Top fashion brands including H&M, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Biba and Marks and Spencer have partnered with Flipkart-owned fashion marketplace Myntra to go on discount of 50-80% in the first online sale post Covid-19 lockdown. The End of Reason Sale (EORS), scheduled to take place between June 19-22, is being looked upon by brands to bring the first wave of normalcy and to win back shoppers with value offers.
“Last year, discounting by brands were more in line with industry trends. This year, it is more in line with consumer trends. Participating brands are giving 50-80% value offers,” Amar Nagaram, chief executive of Myntra, told ET.
India was under complete lockdown since PM Modi announced it on March 24 due to the Covid-19 outbreak resulting in fashion retail companies earning zero revenue. Apparel and lifestyle brands were neither allowed to open stores nor sell online till early May.
Lockdown measures have also resulted in quarantined consumers changing their shopping behaviour and pivoting their spending online. Since the lockdown also overlapped with the industry’s peak spring-summer season, brands now want to get their business rolling with the online sale.
“Our average basket size rose 2X since retail reopened. There is a lot of pent up demand which needs to be taken advantage of. We are expecting many first-time online fashion shoppers and bullish about Tier 2 and 3 markets as their access to fashion reduced considerably due to the lockdown,” said Nagaram.
With a sudden shift to online fashion, brands have been prioritising their investment into ecommerce channels and diversifying into other categories such as face masks. About 50 new brands including Charles & Keith, La Senza, Gant, Globus and Chicco have partnered with Myntra to stay relevant and capitalise on its wide distribution network. Even offline stores of brands such as Mango and Gap, and kiranas have been engaged for quicker and last mile delivery during the sale.
“Supply chain is worst hit because of Covid-19. While brands are talking about how we make their business stronger online, we are also asking them to rope in their offline stores as part of new retail. Both need to coexist in the post Covid world. Consumers must have options even to return goods and receive alteration services. Short-term financial impact is not the focus,” he added.
The marketplace, which claimed to have made its biggest investment on safety and protocols in the last two months, expects to fulfill 15-20% of the deliveries during the event.
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