31:43 - Okay, and is there a particular pricing strategy
31:46 that you follow with your private labels?
31:50 - That is the white space that we talked about.
31:53 And it comes with a pricing strategy.
31:55 So we start with that as an input.
31:57 We looked at the entire gamut of the fashion space
32:01 in the country in each category.
32:03 And we looked at the white spaces.
32:06 And then we asked ourselves, can we do something
32:09 qualitatively in this space that is available in the market?
32:14 So the pricing comes with it.
32:17 - So what's the range like, the private labels
32:20 that you tend to-
32:22 - We have very premium level products also.
32:27 In ethnic wear, if you look at House of Patori,
32:30 they are very premium.
32:32 They also have a starting range from 1200.
32:34 We have a 10,000 rupee sherwani to a 1200 rupee kursa.
32:39 So wherever the white spaces are, we address the white space.
32:44 Same with HRX.
32:46 We have the HRX gear going from 999 all the way to 3,999.
32:51 Wherever the space is, we are addressing the space.
32:55 - Okay, okay.
32:57 So going ahead, how do you look,
33:01 FY21 is going to look like.
33:03 I mean, we have already seen quite everyone saying
33:05 that FY21 is a complete washout
33:07 for most manufacturing.
33:09 But for you as a fashion retailer,
33:12 is that going to be the case?
33:14 Or will you end up at the same number or maybe higher?
33:17 Because since you already had an end of season sale,
33:21 and what categories do you see
33:24 where more demand could come in?
33:26 Can you give us a sense of that?
33:28 - Sure.
33:30 End of season sale was always on the calendar, by the way.
33:34 We just decided to go ahead with the calendar
33:37 instead of actually disturbing it.
33:40 In terms of our plans, this year we'll plan differently
33:43 from the plans we had pre-COVID,
33:46 especially from the kind of the categories
33:49 and the selection that we will be having on the platform
33:52 compared to what we were planning to have pre-COVID.
33:55 But in terms of business, we are very optimistic
33:56 about how this COVID is going to get more
34:00 and more consumers towards e-commerce.
34:02 And our investments towards making offline
34:05 and online come together will also help us
34:09 to become a very strategic player for the brand
34:12 in months to come and years to come.
34:14 So in a way, this year is going to be
34:16 that changing point for fashion e-commerce
34:21 in the country for sure.
34:23 - So can you give us a sense
34:25 of how many established brands are there
34:28 on the platform now?
34:29 And are you seeing more and more newer brands
34:32 trying to partner with you,
34:35 given the environment that we are in,
34:37 that most of them cannot open their shops
34:39 and they are not very clear on which way footfalls,
34:43 how the footfalls is eventually turn out to be?
34:46 So can you give us a sense of some of...
34:50 - Sure.
34:51 Pre-COVID, we had a little over 3000 brands
34:54 on the platform.
34:56 Out of which 200 were global and Indian leading brands.
35:01 Just in last two, three months,
35:06 we have onboarded close to 60 new brands.
35:08 And most of these conversations happened
35:13 starting from the brand side.
35:14 This is a big welcoming thing for us
35:18 as a fashion e-commerce player,
35:20 where now the brands have realized
35:22 that they need to be associated with additional players.
35:26 And what is also making this relationship stronger
35:30 is our willingness to help them technologically.
35:35 So we are becoming a fashion tech player for them.
35:38 This omnichannel integration is something
35:41 that would enable their stores also do very well
35:44 in these constrained world.
35:47 So that's how this whole relationship is changing.
35:49 And the dialogue with the brands these days
35:52 is at a very strategic level
35:53 rather than at a transaction level.
35:56 And that is very, very important for us,
35:58 for the industry as well, to survive this pandemic.
36:02 - Okay.
36:04 So we have seen quite a bit of boutique,
36:08 online retailers kind of struggle now that
36:14 because of COVID and their saddled inventory.
36:17 And also do you see the possibility
36:20 of some kind of consolidations
36:21 or would Myntra look at an interesting acquisitions
36:25 or in fact, did you get any such proposals on your table
36:30 where there are online retailers
36:36 who would like to get sold out?
