Omni-channel Presence Is The Way To Go

Fashion e-tailer Myntra’s plan to open its first physical store clearly indicates a shift in trend towards e-commerce companies’ strategy of an omni-channel presence. Myntra is looking to do so in the next three months by collaborating with existing brick-and-mortar retail stores.

According to a recent Google-AT Kearney study, customers will demand an omni-channel presence and not having one could cause players to lose out on 20-30 per cent of potential buyers in select categories by 2020. More than 40 per cent of the surveyed respondents preferred offline pick-ups in lifestyle (e.g. alterations post purchase) and fresh food including groceries (pick-up at store) categories.

Myntra’s move towards an omni-channel presence is perhaps its most significant stroke after it took the market by storm last year with its decision to go app-only. But, make no mistake, Myntra was quick to realise its mistake and relaunched its mobile and desktop website this year.

Myntra said in an earlier statement that the re-launch of its website is aimed to offer convenience to “a segment of customers, especially women customers, who have a marked preference for browsing and shopping on multiple platforms such as mobile, tablet and desktop”. The e-tailer also claimed that re-opening its desktop website will increase its sales by 15-20 per cent this fiscal and bring back the customers it had lost by switching to the app-only strategy.

Myntra’s parent company Flipkart has already gone omni-channel with the ‘click and collect’ feature that was launched by setting up ‘experience zones’ across several cities. The ‘experience zones’ allow customers to walk into their nearest centre and collect their shipments at a time convenient to them.

In June this year, American rival Amazon too embraced offline retail by partnering with Vodafone to provide the ‘touch-and-feel’ experience to customers who still do not prefer to shop online.

The next phase of growth for Myntra, or for that matter any e-tailer, will be driven by customer experience and quality instead of discounts, which was the norm earlier. In that backdrop, omni-channel presence will play a very crucial role in attracting customers and gaining their loyalty.