Fashion portals like Myntra, Jabong and others enter partnerships with global, local apparel brands

BANGALORE: India’s top fashion portals have sewn up nearly half a dozen partnerships with global and local apparel brands in the past month, as they battle to attract and retain fickle consumers.

In the latest such deal, ITC’s Wills Lifestyle brand said it will offer its designer collection on Myntra, which was recently bought by the country’s largest online retailer Flipkart. Myntra also aims to introduce Harvard University Ivy League Clothing on its site in the next few weeks. Since May, Myntra has inked deals with Dutch youth fashion brand Scotch & Soda, designer Rajesh Pratap Singh’s Mario Miranda and Music T Shirt Collection.

Rival Jabong signed up Londonbased high street brand River Island in June, following up on earlier deals with another UK-brand Dorothy Perkins as well as designer Rohit Bal. "You will see double-digit growth of exclusive partnerships between now and Diwali," said Ganesh Subramanian, chief operating officer at Myntra. Flipkart, which plans to invest about Rs 600 crore in the fashion business over the next 18 months, has also entered the fray with a tie-up last month with Japan- inspired UK clothing brand Superdry.

Experts are of the view that with a finite number of top brands available, Indian portals are anxious to bag the most partnerships as competition becomes fierce in the Rs13,700 crore online retail industry.

"There is a sense of urgency now," said Pragya Singh, an associate vice president at retail advisory firm Technopak. "Sites want to tie up with as many brands as soon as possible."

Executives at these fashion portals said apart from grabbing customer attention, brand tieups also deliver significant revenue. "Everyone is trying to gain market share and in fashion (such partnerships) will help create differentiation," said Ashutosh Lawania, Myntra’s cofounder who estimates that premium brands contribute up to a fifth of the revenue at his company. This fiscal Myntra aims to earn revenue of Rs2,000 crore.

The Bangalore-based company also sells sportswear label New Balance, UK-based streetwear brand Stanley Kane and Spain’s Desigual. "We look at data and when we find a gap in the market, we find a brand that can close the gap," said Michael Adnani, vice president of retail and head of brand alliances at Flipkart. Diesel and Debenhams are among the over half-a-dozen fashion brands that the Bangalore-based company has brought to online consumers exclusively.

For a number of these brands opting to sell exclusively on online portals is one way to reach specific customers. "With this association the collection will now be easily accessible to a larger consumer base including markets where the Wills Lifestyle stores are not present yet," said Atul Chand, divisional chief executive at ITC Lifestyle Retailing.

Brands also find that online sites are more receptive to their demands. Franklin Thielsch, the international sales director at Dutch brand Scotch & Soda, said India was not a priority market when they began to look beyond Europe a few years ago. "But we saw the growth of digital medium in India and Myntra has entered a premium environment so we can present our brand appropriately," he said.

For their part, the portals look at these tie-ups as a way to consolidate their portfolio. Jabong has set up shop-in-shops for their premium and exclusive brands. "We are offering international brands an effective solution to address the India opportunity in a fast and efficient way," said Arun Chandra Mohan, cofounder and chief executive at Jabong. Mohan, who declined to share revenue details, said monthly sales reached $25 million (about Rs150 crore) last December.