Myntra, the fashion arm of Flipkart will soon launch a unviersal size chart. This will be launched by mid April as a part of the company’s plan to minimize the merchandise returns. The firm feels that this attempt will help in reducing the incremental logistics cost as almost half the returns are due to the lack of an option to select the right size of apparel while ordering the product.
As per Ashutosh Lawania, the Co-Founder of Myntra, each brand be it national or international has its own measurement guide and this confuses the shoppers. This has resulted in almost 50 percent of the returns on the fashion portal. The company has listed almost 2,000 brands that aim to cut the return rate by around 30 percent with this move. As per the experts, the returned goods increase the average cost of the delivery by around 50 percent that is a crucial expense when most retailers are in the red.
Harminder Sahini, Wazir Advisor’s Managing Director stated that there is a standardization of the sizes in the West. All the manufacturers and retailers follow the same size chart. In India, each brand has its own size guidelines leading to confusion. The launch of the uniform size guide by Myntra will address this major issue that the consumers who shop online are facing. As they do not have an option to try the clothes before purchase, they are returning the order after purchase if there is a mismatch in size.
Myntra has already set its target to turn profitable by March 2017. It is focusing on increasing the in-house brands that give it higher margins. Myntra aims to earn almost one third of its revenue from its labels, stated the head of Myntra fashion brands, Abhishek Verma. Those at Myntra believe that the in-house brands will help drive a majority of profitability.
In the fiscal year that ended in March 2015, Myntra faced a loss worth Rs 470 crore. The online player got Rs 338 crore of funds from Flipkart in order to enhance its leadership position in the fashion business.
