Myntra is piloting a technology that will enable it to access inventories in warehouses or the stores of various brands, including Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe and Puma, to be able to ship products to consumers from the nearest possible locations, including the brands’ own outlets.
Myntra is technologically bringing stores and warehouses of 10 major brands on its platform to give real-time access to consumers to merchandise that are closer to them for faster delivery from nearby outlets or distribution centres.
It is using geo-tagging, a technique that allows companies to identify sellers close to the buyer, thereby cutting delivery time and logistics cost.”You take all the warehouses and distribution points of the brands and make them available for both forward and backward (shipment),” said Ananth Narayanan, chief executive of Myntra, adding the company could use the distribution centres and outlets for reverse pickup of return which has a more than 20% rate in fashion e-commerce.
“For forward, it is you who geo-tag the customer and show the inventory that is live, that is closest to the person. So the delivery is faster and they could see the full variety,” he said.
Currently, Myntra uses geo-tagging technology to target specific buyers in various cities. For instance, buyers of winter clothes in Delhi will get different options in heavy winter clothing compared to someone shopping from Bengaluru with lighter winter wear choices. Narayanan said delivery from warehouses and outlets of brands will start from February and Myntra is currently piloting with two brands.
The country’s largest fashion ecommerce operator, that had acquired its rival Jabong for $70 million in July, sells more than 2,000 fashion and lifestyle brands including Nike, Adidas, Puma, Levis, Wrangler, Diesel, CAT, Harley Davidson, Ferrari, Timberland, US Polo, FabIndia, Biba among dozens of other local and global labels.
At present, most of the sellers send their consignments to Myntra-run warehouses and the Bengaluru company then ships those packets to consumers throughout the country. With the new arrangement, companies can ship directly from their warehouses and stores once orders come through Myntra’s platform.
“With the scale and reach we have, suddenly a lot of their inventories become live to a lot of people,” Narayanan said. “Assume a brand has 200 stores and 20 warehouses, and now, apart from what I sell regularly on Myntra, all other inventories are available to the 18 million active users at Myntra and Jabong.”
