How AI is shaping the future of fashion e-commerce

'Whether it's international brands, new categories and cohorts like D2C or GenZ, or tech adoption and evolution, Myntra has continued to innovate and expand the market.'

At a time when competition in the fashion retail industry is intensifying as new players emerge, Myntra Chief Executive Officer Nandita Sinha said the online fashion retailer continues to grow ahead of the market.

In a telephonic interview with Peerzada Abrar/Business Standard, Sinha shared that Myntra reached 70 million monthly active users during the festival season, and its GenZ customer base doubled in one year.

She also mentioned the launch of M-Now, which enables shoppers to receive their orders in about 30 minutes, and the feature is expected to scale to over 100,000 styles in the next three to four months.

How do you feel about the overall growth trajectory for the company?

It is looking good. Overall, we have invested in new capabilities, and that's where we also see much of our future growth coming from.

International brands have had a very good four or five quarters, and it's also been great in terms of onboarding new brands and building new categories.

FWD, our dedicated shopping alley for GenZ and the direct-to-consumer (D2C) sector, has also been a great enabler of trends and fashion for our customers.

All of this, coupled with the launch of M-Now, is set to be one of the drivers of growth for us.

Together with the brands, M-Now will play a transformative role in advancing our collective mission to expand fashion possibilities and reshape India's lifestyle shopping experience.

We continue to grow ahead of the market. We also reached 70 million monthly active users during this festival season, which is another great milestone for us.

What are your expansion plans?

We piloted M-Now last month and have now launched the proposition in Bengaluru. We are also looking at expanding to other cities.

I think this really answers the needs of customers, especially post-pandemic, as two major behaviours have emerged from consumers.

First, the shopping intent for various occasions has increased, leading to a rise in diverse fashion needs.

Whether shoppers were going to work, parties, vacations, weddings, or festivals, there were many different shopping occasions, and they became more frequent.

Second, trends are always changing, and the need to adapt and cater to the evolving demands of trend-first fashion while delivering quickly has become more important.

We launched M-Express, our 24-48 hour delivery, a couple of years ago. We realised that as we shortened delivery times, new need states and new customer cohorts emerged, with a clear demand for brand- and trend-first fashion within a day.

That's how we launched M-Now, with about 10,000 styles delivered within 30 minutes.

How do you see quick commerce evolving in the country now?

It depends on the needs of the customer and how they are responding to it. We have seen great customer response since the launch.

I do think what we are building is quite unique in terms of the range of selection that we, as Myntra, offer.

We are looking to scale the selection up to 100,000 styles in the next three to four months, leveraging the wide portfolio of brands we have, in addition to tapping into our omnichannel technology and scaling the service to other cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, and others in the coming months.

It's faster delivery of fashion at scale, and it is purely governed by the needs of customers.

The fashion retail market is facing tough competition. How is Myntra performing among all the fashion platforms as new players emerge, and is it in a leadership position now?

For Myntra, if you look at our last two years, we have largely evolved according to the needs of our customers.

Whether it's international brands, new categories and cohorts like D2C or GenZ, or tech adoption and evolution, we have continued to innovate and expand the market.

We continue to grow ahead of the market in the e-commerce space, and that's where we see our innovation truly playing out. We want to innovate for fashion, and that has kept us in good stead.

Also, for nearly two decades, our long-standing and deep associations with leading brands have defined the contours of the Indian fashion landscape and created access to trendy styles across categories.

With M-Now, we are making branded and trend-first fashion accessible to our customers at a faster speed. We reached 70 million monthly active users during this festival season, and our GenZ customer base doubled in one year.

So if you look at the customer numbers, we are tapping into all of the relevant segments.

What are your strategies to maintain this leadership, considering it has become very competitive?

One way to look at it is that when the market is competitive, it means there is potential for growth, which makes it attractive to multiple players.

The second strategy is to really focus on what your strength is.

What are you known for to the customer? For us, we are known for our unique selection, including premium and international trend-first brands, as well as our great fashion experience, from discovery to purchase.

Finally, if the customer is moving towards a need for higher speed in order fulfilment, we will solve that.

There is competition because the market is attractive, and we have found our place in the market based on our strengths and customer requirements.

What are the trends that you expect to emerge that will shape online fashion shopping?

I think the one big thing that we are continuing to see is the rise of GenZ shoppers or people born between the late 1990s and early 2010s.

They are becoming a vital part of the shopping customer base, especially in categories like fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.

Their needs are very different from their millennial counterparts. How businesses build for them will be a major trend.

We also expect to see a lot of trend-first shopping from all cohorts. There will be faster dissemination of trends across the market.

For example, if oversized T-shirts or cargos are trending globally on social media, you will quickly see them trickle down into India at a much faster pace across age groups.

I also believe that whether it's beauty or accessories, they will continue to evolve, as there is room for growth.

We will continue to build new propositions for customers, driven by where their needs are headed.

How do you see the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping the future of fashion e-commerce?

We continue to do things based on inspiration and aspiration. For example, we have built MyFashionGPT, an AI-powered feature on the Myntra app that helps users find new styles and looks.

We also have Maya, our AI-powered fashion assistant. We will continue to ensure that our customer experience grows by leveraging AI tools, both pre- and post-purchase.

Fashion shopping is aspirational, and these shopping cohorts demand a great fashion shopping experience.

This can range from creating a virtual trial room for customers to offering inspiration through videos, with features like Myntra Minis.

If I'm buying lipstick and I want to know how it looks on me, we have the virtual try-on tool for that.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com