Domestic fashion e-tailer Myntra is reportedly set to relaunch its mobile site after moving to the app-only format in May this year. The move comes in the wake of its owner and India's largest online retailer Flipkart's reintroduction of its mobile site last month.
Shoppers could already browse several product categories likes T-shirts, shirts and sarees on Myntra's mobile site, Medianama reported.
Myntra had switched to the app-only mode in May when it shut down its desktop and mobile sites, as it saw 90% of its traffic coming from the mobile platform. Soon after it changed to the app-only format, Myntra noticed a sharp fall in sales.
While many reports had estimated a huge increase in usage of smartphones in India, which validated Myntra's app-only move, experts remained doubtful of e-tailers' excessive reliance on mobiles. Myntra's rivals Snapdeal and Amazon did not show any hurry in moving to the app-only format.
"It isn't about the money but just the realisation that if we don't build (a mobile-only product), somebody else is going to build it and whoever builds that is going to be the winner," The Economic Times quoted Myntra CTO Shamik Sharma as saying.
Although shifting to the app-only format helps online retailers cut costs, gain more exclusive customers and limit dependence on technology giants such as Google and Facebook for marketing purposes, poor Internet connectivity in the country is a major impediment to the success of such moves.
Despite India being the world's second-most-populous country, only 69% of its population has more than limited access to broadband and mobile Internet, said management consultancy AT Kearney.
"One could argue that while it is okay to reduce or even stop the investments on PC-web, it could be foolish or even dangerous to discount it as a past that has completely ceased to exist," e-commerce expert Ratul Ghosh had said.
