Myntra signs on Chemistry and AKS; Targeting online sales

As part of a new initiative, Myntra announces the launch of its Accelerator Program. Through this initiative, Myntra is looking at forging strategic partnerships with about 10-15 local fashion brands that have a strong founding team and unique design sensibility.

The program is designed to accelerate growth of these brands through technical, know how, analytics and branding support from Myntra.

As a part of this program, Myntra has signed partnerships with two brands, Chemistry and AKS and has five more brands in the pipeline. Chemistry is a trendy fashion brand for women, who want to stand apart from generic fashion. With a reach of about half a million customers at present, its association with Myntra through the Accelerator program is expected to take it to 3 million customers in the next 3 years.

AKS is an ethnic wear brand for the modern day Indian women. The brand’s strong product value proposition has helped it scale to a $6 million annual GMV in 3 years. Under Accelerator, it is expected to witness a growth of 10X over the next 3 years.

Speaking on the occasion, Ananth Narayanan, CEO, Myntra-Jabong, said, “We believe that the next 3-5 years will see the emergence of many new national brands. As the leaders in the fashion & lifestyle space in India, Myntra and Jabong are well positioned to work closely with some of these emerging brands to propel them to the national stage.

The brands will be able to leverage our core strengths – largest mass premium customer base and data driven insights on consumer, while also getting operational support.  We are looking at creating about $ 1 billion incremental valuation for the Myntra Accelerator brands over the next 3 years. We look forward to working with the best of Indian entrepreneurial talent in the brand building space”

Sunil Jhangiani, CEO Chemistry said, “Being an offline brand with a strong foundation, our association with Myntra opens up a new world of opportunities for us in terms of reach, visibility and volumes through the online channel. Myntra’s expertise in building successful online brands over the years, backed by strong technological support will aid us in shaping the future of Chemistry and establishing it as one of the foremost fashion brands in the country. We expect the online sales to become 50% of the brand sales in 3-5 years”

Nidhi Yadav, Founder, AKS added, “As an online-first brand, we started small with a passion for design and identity. By associating with Myntra, we are taking the first major step towards creating a national brand. Myntra’s ability to build brands through digital marketing, capture and provide insights on customer behavior and enable reach to 8 million+ women shoppers will be a game changer for our brand.  ”

With successful in-house brands such as Roadster and HRX, Myntra has the know-how of creating brands that have the potential to be category leaders. An online-first approach ensures that brands scale much faster and at better economies compared to an offline model. Through this program Myntra will help partners to build their brand online through Myntra and Jabong and also leverage data from the 18 million monthly active users to get insights on customer behavior and product assortments.