36:39 - Well, the proposals always came our way
36:44 and the lens we always apply to these proposals is
36:48 how is this going to help our vision?
36:50 How is this going to help our mission towards profitability?
36:54 And that hasn't changed because of COVID.
36:58 Like I said, our focus in the post COVID world
37:02 or post lockdown has been to understand the consumer
37:07 and make sure we get the right kind of selection
37:09 and assortment and experience for our consumers.
37:12 So anything that can come together with us
37:15 to make this mission statement stronger, we are open to.
37:19 - Okay.
37:22 So, but any conversations going on as of now or nothing?
37:26 - We do have a couple of fashion tech players
37:29 that we are talking to,
37:31 who've been working on AR, VR technologies,
37:36 especially with fitting room becoming
37:41 a safety apprehension.
37:44 They're looking at AR, VR ways of digital trial.
37:48 So we're looking at some players
37:50 and we are in active conversations with these players.
37:53 - Okay.
37:54 And in terms of dry powder capital that's needed for,
37:58 are you sufficiently funded, well capitalized
38:02 for the next couple of years
38:03 or do you need more money coming in from the parent?
38:07 - We are very well positioned with respect to capital
38:10 and yeah, we are all set to work going towards an idea.
38:15 - Okay.
38:19 By when can we expect that?
38:20 - We will be letting the world know very, very soon.
38:26 - So that just before we kind of wrap this up,
38:29 this you're saying that the journey towards profitability.
38:34 So how soon is it FY21, FY22,
38:36 when are we going to see that run towards profitability?
38:41 - It definitely got expedited because of COVID.
38:46 We will be touching that milestone
38:48 sooner than we had in the plan.
38:49 But we will soon be telling,
38:53 actually we will be telling the world
38:54 when we become profitable.
38:56 Trust me, that will be big news.
38:59 - I have just two questions from the audience.
39:02 One is from Harni Loza,
39:04 is the founder and CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem.
39:07 His question is that,
39:08 is this the moment, the turning point
39:11 for Mobile First Strategy to gain momentum?
39:13 Now that businesses have been hit.
39:16 So wanted a view on that.
39:19 - The Mobile First Strategy happened in 2016
39:21 and Mintra and Flipkart were the first ones to do it
39:23 and that's one of the reasons why
39:25 we enjoy the leadership today in mobile commerce.
39:28 We're already in it.
39:32 - So no, I'm saying that is for them,
39:34 they are just asking that,
39:35 is that now the turning point,
39:39 especially now that we are talking of
39:42 a pre-COVID kind of scenario?
39:46 - In terms of consumers, the mobile commerce,
39:51 turning point for mobile commerce,
39:53 yes, it's definitely going to be a much bigger one.
39:57 In terms of what,
39:59 there will be more users coming onto the platform,
40:02 there will be more geographies
40:05 coming onto the platform for sure.
40:08 So that's definitely a turning point.
40:09 - And there's one more from Mr. Vukul Vasish,
40:13 he's the director of RR Solutions.
40:15 His question is,
40:16 what strategies do you think businesses should adopt
40:19 to manage overhead costs of ensuring employee safety
40:22 and wellbeing as the economy eventually opens up
40:26 for business?
40:26 How do companies kind of think?
40:30 - That's what I said in the beginning also, right?
40:31 In terms of being empathetic and being compassionate,
40:36 this is the time to be.
40:39 And for us as an organization,
40:41 we made sure we put employee safety
40:43 at the center of everything,
40:44 and we made sure their wellbeing
40:46 is also our priority for us.
40:48 And this turned out to be, like I said,
40:50 the EOS even would have not been possible
40:51 if it wasn't for the kind of investment
40:54 we made into our employees.
40:56 So my answer is that this is the time
41:01 we need to come together as an organization
41:04 and the rest will fall in place.
41:06 - Okay, thanks a lot, Amar,
41:09 for that interesting session with TravelFlow Business,
41:13 and hope to be in touch with you soon.
41:16 - Thank you. - Thank you.
41:17 Thank you.
41:18 (upbeat music)
41:20 (whooshing)