But its competitors are not going to follow the footstep initiated by Myntra and Flipkart. According to the experts, it’s a premature move, and that Myntra and Flipkart is unnecessarily killing the goose that laid the first golden egg. Not only this if the news is to be believed soon even Flipkart will be doing the same. But why it is so. According to some of the Consultancy & advisory firms, e-commerce will soon be transformed into m-commerce as India is moving from a mobile-first country to a mobile-only one.
One of the oft-repeated reasons for Myntra moving to an app-only channel is its claim that 90% of traffic and 70% of sales are already coming from the mobile app and so in a way, Myntra is following the market. Means, two-third of the online traffic along with, over a million shipments per month, comes from small cities & towns, specifically for products like Flipkart. Due to limited possession of desktops & computers, people majorly visit the product website via the web apps though their mobiles and not the website.
The traffic from the mobile app might have grown from nearly zero to 70% in the space of one year but that doesn’t necessarily mean that desktop traffic has declined. There is still 30-40% of orders which originate from either desktop website or from the mobile website, as not everyone is comfortable in installing mobile apps and tolerating the constant push-alerts and ads which these apps throw at their customers. This is valid to even my blog which attracts more traffic from Mobile phone user but yes there are visitors that use its desktop. So while mobile traffic might be growing at a great clip, it is quite possible that desktop traffic has also remained stable and while it might not necessarily growing at the same rate, it might nevertheless be increasing.
If we check the world’s biggest eCommerce portals like Amazon, eBay, Target, Costco, Alibaba, eBay, Walmart, Etsy, Shop, Overstock, BestBuy, etc, then we will find that all these portals are maintaining their mobile website, along with mobile apps and desktop website. And these websites are based in the USA, where mobile penetration is highest in the world, and are much ahead in mobile usage compared to Indians.
We exactly don’t know the reason behind it. One of them can be the potential for the mobile device to offer a more personalized experience for the shopper. There are of course a number of additional features and scenarios where a mobile app can provide an enhanced experience to the customer.
Since everyone is competing on the same dimensions and striving towards the same things–cheaper price, larger discounts and louder marketing spends. There is little to differentiate one company’s offering and so this move may create differentiation from others. It may also be a strategy to have a test by Myntra and Flipkart. If it doesn’t work, there is still the Flipkart brand to fall back on.
Do Comment below your reason behind the Move.